Rabbit’s nose looks and feels damp

[oreobun]

Hi!
My name is Mara, and in September of last year, I rescued a rabbit that somebody dumped in our community park. He is a youngish male, presumably a lionhead mix, and his name is Oreo! He is really sweet and friendly and loves cuddles.

However, about mid-February, I started to notice that his nose was becoming obviously damp. I immediately panicked and went online to search for answers. I looked through the symptoms for snuffles, but all the photos and videos I found of rabbits with noses clogged with mucus and wheezing hard seemed much more severe than what my bunny was experiencing.

So far, I haven’t noticed any significant, worrying changes in the rest of his lifestyle and his behavior. His eyes are clear, bright, and not runny at all (I read that snuffles starts in the tear ducts, so the first symptom was usually runny eyes-however my bunny’s eyes are fine). His ears, fur, and bum are all clean and normal. His appetite is good (the only change I’ve noticed is that he is now pickier about his greens-he prefers the crispier inner leaves of the romaine lettuce instead of the outer ones, and has begun leaving the lettuce leaves that aren’t quite to his taste) and his poops are also good (although he has been pooping outside of his litterbox a little more than usual). I also didn’t notice any obvious matting on his paws, although he doesn’t like me touching his paws that much, so I didn’t get to inspect them closely. I have not noticed him sneezing at all. He has not been wheezing or struggling to breathe at all-however when I put my ear near his mouth/nose and it’s very, very quiet I can hear him super softly breathing but it does not appear labored so I am assuming it is normal?

Below is a photo I took about a week and a half or so ago. This is when I thought his nose was looking its absolute worst and I was really worried. The part circled in black feels slightly stiff-the hairs feel stiff I mean. It can sometimes feel very slightly damp too-it leaves a tiny patch of wetness on my finger when I wipe my fingertip against it. The bit circled in blue feels slightly damp, and also leaves a patch of dampness on my fingertip when I touch it. If I press the finger I touched his nose with against another finger, it feels ever so slightly sticky (but this could just be my imagination or my paranoia taking over XD ).

Yesterday evening, when I took a photo of his nose, it looked (to my eyes, please correct me if I’m wrong 🙂 ) much better. Below is a picture of his nose just yesterday:

The hairs on the top part of the nose still felt slightly stiff, but underneath it wasn’t wet at all. So I’m really confused: it’s as if his wet nose is coming and going!
So I looked online for ‘bunny wet nose coming and going’ and found out that it could be a reaction to a stimulus in the environment.

-The temperature: The temperature is gradually getting warmer, and most days it’s now 27-30 degrees celsius. The first photo was taken when the AC was off and all the windows were open, so it was quite a bit warmer than when the second photo was taken: the second photo was taken in cool air-conditioning, with the overhead fans on and the purifier on also (we have a purifier next to the bunny enclosure).
-His shedding: he recently finished a heavy shed where he completely blew his coat and there were some alarming patches of fur missing (they all grew back in though and he looks normal now lol) Because he is a lionhead mix, it was pretty full-on and there were little fur-clouds floating around everywhere, so I was thinking that perhaps this could have irritated his nose? We do have an air purifier, so I kind of ruled dust out as a factor. On second thought…could it be all of these factors combined?

So basically my questions are:

-Is the first picture (the one I thought was worse) something to worry about or does it look normal?
-If the wet nose comes and goes, is it a reaction to his environment?
-Does it look like, according to the description I gave and the photos I took, he has snuffles or some sort of illness?

Sorry that this post is so long – I’m just super worried about him. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and I hope to get some answers soon! Oreo and I will thank you 🙂

[Bam]

A little moisture around/just below the nostrils is as a rule due to ambient humidity and temperature, plus the bun’s recent activity. Rabbits are obligate nose-breathers, ie a healthy rabbit only ever breathe though its nose. This means moisture from the air going in our out of the nose can deposit around the nostrils.

With bacterial rabbit “colds” you tend to see opaque snot (white or green-ish etc). The bun can sneeze out quite a lot of that snot, and when the bun cleans its face with its paws, the cheek fur (as well as the paw fur) becomes matted.

I dont see anything worrisome in that first pic (nor in the second one).

Fur in the air can irritate the nose and the eyes of both rabbits and humans. It can be good to finish each grooming session by getting your hands wet and run them through the bun’s fur to pick up as much loose hair as possible.

[Author]

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