Help!!! My rabbit is making huffing noises!!!

[Deleted User]

My 2 1/2 month old bunny is making huffing noises when I pet him and stuff. He’s won’t leave my side either. He doesn’t want to run around. He just sits by me, sometimes flops, and grooms himself. He does the huff (like when you blow air out your nose quick and short) when I pet him and when he is around me.
I saw that it could be courting but idk if huffing is a sign of that or that he may have snuffles or something. This has been going on since yesterday. Please helpppp!!!!!

[Deleted User]

Come on people. 12 people so far have viewed this and no one has answered. Please help me

[Deleted User]

Now 28?! Come on people. Is it that hard to help someone?

[Bam]

Hi!
Is he eating and drinking and pooping normally? Will he take a pellet (or a treat if you’ve started him in treats yet) if you offer one?
Do you see any type of snot around his nose? Wetness/touselled hair on his cheeks?

[Bam]

Flopping and grooming are good signs. A sick bun doesn’t flop, it loaves or sits bunched up. It wants to hide and might go and lie down in places where it normally doesn’t go. This is so as not to attract attention from predators (an instinct).

Does the huffing sound like he’s having difficulty breathing? A courting rabbit can grunt, but not all buns make noise during courtship. Does he follow you about? Circle your feet?

[Deleted User]

Ok so. It all just changed. I just put him out on my floor, and he went straight in between the wall and my bed. He usually goes there but will come out when I call. He didn’t. Not even with some veggies or fruit. He is eating the fruit and veggies but in a bowl in his cage. I’m scared. He is bunched up right now though while he’s eating. And it is a huffing like when a dog is getting ready to bark but has not barked with the vocal chords. Just a whisper bark.

[Deleted User]

He does follow me around. Usually. But today he hasn’t. I did put him near the window today. That’s when it all changed. I lifted him and put him on the table next to the open window thinking he needed fresh air and natural light. All that did was make the situation worse. He is scared I think too

Yes his nose is damp but it has been since I got him

[Bam]

An acutely sick rabbit is not interested in food. Bunched up while eating doesn’t signify any type of illness. A sick bunched up bun just sits there and looks pretty miserable.
Buns change behavior-wise when they start puberty, and in a boy puberty can start as early as at 2,5 months.
It’s the huffing that bothers me a bit. It would be great if you could film him doing the huffing and post to YouTube.
Keep observing him. If he stops eating and/or pooping, sth is wrong. If he starts coughing or sneezing he could have a bunny cold and need antibiotics.
Keep us posted. And above all keep calm even if it’s difficult. He picks up on your mood.

[Deleted User]

He is currently loafed next to his food bowl. Kind of twitching

[Bam]

Oh, and a damp nose is perfectly fine. Buns only ever breathe through their noses, so moisture from the breath can deposit around the nostrils. I meant snot, like white thick snot or a really runny nose (that often makes the cheek hair wet and tangled when the bun washes himself with his paws).

[Bam]

Twitching how? they can sometimes breathe so they are twitching. I’ve seen it in one of mine and a member here also filmed her bunny twitch-breathing. I don’t know why they do it.
All in all this doesn’t sound super worrisome, but if you really do feel sth isn’t right you should call your vet. Although a bun munching on fruit and then lying down next to his food bowl doesn’t really sound like a sick bun to me.

[Deleted User]

Ok. So I shouldn’t be this worried where I’m having an hour long panic attack every hour? He’s twitching his front paws every now and then. He’s also twitching his head up and down but his nose is not wiggling. The head up and down seems to be with his respiratory rate though.

[Deleted User]

Could he be allergic to his alfalfa hay? I find that this batch is quite dusty. Even though I shook it all out outside. It even hurts my head. Lol. Could he be allergic to his paper pellet litter? I clean his cage 5 times a day but it still smells strong of pee and ammonia. Could all of these things be affecting him and not just me?

[Bam]

I prefer hardwood stove pellets over paper pellets as litter. It has better odor control and it soaks up pee faster. An added advantage is that it’s cheaper and less bulky to store. You get it in hardware stores or tractor-supplies.
And you should absolutely not have a panic attack every hour over your bunny, if you can help it. Which of course is easier said than done.
The main things to keep an eye on are appetite and poop. With a very young animal you have to expect new types of behavior, with an adult bun you can more safely say “this isn’t like him”. But with a bun coming into puberty, you can expect more or less anything. So you can’t tell so much except by appetite, poop quality/ amount and really obvious signs of discomfort.

It’s a bit scary to own a rabbit, esp when you’re new at it, but you must let it be fun too. Both for his sake and your 

If the hay is dusty, he doesn’t have to be allergic to sneeze or “huff” from it, it’s most often just dust getting in his nose. This sometimes happens when you get a batch of dusty hay. Buns can get allergic of course, but it’s not the first thing you’d suspect. 

[Rudy Rabbit]

I know this is old but Id love to know if your rabbbits ok. My rabbit does this too. After having him for almost a year it seems that he does this when he’s not happy about something but is putting up with it begrudgingly. Usually when I pick him up for cuddles or to take him in the garden. Because he does this when I take him outside I did wonder if it is something he does when he’s scared but I think hes just annoyed at being forced from the sofa (he is the laziest bunny ever) Hes a singleton house rabbit- never caged.It never occurred to me that it might be a health issue as he is the picture of health and happiness and he only does it in specific situations. It does seem that your rabbit is huffing at different situations than mine. Unless hes annoyed that you’re not paying him enough attention. Ive always been curious as none of the info on the web about bunny behaviour or sounds mentions it.

[Deleted User]

His huffing is probably because he is uncomfortable being picked up. They don’t like that. You should only pick your rabbit up when it is absolutely necessary. Don’t pick them up and force cuddles, that will stress them out. If he only does this when you’re picking him up, then that’s the problem. You should stop picking him up.

In the future, it is better to start your own thread with questions about your rabbit. This post is quite old and it causes confusion when there are two separate individuals posting about different rabbits.

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