Bunny very jittery, recently fed coconut ice cream and all

[Peweemouse]

I have five rabbits: two females and three males. All of the males live in separate cages, while the females live together. Depspite being separated, the rabbits can hear each other as they are all in the same room of the house. None of them are fixed. The mother and father buns are 3 years. The babies are 2.

Recently, in the past day, one of the younger males, Peewee, has become very jittery, running about his cage at any sound of the other bunnies rummaging in their own cages. This sounds fairly normal, considering he is not fixed, but it’s seemed a bit excessive this past day. He is also snipping at me when attempting to pat him. This was noticed one day after he was heard thumping throughout the night after his cage had been moved to another area in the house.
In addition, Peewee has been eating a very minimal amount of hay (so little that I am becoming worried), and is even not very excited when offered pellets, greens, or carrots, although he does pick at them over time. The only thing he seems to really go for is when I offer him some sliced banana. I’m happy he is eating somethings, but I’m concerned with his lack of interest in his hay. His poops are also smaller than normal, but he still is making a fair amount of them.

Some things to note:
-The quality of hay was recently changed. All the buns were eating a second cut local Timothy hay with plenty of seed heads, but it’s been about 2 weeks with the newer hay, a third cut Timothy hay with little to no seed heads. Of all the buns, Peewee seemed to enjoy the newer hay the least. Since he hasn’t been interested in his hay, I’ve tried reintroducing the older hay to him as I had a bit leftover, but he doesnt seem interested in either.
-Peewee, and only Peewee, was given the tiniest taste of So Delicious brand coconut mint chip ice cream without my permission the night prior to his behavior change. I know coconut can upset the stomachs of buns especially with whatever else may be in the ice cream, but Peewee has been fine in the past with small amounts of young coconut meat, and with the tiny amount that he was exposed to, I wouldn’t think it would be of much concern. Yet, I still wanted to mention it here.
-He was also brought out to play in the snow for a few minutes the two days after Winter storm Jonas and was having a blast doing binkies and digging. I made sure he wasn’t wet or cold when brought back in, and he has done fine in the past being allowed to play in the snow. He did have a slight sniffle/sneeze yesterday evening, but that has dissipated and I haven’t noticed it today.

Of course you should be concerned when your rabbits eating habits or behaviors change, but I’ve read that such a change is usually accompanied by a lethargic or reserved state. I find it very curious that Peewee has become more rambunctious despite his seeming lack of interest in eating.

Is it possible that he is going through some maturing and attempting to reclaim dominance so much so that he is overlooking his food?
Or could he be masking his pain with aggression and his energetic manner?

I know no one can give advice with certainty especially from a brief description, but would like to get others’ perspectives or know if anyone has dealt with buns showing similar behaviors.

[drwil]

You moved the rabbit. In my experience animals that have territory in the wild hate moving. When we babysit other people’s rabbits while they are on vacation they will thump a lot usually for several nights. Then when their owners return they are so glad to go back home.

Have you put him back where he was first housed?

[Author]

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