New bunny issues?

[flapjack]

Hello again B.B. forums! So I ended up bringing home a sweet lionhead girl to work on bonding with my male dwarf, and the first few bonding sessions have gone very well! However I am having a few issues I have questions about.

First of all: she seems to be shaking slightly? It doesn’t look like labored breathing or anything. Her body just kind of shakes at the same rate her nose twitches. Is that just normal for some bunnies? I read on B.B. that she might be warm and my room is a little toasty right now, so I turned on some fans (not directly on her).

She also doesn’t really seem to be eating. I’ve offered pellets and hay (both oxbow) as well as some small pieces of pineapple to try and tempt her to eat, but nothing. It looks like she has drank a little water. She is pooping, but they’re quite a bit smaller than my other rabbits poops. I also saw a big smudged pile of cecotropes after she hopped away from a spot she was sitting in. When I go to the cage she sits up for attention, and when I took her out this morning for some me+her bonding, she was very inquisitive (literally bright eyed and bushy tailed) and kept hopping up on me for pets.

I’ve already decided I’ll have to force feed her some moistened pellet paste if she doesn’t eat soon, but I wanted to get other opinions. From what I’ve read, gi stasis can cause them to feel icky and not want to eat. I’ll also listen for tummy gurgles a bit later, but I’m thinking she might just need some time alone to relax.

ETA: I just brought her home last night around 9pm and it’s currently 11:20 am. It kind of sounded like she has been here a while but we have done one date at work (I work at an animal shelter and that’s where I got her from), an extended bonding session last night with LOTS of snuggles and grooming, and a short session this morning with a few thumps but nothing bad.

[flapjack]

I just caught her nibbling on some pellets, so maybe it’ll all be ok!

[flapjack]

Sorry to triple post but I’m all worried again.

She nibbled on some pellets but hasn’t eaten any hay. I’ve offered Timothy, orchard and botanical and she wanted nothing to do with any of it.

I did give her a little benebac to see if that will help her appetite but I’m getting worried again. She keeps pooping out cecotropes and smashing them against her cage floor. At least one positive is she took the benebac like a champ?

Also I did listen to her tummy and I heard no gurgles. She is still in a great mood too- not happy about being picked up a lot, but still looking pretty good.

[Rain]

I think you should take her to a vet. Mushy poos, or small poos, and not eating hay, are all bad signs, and means something is really up. Things like this become more serious if not diagnosed and treated by a qualified veternarian. Do you have an exotic pet clinic around your area?

[flapjack]

I do. The only issue is I work all day long tomorrow…I’ll try to see if I can figure something out. I did catch her eating some hay a moment ago, but I will figure out a way to bring her in just to be safe.

[Muchelle]

How old is she? If she’s a young bun do have her tested for coccidia when you take her to the vet. This parasite is very easy to detect and treat (take 2 or 3 fresh poops to the vet) but if undetected it may lead to not eating and poop problems.

It can also be she’s sensitive to the stress of being in a new home, but just to be sure I’d still book her a vet appointment for a general checkup.
Do keep us updated!

[flapjack]

She’s one year old, or so we estimated. I’m not sure if that’s in the range for coccidia or not. I’ll probably have to wait until at least Monday, because that’s when I’ll have availability to go to the vet (and most vets are closed tomorrow.)

I also need to figure out if I even CAN take her to a rabbit vet as I haven’t officially adopted her yet (employees have the ability to take an animal home for 7 days to test out how it’ll be before they adopt.) I might have to bring her back to work but I don’t think anyone there is extremely rabbit savvy so I’m nervous to do that.

If there’s something seriously wrong, would she still be in a chipper mood? She was just napping but I heard hay rustling and caught her nibbling hay. Whenever I look over she always seems to stop! :p

[Muchelle]

If there’s something wrong but not extremely wrong, sadly a bun can behave like nothing’s going on. I’ve seen mine binky and do his things hours before having to be thrown into emergency surgery. Not wanting to be scary, just saying their behaviour not always is useful in detecting how they’re really feeling.

I just had a thought: is she eating different hay/pellets/vegetables than before coming to your house? Dietary changes are not welcomed, so it might be a side effect of being adopted.

Or it can be she’s not feeling confident enough to be freely eating when you or other people are around and so she’s sneaking in some bites when she’s alone?

[flapjack]

The shelter uses timothy hay and a variety of food (i believe its whatever is donated to us, for the most part). I’ve just been giving her hay and water, and she’s been eating a bit more hay! She doesn’t go for it instantly like Flapjack does (he practically jumps out of his cage he’s so excited for his pellets and hay) but she has been eating and drinking.

She has also been pooping still. They’re still small and still some uneaten cecotropes, and I did see some doubles as well (but just a few.) I think I may switch her to a water bottle, because right now I’ve been giving it in a little bowl and it seems like once it gets hair in it/slimy, she doesn’t want anything to do with it. She peed during a date last night, and it was super orange.

I’ve read that double poops can be a result of a slow gut but also from ingesting lots of hair. She is a lionhead and grooms herself frequently, and she does shed a lot (though that could be stress too, of course.)

Given the way she’s acting, I’m not sure if it is a lack of confidence, but I suppose it always *could* be. She’s very social, very inquisitive. She didn’t even get startled by the cats investigating her cage (they were more afraid of her, as they do :p )

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