Just after a little quick advice.

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 8sd replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 7 months ago by jerseygirl.

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- 09/07/2013 at 12:29 PM
  RetroSquid
  Participant
  264 posts
  We recently rescued a bun to be a companion to our other little bun. (Navi and Link respectively)
  We had her spayed approximately four weeks ago, and the bonding has gone very well, they snuggle and lick each other most of the time, although she’s a little skittish around the humans. (Not too skittish, but just very observant of where we are)
  
  The problem started about an hour ago… Out of the blue, she suddenly darted under the sofa, looking terrified.
  And now, she’s just hiding in the tube in the cage, stomping… We’ve tried everything from separating them, shutting the door, closing the curtains and generally making the space as quiet and relaxed as possible, but she just won’t calm down.
  
  I can hear her now, stomping in the next room.
  
  She did take a pellet from me and ate it, but just the one…
  
  I’ve never seen a bun act like this before, and as Navi was a companion bun for Link after he lost his pal nearly three months ago, we’re very paranoid about unusual behavior…
  
  Any help of advice on what might be causing her very sudden distress would be VERY much appreciated!!!
- 09/07/2013 at 12:42 PM
  LBJ10
  Moderator
  17238 posts
  Could she have heard something outside that perhaps you didn’t? Her behavior is consistent with being alarmed over a potential threat. It has been a little while since you posted this, has she calmed down?
- 09/07/2013 at 12:48 PM
  RetroSquid
  Participant
  264 posts
  See, just before she started acting like this, there was a gust of wind that blew a window open elsewhere in the house (Two rooms from her)
  But no, she hasn’t calmed down at all…
  My wife is sitting with her, she’s taken a little curly kale, but whenever my wife leaves the room, she starts stamping again.
  
  We have a number of other animals, mainly ferrets and cats, she spends time with the cats in the room without a problem and is used to hearing their comings and goings, also, we make a point of watching movies when with the buns to make sure they’re used to a number of different sounds and she has been totally fine, until this afternoon…
- 09/07/2013 at 12:51 PM
  LBJ10
  Moderator
  17238 posts
  Is your other bunny calm? It find it helps my rabbit Wooly if he’s scared when he sees his friend Leopold being calm. Of course Leopold is deaf, so he’s always calm. LOL
  Are they together right now or are they still “dating”? If they can be together, your other bun may be able to calm her.
- 09/07/2013 at 12:57 PM
  RetroSquid
  Participant
  264 posts
  Aww, poor Leopold.
  
  They have been living together as a proper pair for just under two weeks now, Link, the other bun, is very calm, almost as though he didn’t even realise anything was going on.
  We actually separated them to help try and calm Navi down and my wife was a little paranoid that he might get hurt with her darting around the cage and stomping.
  
  She’s out of the room now and Navi hasn’t stomped for a few minutes… *fingers crossed*
- 09/07/2013 at 1:14 PM
  LBJ10
  Moderator
  17238 posts
  I have found there to be some advantages to having a deaf rabbit. He isn’t scared by loud noises and you can sneak up on him really easily if you need to grab him. I don’t think he knows any different since we believe he was born that way. =)
  
  I’m glad she seems calmer now. Is her friend helping at all? Or is she just calmer?
- 09/07/2013 at 1:18 PM
  RetroSquid
  Participant
  264 posts
  That does sound a little advantageous.
  
  She’s just relaxed a fair bit now, I think having her pal back actually made very little difference.
  
  When we first took her to the vets for her first check up and to book her to be spayed, the vet thought she might be a young giant rabbit, but, after spending some time with her and researching a bit, she seems like she might have a bit of Belgian Hare in her. she just has the mannerisms and is somewhat more flighty than any other bun I’ve known.
  
  Still, today was a bit of a shock…
  
  I have truly never seen an animal look so terrified…
- 09/07/2013 at 7:51 PM
  Roberta
  Participant
  4355 posts
  You don’t know what associations the sounds or smells from her past may have… My main ceiling fell in during a storm last year and whilst the buns were in a different room the sound and dust was terrifying for all (especially the cats that were asleep in the main room at the time) Of course there was the noise of workmen trying to restore my house some time afterwards, Pepper became so distraught she tried to herd me into the sleeping loft with all the other buns. I managed to calm her and once she had everyone in a cuddle huddle she was reassured, although she remained insistent that I should be in there with them) It wasn’t until quite a bit later that I discovered exactly how badly they were upset by the ceiling collapse when during another large storm all the buns started thumping and running into the loft again, they were inconsolable until the wind stopped and the weather settled. They obviously associated the noise of the wind with the previous event and were on alert.
- 09/08/2013 at 8:02 PM
  jerseygirl
  Moderator
  22356 posts
  Could she have picked up on the ferrets smell from the wind in the house?
  
  My rabbits sometimes startle when I’m carrying something-especially if large and dark coloured. I use a big dark green bag for hay and if I walk into their space with it in front of me, they’ll run. I really need to find an alternative for the hay!
  
  Good to hear she calmed down in the end.
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