pee is reddish brown

hi all, please be gentle this is my 1st post! one of my babies pee is a reddy brown colour - more red!
Is it something we are feeding him (hay, waggs bunny brunch. dandelionns, cabbage. carrots, curly kale, apple and other dark greens as and when).
Both bunnies seem very happy and eat grass happily when we let them out the run each day.
Neither is showing any signs if ill comfort.
thanks
mummy

ps

he has the runs too

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I was told it was dandelions

Very normal. Bunny pee has a wide range of colors:

Red urine is a descriptive term for the condition where a rabbit's urine varies in color from the normal pale yellow to dark yellow, carrot orange, brown, or bright red. Red urine is not a medical problem.

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Here is the link for the above quote:

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-1/red-urine.html

So no worries! I would guess your culprit is carrots, kale, and some of the darker greens you're giving. My Mimi's urine turns bright orange when she eats wheat grass.

alison4elvis said:

he has the runs too

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This is a bigger issue. Diarrhea in rabbits is very rare, so I think you may be seeing cecotrophs or something else. Could you possibly describe the poo a little better? Does it look like a cluster of grapes, like a bunch of little poos stuck together? Or is it mushy poo? Or is it kind of stringy and soft?

sidereus7 said:

This is a bigger issue. Diarrhea in rabbits is very rare, so I think you may be seeing cecotrophs or something else. Could you possibly describe the poo a little better? Does it look like a cluster of grapes, like a bunch of little poos stuck together? Or is it mushy poo? Or is it kind of stringy and soft?

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sometimes its like a cluster of grapes but mostly its mushy. We have cut down on greens during the day (they only get dry food and hay) unless we are off work and let them have the run of the garden for a few hours and they eat grass, clover and dandelions . in the evening we give them dry food and some greens - this seems to be sorting it some?

thanks

It's probably excess cecotrophs that you're seeing, either when clustered like grapes or smooshed. Probably just means the rabbit sat/stepped on em!

Rabbits have two different kinds of poo: regular fecal pellets and cecotrophs. The fecal pellets look like little round balls, and no doubt you've seen these everywhere. Cecotrophs, the grape clusters, are produced in a different part of the rabbit called the cecum. They are rich in nutrients and are essential for the rabbit to consume for digestion purposes.

My baby rabbit, now 16 weeks, was not eating his cecotrophs at first, but he's seeming to grow out of it. Also, feeding him veggies has increased his cecotroph consumption. I've heard that sometimes, if a rabbit has too many tasty things to eat, he will choose to eat those and not his cecotrophs, so it's important to get the bunny's diet balanced.

Also, a diet high in protein can cause excess cecotroph production. Stay away from alfalfa hay entirely. What kind of pellets are you feeding the bun? This might also key us into what in his diet is triggered him to either produce excess cecotrophs, or to make him not eat the ones he is producing.

These are only a few possibilities, but the more information you give us, the better!