Thank you for rescuing this rabbit! 💗

You’re story reminds me very much of my first rabbit, Bam. My dog found him outside, where he had been dumped like garbage. Long story shorter: I brought him home, and after a short time  I decided to litter train him and let him roam free in my apt. He spent about a year sitting under the coffee table, only venturing out from there occasionally. We just let him do his thing, we fed him and treated him for the mites he came with and had him vaccinated (Europe) and suddenly, one day, after almost a whole year, he decided to come out of his shell.

Bam was fully adult, if your bun is younger, he will probably warm up to you sooner. Right now I think your bun is laying low, figuring stuff out. Rabbits are prey animals, so when they are uncertain of their environment, they tend to assume a very low profile.

Does your bun have a hidey house? Hide houses are very good for rabbits. An upside down cardboard box is fine, make two door holes in the opposite sides so the bun has an “emergency exit”, just like if it were a real bunny warren underground. If a bun knows it has a safe hide house, it can feel more inclined to investigate its surroundings, and also you. Cat tunnels ate also very much appreciated by buns, they will often make detours to run back to their preferred spot through the tunnel. Tunnels seem to really speak to their deepest instincts.

Reading aloud is very good. It makes him used to your voice and your presence in the room.

Oftentimes when a bun is hanging out with you or another household pet, the bun will just lie still in a loaf position. In the summer you often see wild buns hanging out like that, on a lawn or in a yard with a couple feet or so between them. This is a social behavior, even if it doesnt look very social to us hooms. Rabbits can also sleep with their eyes “open”, because they have a transparent eyelid that protects the eyes from drying out. This is probably sth that helps them survive, they look awake to predators even if they’re snoozing.

Theres so much fun and interesting things about rabbits that I hope you’ll discover. We will be very happy to try and answer questions you might have. Meanwhile, you can check out our rabbit info pages. There’s good info about proper diet and housing, for example.

https://binkybunny.com/house-rabbit-information/

The “puncture wound” could be from an insect bite,in which case a local reaction like swelling would be normal. You can clean it chlorhexidine solution or weak peroxide solution or weak iodine solution (which stains, so it’s not so nice to work with, but it is bunny safe), and put on some triple antibiotic ointment or fucidine ointment. If you use Neosporin, it must be the kind that doesnt have a painkiller added, the painkiller can cause adverse reactions in rabbits. Keep a close eye, if you see oozing or if the swelling gets bigger, etc, a vet visit would be of need. It can be difficult to get a vet appt now during the covid pandemic. A good way to keep track of a wound or swelling is to photograph it daily, because it’s very difficult to remember without documentation.

As for eating hay, it can be difficult to get a bun to eat hay, but it is very important. Lemon leaves are good, spinach is good in moderate amounts (has a lot of calcium and also oxalates, so it shouldnt be fed every day), but leafy greens are actually more of a delightful daily treat than the basis of a healthy bunny diet. If you give him lots of leaves, try and cut back some so he takes an interest in the hay. Dont stop the leaves, because a rabbit can refuse food and this can actually become lethal in a very short time. They’re not like dogs and cats that will eventually eat when they’re hungry enough. Rabbits are very much like horses, just like horses their stomachs should never be empty.

How old would you estimate him to be? The diet of a junior bun is different from the diet an adult requires. Would you say he is a good weight? Stray rabbits are often somewhat malnourished, although this time of year is of course the best time to be a stray rabbit in, food wise.

There’s a balance that needs to be struck with petting. You want to instill to the rabbit that you will never harm him/her with your touch, which is a necessary lesson to learn for handling the rabbit for medical purposes… at the same time, you want the rabbit to feel respected and secure that your presence does not mean an intrusion on their personal space. I would say don’t make him be the one to always need to signal you to stop.

… Also, did someone tell you he is a he? From the profile picture, he actually looks like a she, because it looks like there is a dewlap (which is typically on females only).

He does look like a she to me! And with the size of the dewlap prob at least a couple years old? Or potentially a pretty overweight male. Maybe if he was getting unlimited pellets in a cage before being dumped that could be the case. Sometimes vets can estimate age by looking at the rabbit’s the gait and way the back hips look (older buns feet tend to spay out a bit more, young buns are more parallel to each other).

With petting I try not to force the issue. With new bunnies I think it helps to your hands come near them, but not actually touch or pick them up (such as maybe reaching in to fill a water or food bowl, hand feeding, picking up a toy, etc). I also like to “ask” the bunny if I can pet them by placing my hand on the ground to the front/side of their face, pinky down, so the back of my hand is facing them. This mimic’s a “grooming request” between bunnies. If bun puts their head down, I proceed to pet. 🙂

My newest bunny Myra has been with me for a couple months and only just started really asking for pets by putting her head down with this. Since your bun came from such a crazy situation it may take more time to build trust. Even if you aren’t actively touching/petting you still build trust by giving her a safe place to live and correct care! Hand feeding also helps a ton with bonding with new buns and socialization.

Dana’s personal anecdote re: Myra reminded me of the journey I’ve been on with my second rabbit, Fable. I adopted her from a foster September 2019. She would either 1) run away from you approaching anywhere near her or 2) submit to pets and begin to literally hyperventilate and tense up as you did it. It was really jarring, because my Wick (other rabbit) loves pets. Fable had originally come from a hoarder, if I recall correctly, and then her foster only let her out 1 hour a day and she may have been housed with dogs and cats, so her exposure to humans was probably both minimal and very negative. She has a crazy sixth sense of knowing when you’re approaching her with the intent to pick her up, but it also bleeds into just me wanting to say hi to her. Either way, it begins the very slow-paced chase around the room (slow-paced = walking and stopping). I say it took a solid 6 months (aka, like 2 months ago!) for her to now come up to me and take pets and feel OK lounging near me. All this happened with minimal touching over those 6mo because I was very concerned with how she’d react when she was being pet! In this case, it was very much a minimal-touch to establish trust maneuver and it was very successful.

Awwww she’s being a clownfish! Does she have any hidey houses in the room? Cardboard boxes with holes cut out (and tape removed) are great and can help shy buns feel better about exploring.

So, will she be renamed Bernardina now perhaps? 😃 I agree she looks like a girl, because of the dewlap. I think she’ll venture out when she’s ready to. It sounds like she is building up for that! Just now there’s an inner conflict between the urge to be social (rabbits are very social crratures) and the urge to keep safe.  Please keep us updated, this so interesting! Have you managed to get her to eat a bit more hay?

What if you put a roof or hide box that covered the litter box/ hay area?  Then maybe she would be encouraged to toilet in the box and eat more hay because it was in a safe space?

He may be gassy and/or in pain. If he let’s you, you can try to do some tummy massages to move around and help release any gas bubbles.  There’s a YouTube video thru HowCast on some methods of giving tummy massages. https://youtu.be/JnuxGLa2reg

If he hasn’t eaten at all aside from a treat or two, you may need to force feed him. Do you have a needless syringe? You can create a pellet mush by soaking some pellets in water and try spooning it to him.

If he’s taking treats, that’s a much better sign than him not eating at all.

Gas and other pain aside, rabbits can commonly have dental problems, especially those who do not eat hay a lot or are dwarves (due to the smooshed nose face). By dental problems, it usually means the rabbit’s teeth have grown into the tongue and/or cheek, since rabbit teeth do not stop growing. If they do not eat enough fibrous hay, the teeth are not maintained. Genes can also just cause bad teeth. Teeth discomfort can stop a rabbit from eating. Do you notice any drooling or wet mouth corners? This can support dental problems, as the saliva is produced to lubricate and soothe the dental pain areas.

You can also try Simethicone (baby gas drops). One dose of 1ml is usually enough when my guy has gas.

You have been given great advice. I always try simethicone baby gas drops first of all, and very light tummy massage. Also try to make her move around, it helps gas to pass through. Make sure she keeps warm.

In circumstances like these, the bun can have any treat it wants. If she still likes lemon leaves, give her lemon leaves.

It is scary, but you are doing what you can. When a bun hasnt eaten for a while, it will be some time before it starts pooping again after having eaten. It can be many hours, even a day, before you see poop.

Liquid food is good because fluids are super-important. Did they give her sub q fluids? What is the liquid food called (if you know)? I would guess the med you were given, that wasnt a painkiller, was Reglan (metoclopramide) or possibly ranitidine. Those are gut motility drugs, to get things moving.

How is she now? Is she responsive,  interested in anything at all, does she move about at all? If not, it is important that you keep her warm. You can give her a warm water bottle (she must have space to move away from it if she gets too warm) or even hold her in your lap, with f ex a fleece blanket on her, and just warm her up with your own body warmth. Rabbits that dont eat can get hypothermia and that’s very dangerous.

If she fights her liquid food and meds, it is a good thing. A feisty rabbit has strenght. She will forgive you after, so it’s not like you are destroying her trust in you.

If you don’t mind me asking, how much did it cost when the vet gave you the medicines and fluids? I just want to be ready in case something happens to my bun.

Poop!!! Yay!!! Happy news!

It does sound like she is feeling a lot better. I hadnt heard of Emeraid before, but I looked it up and it seems like a good recovery formula for buns. Is she eating anything by herself now?

Wow what a scare! I would keep giving the EmeriAid, it will help promote good tummy flora and keep things moving. Recovery from stasis can occur in “fits and starts” so keeping up care is important until they are 100% back to normal.

Now I wonder about when you said she hid all day and didn’t eat, maybe that was the beginning of a tummy upset brewing? Now is also a good time to really push they hay (or fresh grass) more than ever. Fiber (hay) and moisture (water) are crucial to bunny gut functioning.

So glad she’s doing better! 🙂

I’m just now reading this thread. I’m so happy to see she is doing better. And yes, I agree with the others. I saw that dewlap and was like “uh oh, he might be a she”.

You will have to keep us updated on her progress. I think she will come around eventually. 🙂

Be careful giving away Bernard if your friend doesn’t know why her bunny passed! If her bunny passed suddenly and you are in an RHDV2 area, be careful before giving away the rabbit, as the virus can stay on surfaces and objects for a while.