Not touching greens very much

[LoveChaCha]

My usual piggy bunny Chacha has not been eating all of her greens lately. She leaves a small pile overnight, which is strange. She is one to scarf everything up during the night without problem.

 Tonight, I heard a tooth grind from her. It was weird. She also flopped and took a snooze for a bit, but otherwise, she is eating hay, and her treats. The tooth grind may be from the fact that I had to hold her to see if she had any spots on her coat where she was shedding. She does not like to be handled.

She just had an exam back in June, and got a clean bill of health.

 

This is making me a bit nervous

[BinkyBunny]

I had a bunny that would tooth grind under stress — When I had to handle her, when she would have to wait at the vets — it was her way to express stress rather than pain, and I had asked my vet about this as well (while we were at the vets) and she said it’s not uncommon for rabbits to grind due to stress.

However, if you normally handle her and she doesn’t grind her teeth, then this is still a new behavior. If the tooth grinding thing is really new for her, then I would watch closely. Put your ear to her tummy, when she is relaxing on the floor. Do you hear anything — a gentle periodic gurgling is what you want. (every 10 seconds or so). You could also try and do a little gentle tummy massage to help if there is any gas or other digestive issue. Sometimes just getting our bunny to run around a little bit can get the digestive system going (IF that is the problem) — grab some tunnels or things that will make her want to explore and see if that doesn’t help.

Regarding the greens, I have situations where Vivian will not eat a particular type,(one that she has always eaten before), and so it makes me wonder if I didn’t clean them well enough or if they just had a funky scent from where they were (before I bought them), or there was something wrong with them that I could not detect. Normally when I get a new batch of greens from the store, she will then eat them — so it makes me think that somehow something was up with the greens.

How have her poos been these last few days?  When she flopped how was her breathing? 

[LoveChaCha]

BB,

Thank you so much for your reply!

I just woke up (I have to be up early for a cancer walk in Seattle), and I examined the poo in the litter box in my room, and her poo is its normal size. When she flopped, the breathing was just a bit faster. We live on an upstairs apartment, and it isn’t uncommon for it to get really warm (but we have fans). This was late at night, so it was a bit cooled off.

I think that I obtained a batch of romaine from my job that she is disapproving of! She usually goes right for it, but I noticed when I got this batch, she wants nothing to do with it. I checked the plate of greens I left for her last night, and she did eat some of the romaine, but not all of it. She ate the green leaf and Italian parsley right up!

I’ll try to listen to her tummy. She usually does not like me being near her if she flops, but last night, I got to pet her while she was in that mode, and she really liked it. I didn’t hear any tummy noises otherwise.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I wouldnt worry too much as long as shes eating lots of hay. Like BB said, she might just be being fussy with the veggies. Did you recently get a new batch?

Olivia will grind her teeth under stress too. When shes molting and the grooming is taking too long, she grinds her teeth very loudly.

[Emmie]

Aww, chacha being fussy? I think BBs advice is on the money. Hoping she’s okay!

[LoveChaCha]

LPT, looks like the divas have a way of telling us that we are pissing them off, such as grooming, lol! I have been plucking her highness on and off because she is starting to shed. I got a head of lettuce very recently, but she has been snubbing it. I bought a new head today, and it got approval from her highness.

Emmie, I hope so

[LittlePuffyTail]

lol, what a fussy little bunny. D-I-V-A!!!!

[Author]

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