Rabbit with dark urine?

[FairyKing]

Hello! I’m a new rabbit owner, so I’m still trying to get the hang of things and understand what’s normal and what isn’t. I adopted my bunnies this past Sunday, so I haven’t established a baseline yet and I have nothing to compare it to, however, I was cleaning out the litterbox today and noticed some urine that was a bit darker than I expected it to be. Would some more experienced bunny-keepers be able to tell me if this looks normal or if there is any cause for concern? Thank you!

This one happens to be on a towel, but I can try to get some from the newsprint if that would help. I just find that the newsprint rips so easily that its difficult to find a good example.

The bunnies seem perfectly healthy other than perhaps this dark urine. They’re eating lots of hay and pooping frequently and from what I can tell, their poop is formed well. The only other thing I’m not quite sure of is if they’re drinking enough water. I’m not sure how much they should be drinking in a day, but I expected it to be a bit more than what I’ve seen. I’m making sure their veggies are always covered in water droplets to try and keep them hydrated and I’ve provided a couple of different clean bowls of water around their room. As for pellets, I’m currently transitioning them from a Purina pellet that they were on at the shelter to the Oxbow Adult Rabbit timothy pellet. 

Any help with this would be appreciated!

Thanks!

[Bam]

Rabbit urine vary in color from light yellow to brown, with all hues of orange and even red in between. It’s normal and not an observandum. The color comes from plant pigments, for example carotenoids. Some buns have more colored urine than other buns on the same diet. It’s not known why.

Here’s some good information on rabbit urine: http://rabbit.org/journal/3-1/red-urine.html

A rabbit should consume 100 ml water per day and kilogram body weight. A substantial amount comes from greens, so don’t expect them to drink this much if they are getting greens. It’s good you give them water in bowls, that encourages drinking.

It’s great that they are lots of hay! Hay is so important for buns it can’t be stressed enough. If their poop is good they are most likely well enough hydrated, the poop should not be desert-dry and crumble as soon as you touch it, it should hold together in round “pelleted” shape. Dehydration can cause a slowdown of the gut, so it’s good to keep an eye on size, shape, consistency, color and amount of poop.

If it’s very warm where you are you can check out our cooling-tips: https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/23/PID/940/Default.aspx

[FairyKing]

That was very helpful, thank you so much!

[Author]

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