Bunny constantly overheating?

[SenbeiBunny]

Hi all!
I brought home my year old french pop girl Senbei last night and am worried about her overheating.

I bought her from a pet shop where conditions were terrible. The bunnies were kept in tiny cages (even the french lips and Flemish giants)where there was no padding for their feet whatsoever.  The rabbits were drinking from ball water bottles that had mold growing in them. There were no toys, no enrichment, no socialization, they had limited hay, and the employees kept grabbing them roughly and flipping them on their backs.

 

my Senbei is very sweet, despite what she has endured. She’s pretty curious, and we’ve been bonding a lot. I think she’s much more happy than before.

Senbei isn’t neutered yet, so we have the kitchen blocked off for her to roam around in. Whenever I enter the kitchen and sit with her, she’ll run up to me, do a few binkies and play until she starts overheating.

After throwing around a few toys and doing two or three binkies, she’ll go into a state we’re she loafs, starts panting rapidly, her ears become very warm to the touch, she become lethargic and won’t eat hay, drink water, move or even poop. She just stays completely still and pants heavily.

Could this be because she’s been caged her entire life so she isn’t used to exercise? Is this abnormal and probably a health issue?

I’ve been giving her ice packs, a cold aluminum sheet to lay on, cold water, keep the room temp pretty low (cold for me as a human) and have tried setting her ears and blowing on them but it doesn’t stop her from overheating.

It makes me very sad to see her suffer whenever she’s having fun or getting excited. I really hope there’s something I can do, or some way to make it better.
maybe she just needs to get used to being able to move around and have fun? 🙁

any tips, advice or words of encouragement would be appreciated. Thanks much!!

[Bam]

It’s not normal that she overheats like this, but it could have to do with the bad situation she came from. Giving her cold things to lie on and keeping the room temp low are great measures. If you have access to a good rabbit vet Id recommend that you take her for a health exam, to see if she has some sort of infection going on. How is her appetite and poop?

I too think she’s very much happier now. I hope this is about her practically not having had any exercise at all in her previous situation. It seems reasonable to try and limit her exercise-time for starters, so she gradually gets used to having a lot more freedom. Thank you for taking her in!

[Author]

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