Possible runny nose? And a couple behavior questions.

[litheandgraphic]

I feel like I’ve already started so many topics on this forum already even though I’ve only started like, two. Still, I feel a little ridiculous as I’m nitpicking over every little thing. 

But I’ll cool it more from here, I promise.  I’m a HUGE worrywart AND a new bunny human, so I appreciate your patience with me.

I have a few questions, and I’m going to be taking Theodore to the vet no matter what, as he’s a new bun in a new home, but I was wondering if anyone had any similar experiences with the following and/or could answer a couple behavior questions for me.

1. Since coming to the new home, I’ve seen Theodore sneeze a couple times. Never in rapid succession, and I’ve only seen him do it about three times; little sneezes. There appears to be a very small amount of greenish crust around his nose, almost like he’s been digging in grass  (which he hasn’t of course) and some of it got caught near his nose, and I’m very concerned about this as I’ve read about certain respiratory infections. His behavior is otherwise normal, he’s eating and drinking and going to the bathroom just fine. Was wondering if this is some mild allergy, or…?

2. I’m worried Theo isn’t getting enough exercise. I let him out of the pen into the room he lives in for a huge portion of the morning and evening, but he tends to wander about and climb on things, check stuff out for about 10 minutes, and then he flops down in a corner and stays contently there for a long while. He’s been like this the whole time, I’m just worried he’s not getting enough exercise and am wondering if there’s anything I can do to promote exercise or if that’s even necessary. In the future, he will be able to free-range around our apartment in the bunny-proofed areas, but since he’s so new and he hasn’t even been fully introduced to the cat (see my other post), that won’t be an option just yet. His pen is a good size for him, as I was anticipating adopting a much larger rabbit before I fell in love with him. There’s plenty of space for him to run about in there, too. 

3. Despite reading countless articles and books on bunny language and behavior, I have yet to come across anything that describes “shakes”. They almost look like miniature binkies, and they happen usually right after he eats or drinks, but look more like if the rabbit had just gotten wet and was trying to shake water off of him. Does anyone know what this is or what it means? 

[LongEaredLions]

Don’t worry about asking too many questions! We are here for you!
1. He may have a minor respiratory infection, or he could just have hay dust in his nose. Since you are already going to the vet, I would just see what the vet says.
2. If he doesn’t feel like exercising, he won’t. Typically bunnies will do the amount of exercise that their bodies need, but you can encourage him by setting up mazes of boxes, tunnels, etc.
3. They could be head binkies (when they shake their head and lift their front feet off the floor) or just the bunny shaking to get stuff off of their face. If you are concerned, you could ask the vet about ear mites, as this can cause excessive head shaking.

[litheandgraphic]

Thank you! I really appreciate your insight and help, both you specifically and this forum in general.

After a little bit of examination, I think it may just be vegetable and hay dust/juice getting stuck around his nose — he has not sneezed at all in the past couple of days and his nose looks much better. I fed him his veggies this morning and looked at his nose again, and it had the same green stuff around it.  Veggie juice that time, for sure.

I will be watching diligently for ear mites, and of course I’m sure the bunny vet I have will know to look for them. Once again, though, I’m thinking I may just be a little too over-concerned. Some of the shakes are post-grooming shakes, I’m pretty sure, and after looking up head-binkies, I’m pretty sure the other kinds are those, too. 
Thanks so so much!! I’m a little bit ridiculous with my jumping to the worst case scenario. xD

[Author]

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