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BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BEHAVIOR Sudden Change in Buns Behavior-Need Help!!

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    • Sarah
      Participant
      44 posts Send Private Message

        So I have a 1 year old Holland Lop Bunny named Barry. He was neutered at 5 months old and I havent had any behavioral problems with him so far. So I will tell you a little about him and them I will get into the problem. So everyday I sit with him on the floor for about 5 hours and let him run around. I have done this since I got him at 8 weeks old and we were really bonded because of it. He runs up to me, loves to be pet, loves his snacks and we snuggle on the floor all the time. He is the sweetest bunny and I absolutely love him. He lives in an x-pen setting in my basement(it is not a creppy basement, it is actually very nice and he seems to love it down there. And it doesnt have a door leading down to it so he can hear everything that goes on upstairs and we can talk to him from upstairs.) He runs around in the basement downstairs every night and goes upstairs sometimes too to play in the living room. His typical behavior when i first let him out of his cage is he hops over to me, says hi and them we both go over to his bucket and I give him a pellet as a treat.

        So here is the problem: Today, I was upstairs in the bathroom and all of the sudden I hear Barry freaking out in his xpen. I go downstairs to see what is going on and he freaks out when he sees me and goes to hide. At this point I notice that his cage is completely turned upside down
        His litter box is on the other side of his cage and his xpen is a new shape because he ran into the bars so much. So, I fixed the cage and put everything back, but he was still very scared so I opened the cage door. Immedietly he jumped out of the cage, sprinted right past me and ran up the stairs. As I said before this is not normal behavior for him so I went upstairs to make sure he was okay. As soon as he saw me he ran from me and went from the hallway, past the kitchen and into the living room. He has been sitting in the living room for over and hour. At first he wouldnt accept anything from me, not even a carrot which is his favorite treat. But eventually he took the carrot off the ground and ate it. He still wont accept anything from my hand which he usually does immedietly after i offer it. He also wont let me touch him. He is fine if i sit on the ground from a far but if I put my hand anywhere close to him he runs the other way. He hasnt moved from the general corner of my living room for over an hour and im very concerned. Im not sure if I should bring him to the vet? Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

        It breaks my heart that he is so scared of me now and I want to do everything to get him back to normal.
        Is he just startled or is he sick?
        He is eating a little bit of food, but he is still refusing some foods that he normally would eat and he seems to be sitting uncomfortably. I cannot find any disease online that warrants such a change in behavior and any information would be great.


      • Boymom4
        Participant
        80 posts Send Private Message

          I have seen a rabbit spook over something minor while in its cage before and create a big stir. It sounds to me like this is what he might have done and in the process started upsetting the things inside and kept panicking thinking his “safe home” was out to eat him. Poor guy! He may just be wigged out for now because he is waiting for the next trusted object to come after him.
          Did I understand that he was hitting the bars of the cage? I would keep a very close eye on him as he may have injured himself a bit with all of the ramming around.
          I hope he calms down and regains his peaceful trust of his environment again soon.


        • Wick & Fable
          Moderator
          5770 posts Send Private Message

            It sounds like he was spooked by something. I’d say there’s been 3 instances total where Wick has heard something I could not perceive and it’s thrown him into a whirlwind of thumping and sprinting like made from me.

            He’ll need to calm down a bit, and that can take some time. Recently Wick’s other parent half stepped on Wick (no injuries), but traumatic nonetheless. It took about 15min, but that’s just one rabbit and one circumstance. As stated above, a feeling of security may be needed.

            Maybe if it’s a sound freaking him out, try playing something in the background as white noise? Some rabbits also get scared by particular smells.

            If you see differences in his overall appetite or droppings, health issues may be present, but this seems like a scared situation to me. Maybe a bug freaked him out.

            The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

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        Forum BEHAVIOR Sudden Change in Buns Behavior-Need Help!!