Monty is behaving quite strangely today.
Backstory: My boyfriend and I went away for one night this weekend and left him home (our flatmates were there but we didn’t want to rely on them to feed him since he is good at escaping.. But we figured they would call if they noticed anything wrong) as we figured it was better that than disrupting him by trying to take him with us. We’ve done this a couple of times before and he’s been fine. We left him in his big cage with tons of hay, a big bottle of water and a bowl of water, a big bowl of veggies and enough pellets for a day and a half (he is quite good at rationing them out and doesn’t generally eat more than he needs in one go).
When we got back he seemed fine, he had a few pellets left and had drunk almost a bowlful of water but not much of his bottle (although it’s possible our flatmates refilled it, we haven’t spoken to them yet). Later we tried to get him out of his cage for a run around but he became very territorial, which is not usual for him. Because his cage is in another room to the room he’s allowed to run free in, and because won’t be picked up, we usually put his carrier in his cage, and either he hops in or we encourage him in with a gentle push to the backside. But yesterday he didn’t want to get in. He went flat to the floor in the corner of his cage and growled if we tried to coax him in. We decided to leave him be in the cage for a bit if he really didn’t want to come out, but my boyfriend offered him a piece of carrot as a friendly gesture. Monty snapped at him and knocked the carrot out of his hand, on to the floor, where he barely ate any of it.
We left him in the cage overnight, and this morning he seemed OK, using his litter tray fine, eating a few pellets and so on. I managed to get him into the carrier and let him out in our bedroom for a run around.
The thing is, apart from to make a quick inspection of the room when he first got in there, all he’s done is sit under the bed (in a spot he doesn’t generally sit in) and hide. He’s not eating many pellets (he usually goes nuts for them) and the only way I can coax him out for even a few seconds is to offer him greens, which at the moment he will still eat quite happily. I put my hand under the bed to stroke him earlier and must have done so too quicky for him because he growled. Since then though he will generally allow me to touch his head. I can’t reach under there far enough to do much more than that. I have seen him use his litter tray at least once today, and I haven’t heard any stomach gurgling or teeth grinding to suggest he has any digestive upset. The few times I have seen him hop around he has moved normally. He is sitting quite normally but he won’t “flop” like he normally does, he is just sitting upright like a little hen.
I can’t figure out what in the world could be the matter unless he is just upset at having been left alone overnight. I know rabbits often disguise being ill which is why I’m so worried he isn’t behaving normally, but I don’t know if the vet will be able to tell anything if I take him as he’s not showing any symptoms particularly apart from not being as active as normal and being a bit territorial. What should I do?
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