New bunny constantly running around, rapid breathing, clingy, grunting?

[Stargirl170]

Hi all

I own 5 rabbits have have just a few days ago picked up my 5th bunny Opie. He is a 12 month old mini lop male. I got him from a reputable rabbit breeder. Opie was brought back to her by a family that could no longer look after him.

He is a fun loveable rabbit who loves being stroked. However since bringing him home he has displayed a lot of strange behaviour that I have never seen it any of my other rabbits. I have been doing a bit of research but haven't really come across anything useful so some advice would be appreciated!

I must note he has not been neutered by his previous owners but I plan on getting this done - I have just today registered him at the vets and I have an appointment with them on Thursday!

Anyway, since bringing him home, he has a big pen in our living room that he is kept in when we are out, but when we are at home he is allowed to roam around the living room as he pleases.

Since being home all he has done is run around like crazy, constantly, taking a break occasionally by lying down with his feet out. He is always breathing very rapidly and when he does lie down it is only for a few seconds and he is breathing that rapid that he is shaking and sometimes he shakes so much I can here his teeth chattering - I'm guessing that he is hot and trying to cool down but then he is off again running around. Sometimes he also grunts while doing this.

I'm not sure if this is due to stress or whether he is just excited. He isn't binkying when he runs round.

He is so busy running round that I don't see him eating or drinking as much as my other bunnies do and his poops are smaller. I feel like I have to shut him in the pen so that he has less space to run and then he can concentrate on eating and drinking a bit more!

He also constantly follows me about and I'm always giving him cuddles and strokes but when I leave or put him in her s cage he doesn't like it! Just today he has also started nibbling my clothes and I assumed this was to get my attention.

Any ideas on whether this is normal behaviour? Particularly the constant running around and not resting!
Bunnies are usually less active in the day but it seems like he is active all the time!

Sorry about the long story, I'm just worried that his behaviour may be something to be concerned about rather than him just being affectionate!

Thank you!

 

[Sammysdct]

Hello, I'm new to rabbits, but thought I'd share my experiences/ideas.

From all the information I've gathered on here, I would probably say It's just excitement/being an un-neutred male. One sign of stress could be to look and see if his 3rd eyelid is showing. The lying down with feet out would suggest that he is comfortable with his home. (So I'm told on here). Lolly Hop was pretty hyperactive when we first brought her home. It was just excitement from having so much space & stuff to explore. To be fair she still is, not so much running around, but always on the go, exploring. She never seems to sleep either.

Perhaps to help with his eating you could use a forage box/other toys to give healthy treats such as forage/veggies. It really is just a box, filled with hay (or in my case strips of paper as i know she doesn't eat them) with some tasty treats to find buried in it. Or a loo rolls with some treats inside, either sealed or open so that they either have to chew/knock about to get the food. That way he can use up some energy and get food at same time. It has helped calm Lolly down and comes in very handy when I actually need a break from her to get something done. (She also follows me everywhere and has to stick her nose into everything I'm doing).

It occurred to me his water intake may increase if you have more than one water source, I have a bowl in Lolly's cage, but also in the living room where she likes to play. She drinks far more from the bowl in the living room. I often have to refill it during the day. I imagine that a water bowl would make it easier for him to drink, and if its where he spends his time zooming, he may be more inclined to pause for a moment to drink.

If he likes being petted, perhaps you could try to calm him down with that when you can see he is getting 'overworked' ?

I'm not sure about shutting him in. Perhaps if you have a bunny safe room you could shut him in there so his space is restricted, but still has lots of room to move?

You can always bring up his behavior at the vets on Thursday.

All if this is guesswork based on my own reading and very limited (3 weeks) experience with rabbits. I'm sure an expert will come along to give proper advise soon.

 

[happybun]

Search 'bunny 500'. You'll find it. nothing to worry about.

 

[Tamsin]

If he's running about happily I wouldn't be too worried. Is he having a pre-neuter checkup visit? I'd mention his behaviour to the vet and they can check his breathing and heart to reassure you. It may be that he didn't have much space for exercise in his previous home and he's unfit, a good weight doesn't necessarily mean he's got the muscles and stamina to run constantly, so he may wear himself out more to start with until he's used to the exercise.

The grunting while running can be an excitement thing, it's more common in unneutered bucks but some still continue after neutering.

Sammysdct idea about extra bowls is a good idea. It may help to have extra food stations where he hangs out with water and hay. If he likes your attention he may also like being hand fed hay Increasing his hay intake should help increase poop size. How much dry food is he having? Decreasing that can help increase hay too.

He obviously loves his new home and having all the space and attention!

 

[Stargirl170]

Thanks all for your advice!

I did put out extra water bowls to increase his water intake which seemed to help! I also put out extra hay. After a few days he has started to calm down with all the excitement and running around, so he is finally eating and drinking a bit more.

He is still breathing heavily and grunting but I took him to the vets Thursday who checked him over and assured me everything was normal. He was also neutered during his trip to the vets too.

I did notice he seems to be getting quite territorial and I am hoping that this will calm down as his hormones disappear. I was unsure what the grunting meant, but I have been having a read and it would seem rabbits mostly do this when they are unhappy with human behavior. He normally comes and lies next to me on the ssofa when he fancies it, but lately he has been nipping at my clothes and even biting me several times and I think he is trying to tell me to get off his sofa! I have been ignoring this behavior but hope it goes away soon.

 

[Tamsin]

Males that are excited about ladies grunt a lot, and he can probably smell your other bunnies which might encourage him. It's possible your clothes smell like the other bunnies? I expect you'll find his behaviour improve over the next few weeks as his hormones go down.