Rabbit refusing water bottle? Better options

Water bottle refusal is actually really common with rabbits, and American Fuzzy Lops in particular can be stubborn about it — partly because their flat faces make the angle awkward, and partly because rabbits are naturally wired to drink from ground-level sources. If your rabbit isn't drinking enough, that's a genuine health concern since dehydration hits them fast and can cause gut slowdown. Before I point you in the right direction — is your Fuzzy Lop kept indoors or outdoors, and have you already tried switching to a bowl, or is that something you're open to?

That tipping problem is really common — a lightweight bowl on a flat surface is basically an invitation to redecorate. The fix is a heavy ceramic crock-style bowl, weighted enough that a rabbit can't flip it. What I'd recommend is the Kaytee Stoneware Crock Bowl — it's thick ceramic, genuinely heavy, sits flat on the floor of the enclosure, and rabbits take to it almost immediately because drinking from it feels natural to them. No awkward tongue-licking at a metal spout. It comes in a size that works well for a single rabbit and holds enough water that you're not topping it up constantly. Do you know roughly how much she's been drinking daily, or has it been hard to track with the bottle?

Dark urine is a clear sign she's been underhydrated — good catch by your vet, and good that you're acting on it now. The ceramic crock will almost certainly change things quickly. Most owners who make the switch notice their rabbit drinking noticeably more within the first couple of days simply because it's so much easier for them. One practical tip: place it away from her hay pile so it doesn't get bits dropped in it, and rinse it daily since ceramic can develop a biofilm you can't always see. You won't need to ditch the bottle entirely if you want to keep it as a backup, but I'd make the bowl the primary source. The Kaytee Stoneware Crock is on Amazon UK and costs around £8–10 — straightforward swap, no ongoing costs.

For a single rabbit the 10oz or 20oz size works well — I'd lean toward the 20oz so it holds enough that she can drink freely between your refills without running low. The 10oz is fine but you'd be topping it up more often, which gets tedious. The weight difference between sizes is minimal so you're not giving up any stability by going slightly bigger. That's really all you need here — one good bowl, placed at floor level, and she should sort herself out quickly.