IMPORTANT: Bunny Flop

[Mylin]

OK. So I had this super long posted type up and of course I made a typo at the end which caused me to hit backspace which of course then took me to the prior page where I lost everything I wrote so below is a quick rage summary of what I wrote previously. That also means I may have left out a detail or two so please feel free to ask. 

So the scenario described below is pretty much the recent scare or concern my little Pistachio has presented me. A little background on her, she is my first bunny and has recently reached the age of five months. For me, this is a success as I’ve been a successful bunny owner so far ( at least I like to think ) and that I now have to deal with her raging hormones. ( Prolly same amount of rage as me having to retype my previous entry ). She isn’t of age yet so she hasn’t gone to the vet for the big surgery but I will be making her appoint in the near future and will most likely have lots of worries which will then cause me to come running back to this forum for reassurance. Now the issue at hand is in regards to something that has happened to twice this week so far. 

She just flopped over. Like Bam. ( or more accurately “soft thud” )

Now I know little Pistachio to be a bit relaxer. She looooooves just hopping up to her third floor, getting a good stretch in and then laying flat out on her belly with her hindlegs kicked back and front paws stretched forth, or taking a snooze on her side. This isn’t of concern. In fact, I rather enjoy it since this means she isn’t up to no good and looks even more adorable. Even her little snores are nice. What isn’t nice however is how she does this thing where she falls over without warning. Her most recent episode was actually a little earlier today. Probably about thirty minutes ago. She was going about her little pen when I heard her body hit the ground. Immediately, I look over and she was laying on her side with her back towards me near my feet. ( I was sitting right outside her pen on my bed ). Now, I’m still getting used to bunny language so when I heard the noise I do what I always do. I stop and observe from a distance without moving. That way I can make a judgement as to whether there needs to be an intervention or not. Now when she flopped over, I could see her breathing just fine. It was slightly quickened but then started to slow until I could hardly tell she was breathing from her nose. Of course I panicked (internally ) because I thought I just saw my little one die in front of me. ( SCARY ). Worried she was slipping away to the light, I quickly called her name and she looked over her shoulder at me and her breathing returned to normal. Que sigh of relief. . . or so I thought. After a quick glance over she shoulder, she turned her head back and sort of laid it on the ground and her eyes started to close while her breathing started to slow again. Again, after another internal “Oh my gosh she’s dying” moment, I called her name and again she looked at me. This time however she kept staring back at me over her shoulder and I could see the white in her eye. Sort of the wide eye that they give you if startled or scared. Each time I called her name, she looked as if she made a single effort to get up on her feet but couldn’t. I felt at this point I have watched from a distance enough and made a movement to go over to her, which really wasn’t far since she was on the other side of the fence about a foot away. However, once I moved she quickly hopped to her feet and looked back at me. I of course felt relief but to make sure, I gave her a couple of gentle pets and ran my hand across her back to check for sensitivity which I did not seem to find. And after her brief petting session, she quickly hopped up to her third floor, stretched and laid out on her stomach. 

The question is, is this a case of head tilt or some other illness, or is this just a lazy bunny being lazy and relaxing?
She has only done this about once before some time this week where she just flopped over, laid there for a second and then quickly got up. I don’t remember any significant changes either. Please provide a little input on this case! I’m not sure if I should schedule an earlier visit or if I am just panicking for no reason. I mean, all my bunny really does it just stretch out her legs and relax the day away so maybe this is just her accidentally flopping over faster than she usually would. I welcome any comments, advice and questions regarding this matter. Figuring this out will really put me at ease.

[Deleted User]

You named your forum perfectly – IMPORTANT: Bunny Flop!
I said in an other forum – just offering advice to a new bunny owner to watch out for the first bunny flop, and that first time bunny owners should get a warning about that! Yep, a warning tag attached to the cute bunny’s butt would of saved 10 years off my life! The first time Henry did it – I thought he dropped dead mid air! With my heart in my mouth I watched for his little tummy to rise and fall again (breath). At the time I was mortified – but now I can have a laugh at myself. I still don’t know why bun’s choose to lay down/flop down that way – I just know that they do????? Naughty bunny’s! is it their way of seeing our reaction and if we care? Or worse – so they can laugh at us and our reactions?
To all you bunnies out there – NOT FUNNY!

[Mylin]

Oh gosh, so it’s perfectly fine? I know my bunny likes to toy with me but I was about to flop over myself. I just remember reading a bit about head tilt so when she flopped over, I jumped to the conclusion that she could possibly have it. I mean she definitely looooooves to “chillax”, so I was worried if I should bother her or not but I figured better safe than sorry. Even if it meant I was disturbing her from reaching the “ultimate chillax mode.”

[manic_muncher]

^^^^ THAT!!

 

Bumpy has also started to add a roll-over into his flop.  So sometimes he’ll flop, roll onto back and wiggle feet in the air, then lay still.  And even though I have seen him do it before and he was fine, it doesn’t stop the little worry in my mind!  I swear it doesn’t look much different than a seizure!

[Kbana]

It is so funny ( and of course scary ) when they do that. It is totally normal and you should really consider it a complement. It means your bun is the most relaxed and content it can be. It feels safe and secure enough to relax in a position that makes it harder for them to get away (without legs tucked under their body ready to flee) I always love seeing mine flop now because he is a lionhead/lop mix and his mane goes flying. It is almost like he is flipping his hair. LOL. He should have been in and 80’s hair band or something. Enjoy it! If you were to witness a head tilt situation, I believe you would see first a more rhythmic moving of the head/eyes and possible rolling, but I would think it would be obvious to you that they were having a hard time controlling their movements. Others will probably be better at providing info on this topic though.

[Mylin]

&& manic_muncher – Thank you so much for the picture! That’s exactly what she did. I wanted to grab my phone to take a picture but so many thoughts were going through my head I didn’t manage to. I was pretty much arguing with myself in my head going back and forth between “she’s just relaxing” to “OHMIGARSH SHE’S DYING.”

&& Kbana – Sounds like he’d be a star if he was featured in a shampoo commercial haha. But hearing that really puts me at ease. There was definitely no twitches or eye rolling of any sort. It makes me even happier to know she is super happy though. It’s like receiving a gold star sticker every time I see her just stretch out and take a nap so I guess her tossing herself on the ground would be a double sticker. I definitely take pride in knowing my bunbun feels safe. Especially since she did this right at my feet!

[Deleted User]

Bring back the 80’s hair bands!

I’m so pleased your at ease now Mylin – enjoy your bunny flops (if you can) he he he he…..

[Mylin]

She just did it again!

I know I said I’m at ease about it, but do they really occur that often? No signs of any rolling eyes or anything, and she looks like she is just relaxing so I’m pretty sure that all is good. I have been home for the past two days or so, so I guess I’m just catching her now that I’m home. It’ is a little intimidating, but seeing her drift into sleep is really nice. I want to reach for my phone to take a picture but I don’t want to disturb her haha.

[Deleted User]

Forget about Pistachio’s comfort – take a picture! Lol…..

[Mylin]

I’ll take a picture next time. Promise! ( To add to my growing collection ). I’m feeling sort of stalkerish now cause I’m constantly glancing over towards her waiting for her to do it again haha. Who knew waiting for your bunny to collapse would be so exciting. Just another thrill that non-bunny owner’s will never know.

[manic_muncher]

lolol don’t worry.. sometimes I catch Bumpy a couple times a day, sometimes I don’t see it for a week! It actually took me a month to catch him for a pic. Usually he gets up when he hears me move.

lol yes, non-bunny owners just don’t understand!

[Bam]

It’s so scary, the first time Yohio did it I had to write to the BB forums and ask, and at that time I’d had my other rabbit Bam for 1,5 years. Bam just never does these drastic seizure-like flops. When Yohio did it the first time I freaked out. I feared he had some brain-damage-like terrible illness. It didn’t help that I’d read about full flops, seeing it irl was sth else altogeather.

[BubblesJo]

MM, Chester does the exact same thing! Flop, roll, wiggles his feet and then settles. The most hilarious time he did it was when I was petting him on the bed. He just stood up and flopped! I laughed so hard

I just don’t get why they do it like that… shouldn’t it hurt to just hit your back on the floor like that? Oh bunnies

[Kbana]

ha ha ha! Yes, some do it way more often than others. Some wait a time between them. Too funny! They are so dramatic! And I’m all for bringing hair bands back. Wait, did I just age myself. Shoot!

[rayray]

I had a similar scare. I was use to Ziggy bunny flop. But after he was neutered, he started doing the flop but on his back with his legs out. lol! Maybe he was airing out his suctures. lol! But he would pick the most ramdom places to do it. LIke the middle of the hallway or in the kitchen.

[manic_muncher]

This is the bunny which began my researching house rabbits (and relevant to the conversation!)

[Mylin]

It’s great to hear all the similar stories haha. Thanks so much for the reassurance in this matter. I have officially gone from freaking out to being excited and happy. I even got a picture! (Sort of)

I’m actually on my phone so I’ll have to get it uploaded later though.

[Author]

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