Possible sick baby?

[Pipers Mommy]

Hello everyone!
Long time reader, first time member/poster!

My husband and I lost our sweet baby boy (11yrs old) from a stroke last spring, he was a dwarf lion head.
We finally felt it was time for a new rabbit. Our last little man, blarney, was adopted from the shelter so we decided to go through a breader and get a baby this time.
She has been home for about a week now, making her 6 weeks old. She is a holland lop and is functioning extremely well! She drinks from a bowl and bottle (we keep her bowl with fresh water and bottle above incase she tips) she’s eating her pellets and hay, she’s jumping and exploring the house (training to be free range) she is getting along AMAZINGLY with our other pets.

One thing I noticed though when we first brought her home, she was doing these little sneezes, my moms a vets assistant and insisted Piper may simply have allergies to her new surroundings..so I let it go..well it’s been a week and yesterday I am noticing her sneezing is much more frequent and her nose is very wet.
Today I placed her in my husbands arms while I cleaned her litter box and noticed her nose looked dirty and wet, almost like it was boogers!! Also her ears and head are very hot…I did so much reading and everything seems to contradict itself.
My fear is she may have a bacterial infection, like this snuffles thing I’ve read about. But!!! I don’t know how to tell Forsure because in my 15 years of owning rabbits I’ve never delt with runny nose and sneezing.
I am calling the vet first thing in the morning (it’s been a long weekend all vets are closed in my small town)
I’m hoping this doesn’t kill her!! I couldn’t bare it, Iam a stay at home wife due to health issues, and my husband and I cannot have children it seems. as mentioned before our rabbit blarney passed rainbow bridge sept.2nd 2015 and jan 18 2006 my precious boy (dog) Stompy, passed after a very hard battle with canine lymphoma! I don’t think I can deal with hearing Piper may have to leave us, it’s only been a week and we are so in love with her!

Has anyone had a similar situation with a 6week old?? I know I seem to be over reacting (my husband and mother believe I am) but the more I read the scarier this all seems!!
I’m very worried 6weeks on is too young to be on antibiotics, she’s so small she fits in my hands! But if I leave it she could take a turn for the worst and go down hill (so I’ve read)

I’d like to mention her cage doesn’t have wood or anything that may cause things to get into her nose in it. And the room she runs free in I have fully made sure nothing is on the floor that will hurt her.

Anyways!! Thank you for reading!!xx

[Bam]

Calling your vet first thing is the best thing, a wet nose that’s gone sticky almost like boogers does sound like snuffles. She will need antibiotics for that and a vet will most likely want to start her on that asap. She is very young, 6 weeks is a bit too young to have left the mother and siblings (8 weeks is generally recommended), so she’s fragile – but then all baby animals are fragile. Baby animals dehydratre quickly and their GI microbiota isn’t fully developed, so you can’t wait and see – rabbits really aren’t “wait-and-see-animals” anyway. She seems to be transitioning well to her new home, which is a great advantage for her immune defense, of course.

I’m very sorry about the loss of your Blarney. Sending lots of healing-vibes to (((((Piper))))) We’d be very happy for updates.

[jerseygirl]

Even if it is a bacterial infection, it can be managed! Sometimes it’s life long but it doesn’t mean a shortened life. Snuffly buns get a lot of flare ups due to stress, environment or seasons.

Being a holland lop also, it could simply be due to her facial structure. It’s possible this may self-resolve as she grows.

Something that may help her at the moment is clearing out any gunk from her nose. You can use a baby nasal aspirator or ear syringe. Also putting in a steamed up bathroom can help, or using saline nasal spray. If you can get hold of a nebuliser, it is quite safe to use just saline in those to help snuffly rabbits.

What type of hay does she have? Is it particularly dusty? And litter?
What other materials are in her habitat? I’ve even heard of a rabbit reacting to carpet before!

[jerseygirl]

I just want to add; it is better tha babies stay with the mother longer, but not uncommon for breeders to send them out to homes at 5weeks old.
Have you been in touch with them about the symptoms you’re seeing?

[ChesnutKC]

I had a Holland lop as a baby as well. She was 2 months old when I got her. And when I let her play around she would sneeze and sneeze and sneeze and sneeze and boogers would come out and I was a very worried for her, but I didn’t have a rabbit savy vet nearby so I just decided to keep a close eye on her.
and she healed up just fine and there were no further problems.
Of course, I’m not saying that’s what your bunny will do, we never know, but sometimes sneezing just comes from sticking their noses where there’s a lot of dust or something.

[Mikey]

Few things to do. First thing first, go to the vet and have a swab test done. Secondly, at home, see what could be making her sneeze. Is it warmer in your house? Do you dust often/not often enough? Do you vacuum often/not often enough? Is her hay naturally a bit dusty? How about her pellets? These are all things that can cause continuous sneezing or breathing issues if not fixed. Thirdly, wait for the results of the swab test. It really could be allergies. My little Badger has ongoing allergies so his nose is almost always wet and green. If this is the case with your bun, try to keep things as allergy and dust free as possible. She can get infections a bit easier than most bunnies. It could also be pasturella (my Badger’s allergies turned into this) where your bun will need 2 weeks of antibiotics. It could be that her diet just needs to be changed

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