Shaking/trembling bunny

[Yilina]

Hi guys, here is the deal. Since we adopted Tambor 6 weeks ago, he has been a very shaking bunny. I would say he shacked non-stop for the first 3 days after we got him. For weeks, he would shake for strange reasons: he would come to me, ask for petting, purr (yes purr!) and shake, like if he were very scared. +9He is not doing it that much anymore but he still shakes more than I would deem “natural” (what my instincts tell me, which could be wrong). He will shake in these situations:

1. After he has been running a lot -> I guess that is normal, it is probably just heavy breathing

2. When he is scared (someone new comes home, he hears a strange sound from outside, etc.) -> that makes sense too.

3. When he is relaxing/sleeping (outside or inside his cage) and somebody enters the room he is in or looks at him

This last situation is the one that bothers me. When he is awake he is so cuddly and never, ever, scared of us. We lead a calm, stable life and don’t make strong noises or anything “extraordinary”. We don’t pick him up. Why does he shake so much in the 3rd situation? Is it still normal at this stage of our bonding?

I must say that he was probably very scared when living with his former family. He was only left out for 2 hours and lived with a few dogs and cats that roamed free around the house and he was never been bonded to them. There was a little kid that picked him up (we were sent pictures of that) and our bunny didn’t have a litter box (he had to lay on his pee sometimes). The owner told us Tambor was always cold. I wonder why she thought that. We live in a tropical island and the coldest it gets is 12 ºC outside in the middle of the night in winter (he lived inside). He also had a lung infection and sneezing fits (our vet is treating him for that), so maybe that, together with the constant shaking, is the reason why the owner thought he was cold?

I am worried about him. I read all the time that bunnies get scared easily, but is this normal? Do any of you have very shaking bunnies as well?

Hugs!

[Yilina]

Any ideas?

[Luna]

I agree with 1. (sounds like heavy breathing shaking his little body-normal), kind of agree with 2., but 3. I don’t know. I would say Luna shakes less now than when she was younger, but only because she doesn’t get out of breath as much from running around and her body is bigger so heavy breathing doesn’t shake it as much.

[Gina.Jenny]

6 weeks isn’t long in terms of a traumatised bunny feeling safe, having rescued 4 girl bunnies with bad experiences in their past., plus 2 boys with less bad stuff.

Gina took 8 months before she allowed me to pet her, and its only recently, that she’s let anyone else pet her.

She and Jenny still retain their feral side even after around 18 months of being in a super bunny friendly home, and Jenny still whimpers at times and cowers down.

We adopted Snickers last August, and she is only just starting to be ok with being looked at.

My feeling is that Tambor needs more time, lots of it, and patience, and he will learn he is safe.

[Yilina]

That’s reassuring, thank you! Tambor doesn’t not come from such a bad situation as other bunnies, but he obviously needs time.

What bothers me is that his “bunny language” looks a bit messed up. Like when he purrs and trembles at the same time or trembles but still comes to me to ask for petting. It is like he is scared but happy at the same time. He does this mostly when he is relaxing or has just woken up/started sleeping.

[Gina.Jenny]

I would say ‘understandable’ more than ‘messed up’, he is giving out two conflicting messages, but the message you have some trust from him is clear. Its like he is saying, ‘I trust you, Yipes, Please Don’t Hurt Me!!!’ Bunnies need to really feel safe in a relationship, which is in part why bunny bonding can be so difficult! From my experience, there will be break-through moments, when Tambor takes another big step in trusting, but it will be in his time and on his terms.

[hrose123]

I agree with Gina.Jenny. It took days of spending hours sitting on the floor to get Luna to feel comfortable with me being in her space and allowing me to pet her. Last night was the first time she cuddled me (Yay!!!) but I’ve only had her for less than a month and we are still working on some trust things. However, I have noticed Luna shakes when she is in a stressful situation like the first day I brought her home or when she is spooked by something. The new environment may just be a little stressful on Tambor, especially since rabbits are creatures of habit and don’t like change very much. But I do agree that Tambor is working on trusting you and probably enjoys your company but at the same time is a little weary about the change because change is scary.

[Hoppykins]

My bunny is the same, he lets me pet and sometimes pick him up he loves running around and being stroked however sometimes he will tremble so much and I get worried if I should consult with my vet also if I leave the cage open he will run in and if he had his way he would never be out of his cage anyone have any advice?

[Yilina]

Posted By Hoppykins on 5/24/2017 4:02 PM
My bunny is the same, he lets me pet and sometimes pick him up he loves running around and being stroked however sometimes he will tremble so much and I get worried if I should consult with my vet also if I leave the cage open he will run in and if he had his way he would never be out of his cage anyone have any advice?

Hi there! It took Tambor 4 full months to stop trembling so much. As others said above, your bunny needs time to feel fully comfortable. Also, the fact that he doesn’t want to be out of his cage seems to prove that: he wants to be in an environment he feels safe.

For how long have you had him? Does he come from a complicated background? As you probably know, rabbits dread being picked up. So, I’d recommend not to do it at all until he’s stopped trembling so much (and then just do it when it’s absolutely necessary – Tambor is never picked up more than once a week).

I was absolutely desperate with Tambor and I got to accept that that was the way he would always be. But he just needed time and respect for his needs.

[Lemonsoup]

Our little guy, Teddy, shook like a leaf when we first got home. I just put it down to nerves, a new environment and the car trip. He calmed down pretty quickly and was flopping and doing binkies only a few hours after we got him home. He settled in super quickly but the trembling did take a couple of weeks to go.

Then all of a sudden a couple of weeks ago, the trembling came back in a big way (we’ve now had him for two months). And it wasn’t like anything had changed. He was still super snuggly and confident, fine with being picked up, enjoying sitting in our laps and being stroked (to the point that we’d have to then pick him up to move him since he wouldn’t get off otherwise) and banging on his puppy pen to signal he wants patting or one of us to get in with him – but when he was just lying still, his ‘trembling’ was extremely noticeable. We couldn’t notice it when he was eating or running about (or in a flop) and he’s not a super active bunny, so for him it’s not a case of wearing himself out.

When we took him to the vet recently for his booster vaccine she advised that it was simply him panting. Whilst the weather is getting cooler here – he’s an angora so she said that panting for them is quite normal. I’m not sure I’m 100% on board with this advice since it’s something that he’s only started doing in the last couple of weeks – but having said that, we’re now having a cold spell (16 degrees celcius today with my office registering as only 15 as I don’t put any heating on with him inside with me) and his ‘panting’ isn’t noticeable at all.

[Yilina]

Posted By Lemonsoup on 5/28/2017 11:13 PM

Our little guy, Teddy, shook like a leaf when we first got home. I just put it down to nerves, a new environment and the car trip. He calmed down pretty quickly and was flopping and doing binkies only a few hours after we got him home. He settled in super quickly but the trembling did take a couple of weeks to go.

Then all of a sudden a couple of weeks ago, the trembling came back in a big way (we’ve now had him for two months). And it wasn’t like anything had changed. He was still super snuggly and confident, fine with being picked up, enjoying sitting in our laps and being stroked (to the point that we’d have to then pick him up to move him since he wouldn’t get off otherwise) and banging on his puppy pen to signal he wants patting or one of us to get in with him – but when he was just lying still, his ‘trembling’ was extremely noticeable. We couldn’t notice it when he was eating or running about (or in a flop) and he’s not a super active bunny, so for him it’s not a case of wearing himself out.

When we took him to the vet recently for his booster vaccine she advised that it was simply him panting. Whilst the weather is getting cooler here – he’s an angora so she said that panting for them is quite normal. I’m not sure I’m 100% on board with this advice since it’s something that he’s only started doing in the last couple of weeks – but having said that, we’re now having a cold spell (16 degrees celcius today with my office registering as only 15 as I don’t put any heating on with him inside with me) and his ‘panting’ isn’t noticeable at all.

Hi! I understand how upsetting this may be for you. Bunnies are delicate animals and we love them so much we want to give them the best possible care. That being said, the reasons why bunnies tremble/get scared are very hard to tell, especially (as was my case as well) when you haven’t had your bunny for a long time and are getting to know him. They seem to panic for no reason (at least, to our understanding).

Do you think it could be the weather -as it seems to be the only thing that has changed? I’m not familiar with angoras, so I don’t know if they may tremble for other reasons. But I’m sure other bunny-lovers here could help with that.Tambor definitely trembles after exercising, he “pants”. Maybe your bunny has been more active lately, as he’s growing up? Have you noticed the time of the day or something that may happen or you do before the starts trembling?
 

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