Rabbit scared all of a sudden (a little long)

hi, im new to this forum, but my rabbit (logan) has been acting extremely strange over the past few days and its starting to worry me a lot. she is a very curious rabbit and loves to eat and run around. she has a huge exercise pen with a ramp and a ton of extra space. we have a daily routine and shes exposed to plenty of noises such as a tv, washing machine, me walking around, etc. none of this has ever scared her before.

so two days ago she was running around in the hallway and she all of a sudden got extremely scared. she ran back into her pen and started stomping. i figured she heard something and got a little freaked out. yesterday she was running around in the hallway again. she was jumping around and eating her vegetables and then she got scared again. today shes even becoming scared inside her pen. i was sitting next to her and everything was fine. i left to get some vegetables and when i came back i could tell she was on edge already. i sat back down next to her and gave her some lettuce and then it happened again. got freaked out and ran back inside and started stomping. over the past 3 days this has happened multiple times a day.

i know rabbits have better hearing than humans, but i dont get how she can be so frightened over something i cant hear when shes exposed to things that are pretty loud (TV, me cleaning, vaccum cleaner, etc.)

has this happened to anyone else? anybody know what to do? i emailed my vet and waiting for her reply, but i dont want to bring her in unless its necessary. quite honestly, she charges 60 bucks to take her weight, heart beat per min, and temp. thats considered a checkup. any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks. ~terence

Post bonding, Biscuit, my buck became a stamping machine. He was spooked by something for 4 nights running. Rabbits have an acute sense of sound and smell. It could of been anything.

Has anything changed in her environment? Have you changed *anything*, brand of washing powder? Conditioner?

What *exactly* where you doing when she became 'freaked out'?

Does she have a hidey hole if she needs to 'bolt' ?

Any new arrivals in the house? Any new smells?

Hello

I'm not sure what the answer is but my bun has been doing the same recently. She was spayed about 3 weeks ago so I assume it was this and that's why she's become a little more nervous of us. A creaking floorboard or opening the door never used to scare her and now all of a sudden it does? I've resorted to acting how we did when we first got her, moving slowly, making sure that we don't make loud noises etc and spending more time with her on the floor. I'll keep this up until she seems settled again and less jumpy. She's always been different from one month to the next so I guess it's just a lot of time, patience and observation, as long as they are eating and drinking. FYI. my bun started thumping a few weeks ago when I used a new bubble bath, I was quite offended as it was a nice Neal's Yard one, not cheap hee hee! so as others have mentioned, a new smell could be the cause?

thanks for the replies. in terms of things that are new...i really cant think of anything. i use the same shampoo, face lotion, toothpaste, laundry detergent, etc. when i recall the instances of her becoming afraid, i dont remember anything out of the ordinary. couple time we were in the hallway. she was eating once and another time she was just running around when she got scared. another time was in her pen. the only varying smells are from the kitchen. i know she hates the smell of human food, but shes been in the hallways plenty of times while someone was cooking in the kitchen downstairs. she does have a place to go when she scared. she like to hide inside boxes in her pen.

thanks for the feedback. if anyone else has any ideas or advice, feel free to let me know.

Sometimes worth checking out health issues with a vet- a general health check because buns can react differently when they are unwell.

I have a bun who is very upset in general because of ruptured tear ducts and he is stomping at everything in the kitchen. He used to be such a confident bunny, but he has really gone into his shell, got scared and unhappy since becoming ill with his tear ducts.

P.s welcome to the forum

Scared Bunny

Hi all,

I am new here. I have a question. I am having the same problem. I have a mini Rex bunny named Jinxie...female..we got her in October last year. First..she hates to pick up. I have many scars to prove it..so we dont even try to. But other than that she is usually content..Like she will roll over on her back to have a tummy rub, lay in the middle of the floor all legs sprawled out. Well for the last 3-4 days or so she wont even let me pet her. Nothing has changed except we put up a board in the bedroom doorway so she cant get out. She has a whole bedroom to herself. Plenty of room to run around. All of a sudden she has gotten very tempermental..she bit my son yesterday...nothing major no broken skin...which I think if she really wanted to hurt him she could have. Then today I was sitting on the floor with her...she came up to me very cautious like and then thumped at me and took off. I have removed the board 2 days ago thinking that, that might have been the issue, but she still is cautious. Even when we try to give her some raisens...she will take them but is very skeptical at the same time. I dont understand it. Please help

Thanks,
Dee

deeroy2 said:

Hi all,

I am new here. I have a question. I am having the same problem. I have a mini Rex bunny named Jinxie...female..we got her in October last year. First..she hates to pick up. I have many scars to prove it..so we dont even try to. But other than that she is usually content..Like she will roll over on her back to have a tummy rub, lay in the middle of the floor all legs sprawled out. Well for the last 3-4 days or so she wont even let me pet her. Nothing has changed except we put up a board in the bedroom doorway so she cant get out. She has a whole bedroom to herself. Plenty of room to run around. All of a sudden she has gotten very tempermental..she bit my son yesterday...nothing major no broken skin...which I think if she really wanted to hurt him she could have. Then today I was sitting on the floor with her...she came up to me very cautious like and then thumped at me and took off. I have removed the board 2 days ago thinking that, that might have been the issue, but she still is cautious. Even when we try to give her some raisens...she will take them but is very skeptical at the same time. I dont understand it. Please help

Thanks,
Dee

Click to expand...

How old is your bun Dee and has she been spayed? Deending on her age this behaviour change could be due to hormones.

makave1i616 said:

thanks for the replies. in terms of things that are new...i really cant think of anything. i use the same shampoo, face lotion, toothpaste, laundry detergent, etc. when i recall the instances of her becoming afraid, i dont remember anything out of the ordinary. couple time we were in the hallway. she was eating once and another time she was just running around when she got scared. another time was in her pen. the only varying smells are from the kitchen. i know she hates the smell of human food, but shes been in the hallways plenty of times while someone was cooking in the kitchen downstairs. she does have a place to go when she scared. she like to hide inside boxes in her pen.

thanks for the feedback. if anyone else has any ideas or advice, feel free to let me know.

Click to expand...

What about objects? Any new objects in the hall? Cardboard box/washing basket/shopping bag etc.... anything placed in her line of view that is unfamiliar? These are the sort of things that spook rabbits as their vision is different to ours. Our bunny hates anything new put on the ground that is large and unfamiliar in her exercise space or in the garden - this could be something as simple as a washing basket or a pair of wellies out of place.

Does her pen/hutch/living space/ have any lid to it other than a box? Rabbits feel most safe when they have something over their head enclosing them. Open pen environments can make them feel very on edge if they are of a nervous disposition.

deeroy2 said:

Hi all,

I am new here. I have a question. I am having the same problem. I have a mini Rex bunny named Jinxie...female..we got her in October last year. First..she hates to pick up. I have many scars to prove it..so we dont even try to. But other than that she is usually content..Like she will roll over on her back to have a tummy rub, lay in the middle of the floor all legs sprawled out. Well for the last 3-4 days or so she wont even let me pet her. Nothing has changed except we put up a board in the bedroom doorway so she cant get out. She has a whole bedroom to herself. Plenty of room to run around. All of a sudden she has gotten very tempermental..she bit my son yesterday...nothing major no broken skin...which I think if she really wanted to hurt him she could have. Then today I was sitting on the floor with her...she came up to me very cautious like and then thumped at me and took off. I have removed the board 2 days ago thinking that, that might have been the issue, but she still is cautious. Even when we try to give her some raisens...she will take them but is very skeptical at the same time. I dont understand it. Please help

Thanks,
Dee

Click to expand...

This is quite an old thread, it might be easier to people to see and reply if you make a new one

RedFraggle said:

How old is your bun Dee and has she been spayed? Deending on her age this behaviour change could be due to hormones.

Click to expand...

We got her on October 2011. I think she was about 10 weeks when we got her. And no she is not fixed. I want to but it is really expensive. Like $250.