Rabbit Urine? Normal? Help

[Samsie]

I just got my Flemish Giant bunny a week ago. He is 8 weeks old. It has been hot the last two days with temperatures being the high 80’s, and we don’t have air.

I have noticed that he uses his litter boxes in his cage but also pees outside of his litter boxes and outside of his cage all together….he’s only 8 weeks old, so I get it. However, I have noticed that he licks his urine. Is this normal?

Yesterday I noticed his poops were little and soft, although some are perfectly “normal”.

Today when I got home I noticed the pee in his litter boxes was red. I was really worried and I called the breeder and she told me he could have a UTI. However, the information on the internet says rabbits pee can often be an array of colors, and is nothing to worry about. He is eating fine, drinking water, and grooming himself. I just had him out of his cage and he peed on the floor twice and the pee color was fine, a light yellow. But I did notice he seems to lick himself down there after he relieves himself. I am really confused.

Some other questions I have:

He drinks close to 2 cups of water a day. Is this normal?
The breeder told me not to feed him alfalfa or hay until he is at least 6 months old. Is this true? Everything on the internet that I’ve read says to absolutely give him alfalfa/timothy hay combo until 6 months than switch to just timothy hay.  Thoughts?

Thank you!

 

[CheriB603]

Red urine doesn’t sound normal. :-/. I have an 11 week old Flemmie and she drinks just about that same amount each day. Of course, she also eats a lot of hay and I think she drinks a lot to ” wash it down”. At 8 weeks I wouldn’t really expect him to get the whole litter box thing yet, but frequent peeing and red urine does sound like a UTI. Course, I’m not a vet. Ironically, my husband IS a vet, but doesn’t do rabbits!
I hope others with more knowledge chime in. Good luck!

[MoveDiagonally]

Bunny urine can range in colors and a red color isn’t something to worry about by itself.

It’s always a good idea to take a new bunny to the vet. Not only does it put your mind at ease it helps you begin to establish a relationship with the vet and staff. You’ll want to get a fecal test done (for coccidia). A lot of breeding rabbits do not see vets regularly so there are some treatable issues (that have been left untreated) that can come up when you bring home a baby bunny.

Alfalfa is fine for baby rabbits but generally not recommended once they reach 6-7 months old. Here is some really great info about bunny diet (for all ages):
http://rabbit.org/faq-diet/

Rabbit.org is a very reliable source of information for all things bunny (I would also check out the Bunny Info section at the top of the forum). While there are some knowledgeable breeders out there from my observation and experience they are not generally very good sources for rabbit info.

All that said, Welcome to BB! 

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