poorly bunny or sleepy bunny? sorry stupidly long!

well i have owned him for a day and a half now and already i am worried
i have given him some lovely meadow hay, which he is pulling lots of out of the hay rack, i have given him some of his naff rabbit mix and a little science selective. by bedtime last night i hadnt seen him eat anything, there was hay on the floor where it had been pulled from the rack so i asssume he has eaten hay. as the dried food hadnt gone down at all and as of last night there were only a few tiny poos about i gave him a small sprig of greens a tiny slice of apple (almost see through thin) and a very small piece of carrot.
this morning the greens had gone and the carrot had been nibbled.
i rang the vet as i was wondering if they thought he should go in, they said as he is still pooing and he has been pulling at they hay, they thought a visit to the vets would be stressfull and probably do more harm than good. but to take him in if he stopped pulling at the hay.
there were more poos about the place though still small. this afternoon some of the dried food had gone also. my worry is that i havent actually seen him eat at all, though bear in mind he was an outside bun, i dont know how much attention he has had and i think he is to nervous to relax enough to eat whilst being watched.
i had a bit of a crisis tonight and had to spend the evening away from the house, so my last bunny feed was late, at about 10. i normally switch the lights on before it gets dark so as not to startle buns by having to grope for the light. tonight however i was not able to. i went into the bunnyhouse and saw linden stretched out :shock: i panicked thinking he was dead and touched him, he scrambled into his carrier. i switched on the light and had a look at him and he was huddled at the back. i checked hay and food and some more had gone, so after seeing to everyone else i swiched off the light and watched with the help of the street light. he layed out again in his carrier. i picked him up and checked him over (though i'm not entirely sure what i need to check) and he seemed ok. i popped him down again and he went and flopped by the hayrack :?
he then got up and had a drink, stamped at me and went and flopped again.
so what do you think, is he poorly or is the poor little thing just trying to get some sleep. as i said i have only had him a day and a half so i dont know what is normal for him!
i am resisting the temptation to go back and check again as i think i am probably stressing him out more

If the food's going down I'd be inclined to say he's eating, albeit very little

I'd go out and check him again, but try not to disturb him, if he's lying down, rather than make him get up just observe him, watch for breathing etc

Maybe in the morning can you clear away what poos he's done over night so you can monitor output in the morning

thanks gem!
i will go out again at midnight i think and have a peek. my trouble is that i have never really seen bunnies asleep like some of the fab photos on the forum. i wonder if being in a hutch on his own, with no company for ages has meant he has always had to stay alert, so maybe he is crashing out properly now he is indoors in sight of other buns?

I was a bit like this with Rory when he first arrived - I think with him it was the opposite - because he'd always been in a little hutch on his own, he'd got nothing better to do than crash out and sleep so slept a lot more often and deeply than mine. When he was first here I'd often see him on his back and rush up in a panic and he'd just flip himself up and look really miffed that I'd awoken him from his nice snooze! I agree with Gem - he is likely to be nervous in his new surroundings so maybe won't eat as much for a few days, so as long as he is eating a little, I'd clean out all the poops tomorrow so you can see exactly how much he is eating and keep an eye on him from there.

After all you haven't really had him very long, moving and being near to other bunnies, even if he doesn't really know what they are- just strange creatures, maybe have upset him, made him nervous etc

thanks guys! i will check once more tonight, then sweep up in the morning (i usually do it every evening but didnt want to disturb him), i might actually be able to sleep now :shock: :lol:

Afternoon Donna!

Any news on litttle Linden today?

i'll let you know in an hour or so, we are just off to the vets.
a bit of hay nibbled a few toothmarks of a piece of celery and about 4 blades of grass and 2 poos
he seem bright enough in himself though. he is merrily chinning everything he can reach and pushing his toys around.
wish us luck please!

Oh no!

Good luck, come on little Linden!!

well he has a small spur that the vet doesnt think is bothering him too much (from what she could see, she doesnt want to give him a GA whilst he is so stressed), his front teeth are a little long, but we are hoping both will improve with lots of hay. he doesnt have any gas build up, so we are assuming he is eating hay when i am not looking. i have some gut stimulant to give him twice a day and if there are no poos by tomorrow night we have to go back.
she also said to try him with grass/dandelions/herbs and if he is willing to eat them to let him have as much as he wants. she thinks the no eating is down to stress as he was a very frightened bunny whilst at the vets.
he isnt in bad shape yet, though she said he is slim, so we dont really want him to lose any more.
so fingers crossed he will be ok.
we are hoping the spur on his tooth wont get any worse till he goes for neutering so he can have it done at the same time.
all in all i think it could have been worse, but i will be worried till i see some nice big poos

Awwww come on Linden

Can you have him next to a bun that loves their food?

The fact that somebun else is eating may have an effect on little Linden

Is this the little fluffy bun you took in?!

I only ask because Rudy is sooooooo different to sophie (my lop). Sophie eats like there is no tomorrow and he is a lot less active she is. Sophie will empty her hay rack 3-4 times a day whereas rudy has a nibble here and there. Sophie woofs all of her food down, but Rudy likes to have a bit now and a bit later like his hay! :lol:

Although he does poop a lot, I do give him some dried pineapple regularly to keep things moving along in his tummy cus of all that fur!

well the gut stimulant appears to have done the trick
he is merrily chomping on some cabbage and has eaten a handful of grass!
i also managed to find a bunny delicacy in my garden; nipplewort :shock: and that has been eaten! he has completely ignored the science selective but has eaten some of the cheap mix!
i have found 3 more poos, so not great but better than nothing!
i went into the bunnyhouse just a minute ago to find him sitting on top of his carrier looking like king of the castle
gem, i cant put him next to another bun as aspen and birch have the floor of the bunnyhouse 24/7 and i dont think that birch would tolerate another buck poking his nose in :shock: but all the others get excited at teatime and linden can see all from his crate (it is on top of 2 smaller crates that birch and aspen have their trays in).
loopylop, yes this is the little fluffster i took in, since taking in larch, my nethie i got got used to little buns eatling little amounts, but it was the fact i didnt see him eat anything, and no poos. i am going to get him some pineapple (shop didnt have any) to try and prevent his fur becoming a problem.
thankyou all for your support and advice, i really am gratefull! i think the little man is going to be ok

Thats brilliant news Donna!

I shall still keep all fingers crossed for your little man!

ahhh Have you got any pics?! :lol:

Awww so glad the little chap is eating and pooing.
.

i think he is to nervous to relax enough to eat whilst being watched.

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rabbit doesn't do that. Eating is part of survival instinct. They don't care if you are watching. We are not talking about a human sitting at a table near the entrance of a restaurant being watched by people waiting for a table.

Knowing you just got him, and assuming you don't know his prev. pellet brand, then the new pellet is a new experience to him and it takes a while to get used to. Usually we mix the old pellet 70% w/ new brand 30% for 1 week, then 50 - 50 on 2nd week, then 30% old mix w/ 70% new on 3rd week.

Also, it does take several days for rabbit to get used to a new environment.

Eating is a survival instict to any animal of any species, but there are many animals of all species who also will not eat in front of another, rabbits included.

Glad to hear he's doing a bit better Donna, I'm sure he'll settle more as the days go by. You won't want to let him go! :wink: :lol:

i dont want to let him go already but i dont have the space to keep him long term........... unless he will bond with the rex babies once he's neutered.
he has eaten some more of the cheap mix that he came in with and some more veggies, the poo count is in double figures now

Hi Donna - is he moulting cos I have had some trouble with Giz with that and gave him some kittmalt for 3 days and that seemed to work Hope hes ok - he looks like a little darling ...but no I cant have him :wink: :lol: