Nervous ear scratching ??

[Ali925]

 I know this probably seems like a very dumb question…but has anyone had experience or heard of bunnies that will scratch ears incessantly out of nervousness, being bothered by something, etc.??  I know the obvious reason would be that something is going on in Oreo’s lop ears…however it seemed to come out of nowhere while we were having some intense thunder/lightning…  I know she gets scared when she sees the lightning, and freaks out about sounds like wind, etc…things we can’t even hear and she’ll thump.

Anyhow, am I crazy for asking this?  Or can they have almost like a nervous twitch like ear scratching?  Otherwise we are going to be seeing a vet soon…  I only saw it last night (during the storm) and so far today she seems normal, so obviously I’ll see how she is today without jumping to conclusions.  We also had the A/C on for the first time in a while and I’m wondering if that dried her out a bit ?  It was very hot here yesterday (and today) and her inner ears did seem a tiny bit dry at the inner end…  

So if I’m wrong, I’m thinking it’s a bit of dry skin…can you put something on the inner ear to help with that?  I think I read plain neosporin somewhere on the boards here?  I looked down the canal with a flashlight and didn’t notice anything abnormal…but then again I’m no vet.

 

Thanks, and be kind with my silly hypothesis of a nervous twitch lol…I just like to think of all options before thinking it’s a serious issue

[Deleted User]

I would have her ears checked since you can’t be sure what it is. A sound, especially a certain frequency or volume of sound can cause an animal to shake its head, though. My dog shakes his head when there are gun shots or thunder.

[LoveChaCha]

I have no experience with thunder and my bunny.

A few months ago, my bun had a bout with a ruptured ear drum in her left ear. She also had redness in her right ear. She would itch and shake her head. I’m not sure if your bun is shaking its head or not.

[BinkyBunny]

My first thought was along the lines of what Petzy mentioned. That your bunny may be sensitive to sound – maybe an eardrum issue, could be painful or bothersome with loud cracking thunder. Telling your vet when this actually happens will be important to getting to the bottom of it.

[Ali925]

Thanks guys…at this point it seems like it was just an isolated incident… And it wasn’t so much the thunder (it actually wasn’t that loud)…there was more lightning than anything and I’d seen her jump at that before. She gets scared sometimes just looking out the sliding glass back door…or when the windows are open. I think she’s just a nervous one. Sorry for not getting back to your comments sooner, I appreciate the feedback…was on a long weekend trip away from here…

But like I said, if I notice anything else I’ll get her checked out.

[Michelle&Lolli]

I haven’t noticed anything related to sound but Lolli has been scratching at her ears and shaking her a lot. I looked at her ears and she definitely has dry skin, so when I get money, she’ll be going to the vet to get her ears cleaned.

My bun Eddie was a nervous rabbit. He was a mini lop too and I think it’s because he couldn’t always hear if his ears were down. I’d practically yell his name at him to get his attention sometimes before he’d finally perk up his ears and look around like “huh? what? who? me?” lol There were several times where he’d be asleep, wake up, freak out, thump and run for cover cause he finally heard something and it scared him. LOL

[Nibbles_NZ]

Bunbuns your rabbit may have ear mites. Baxter did the same exact thing for the longest time. I saw dry skin and took him to vet. They squirted something on the back of his neck and it cleared them up within days. It was only $17 to get that done.

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