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Advice please

janlon

New Kit
Hi, my name is Janet and I have kept rabbits since I was five years old, (50 years in all!!) Got a bit of a problem with a new rabbit I acquired on Sunday at a rabbit show. He is a Beige - a beautiful bunny - given free by the breeder to a good home as he had too many bucks. Took him home and he was adorable. Friendly and inquisitive. Now, two days later, he seems to be schizophrenic! He lives indoors, but in a hutch under a doe and neutered buck. We have dogs and cats too and I wondered at first if it was the smell of the other pets that was freaking him out. Last night he literally leapt out of my arms and threw himself around. Fortunately, my son who is a vet nurse, managed to calm him down and put him back in his hutch, but he now seems on edge and you can see in his eyes when he's going to "flip". The vet has given me some panacur, as apparently there is a parasite which attacks the brain, and said give him a chance to settle and maybe get him neutered later on if he is no better. I have never encountered this before and it's very upsetting to watch and of course potentially fatal for him as he jumps incredibly high. Please, has anyone any answers or had the same problem? Thank you.
 
are they actually fits? or is he binkying and hopping runnning around being happy? is he aggressive?is he spraying is it only in one room or is it whereveer he is? when you say you can see in his eyes what do you mean?how does his eyes change?sorry just trying to get as much info as poss
 
crazy bun!

He is definitely not fitting. i've had a fitting rabbit before. He will tolerate being held for a while, but then can't wait to escape. I know this is normal for a rabbit that may not be used to being handled, but to carry on throwing himself around after isn't. When he was running around outside his hutch earlier today, he was fine for a while and then raised his head and just looked alert and frightened, so I put him back before he went mad and hurt himself. He gets very agitated and runs around his hutch when I am handling my other two. I wonder if the doe above is causing stress, as he was probably used for breeding. I don't know whether to leave him alone for a while, or keep trying to handle him. He is happy to be stroked in his hutch and will happily run around in the bathroom, but I will have to put him in basket to take him up for safety and he thoroughly enjoyed running around my mum's the day after we got him. He is very clean, so no problem with spraying etc. When we first brought him home, I had him in the kitchen with me, but he didn't move around and we thought he probably smelt the dogs; when I took him in there on Monday, I put him on the floor and he jumped as high as the worktop! That was when we took him into bathroom, where he was fine.
 
crazy bun continued

Just gone back to your reply. No, he's not doing the happy skipping around - far from it! He is not aggressive and has not bitten at all. I have just read some of your previous posts and noticed that you say your rabbits start to fight if they are near others. Maybe castration will be the answer. I just want him to be happy. He's such a lovely bun when he's calm, but I am afraid to get him out now in case he gets stressed out.
 
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It's possible he's not used to open spaces. Some breeders can have quite small hutches. I'd keep up with the things you know he's comfortable with eg stroking in the hutch and exercise in the bathroom and then you can introduce new experiences more gradually. It might also help to give him an enclosed box (can just be cardboard) when he's out excerising so he has someone to run to safe if he gets startled.

Tamsin
 
Thanks for reply. Took him into bathroom last night and he freaked out in there too. Jumping at the walls etc and looking very scared. Put him back in hutch. Looking on internet last night though, found an article from Mercks Veterinary Manual, which describes his symptoms exactly and was under the heading of anxiety. As you say, he probably hasn't had much freedom at the breeders and he's a year old now, so hopefully with patience and care he will settle down in time. Can't understand why he was fine on the first night though. He had been to vets which may have upset him, but he was ok in bathroom in the evening then too. Don't know whether to take him along to my mum's up the road again as he loved running around on her carpet the day after we got him and she has no pets, so there will be no smells of dogs, cats and other rabbits. Poor Albert.
 
It might be a good idea to keep him well away from the smell of the doe until he's been neutered and had a few weeks for his hormones to settle down. The smell of her might be driving him crazy, you know what males are like! ;)
 
it is strange as he was fine at first - very odd :? he does sound scared - I agree with your vet about the panacur but he will need a 6 week course of it to treat said brain parasite (e-cuniculi) - a lot of vets don't give such a long course. Often e-cuniculi will be dormant in them (and very often breeders have populations of rabbits with e-c) - their immune system will damp it down until stress or another illness, surgery etc. puts a strain on their immune system, so it's possible this is what's causing his odd behaviour.

rabbits do take 2 weeks or so to get used to major changes, so I would just leave him in his hutch and keep handling to a minimum for a fortnight, to see if he calms down once he knows you as the food giver? you'd have to hold off on vet treatment and medication though too, so it's a bit of a tricky one :?
 
Hi everyone. Albert is improving every day - thank goodness! I left him in his hutch for a few days and just stroked him in there and now he is a happy bunny again, although he seems quite hyperactive and is very distracted, naturally, by Betty's presence, so on Friday he is going in for his little op! I bought him a little igloo to hide in when he is out and he has been in to investigate, but eventually just flops down next to me, very relaxed. As my daughter reminded me, I have never had a doe around with bucks before as I tend to always go for bucks, but hopefully now all is well and after his hormones have settled, he will become even more laid back. Thanks for all your replies and advice.
 
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