Bunny settling in behaviour

[Tiernan]

Hi there,
Saturday we picked up our two new Flemish Giant bunnies. I was a bit shocked at their living conditions with the breeder. We’ve brought them home and one (Cable, the male) seems to be settling in great, but the female ( Domino) is still quite scared it would seem. She is eating and drinking, as well as pooing normally. I have caught her grooming and snuggling Cable, but she often sits in her litter box and seems to be breathing quite heavily. Is this just because she’s a bigger bun, so more noticeable? Or is she still stressed? We have let her be, and given her the option of leaving her room which she does not want to, whereas Cable has been quite curious and sociable. Should I be on the look out for anything health-wise?

Thanks!
C & T

[Bam]

It’s good that she has the option to leave the room – always best when they can choose when and if they want to explore and/or socialize. The heavy breathing is a bit worrisome though. A vet check is always a good idea with a new bun, but a vet visit is of course always stressful too, so it’s not so straightforward to recommend it with a bun that seems stressed out as it is. Breathing issues can have to do with the heart. I’m assuming there’s no sign of runny nose/eyes or any weird sound when she breathes? Snuffles (bunny cold, cause by bacteria) is common in rabbitries.

Does she have a safe hidey place where she can get away from practically all stimuli? Normally you’d use a cardboard box with two or more “door holes” but a Flemish is of course a bit too big for most boxes. Maybe you could rig sth with fleece blankets and a small table?

It’s very good she’s eating, drinking, pooping and grooming Cable.

[Bladesmith]

I approve of those names! And we require pictures! There seems to be a dearth of Flemmie slaves here. I wonder why? Is it because people are intimidated by their size, or are Flemmies just not a popular breed?

[Tiernan]

Bam,
We do have a big box with doors in her room, she doesn’t seem to care for hiding in there but he does. We plan to take them for vet checks but since she has been quite stressed we planned to give her space to calm. Perhaps I need to just take her anyways. Her breathing has calmed down a bit this morning, and she’s been a little more adventurous. Not snuffles, for sure! It’s more rapid than heavy as well. I’ll try to come up with a diffeeent way for her to his since she doesn’t like the box. Currently they are still babies, younger than we were lead to believe, so they fit into boxes still ?

[Tiernan]

Bladesmith-
So glad you got the names! ? I’ll try to upload some photos. They are still babies, and not “true” colour, the breeder swears they are pure blood, so I’m guessing the colours have been muddled. I did meet the parents and they definitely looked like pure Flemish.

Cable & Domino

Cable

[Author]

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