has any of your rabbits done this?

[Rusty]

this morning i looked in my rabbit cage andrusty was just sitting next to his hut thing. and then all of a suddenhe falls over on his side. not like he usually does cuz usually when hewants to lie down he just flops, this time he looked stiff and likefell over, and then started rubbing his back in the aspen shavings likea dog does in grass... it was the most ridiculous thing i had ever seenhim do. it was so funny. do your rabbits do something like this? whatother weird things do your rabbits do?

 

[Jenson]

Some of my rabbits do that, but theydon't look stiff, they just roll over the way they would if they wereflopping. Horses do it when they have abdominal pain for whateverreason, perhaps his tummy was hurting? That may account for thestiffness.

I also have a doe who 'quacks' as she explores, similar to the noisethey make if they're pregnant and see a buck, only she does it all thetime, it's pretty funny.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Rusty-I believe what you are referring to iscalled a "dead bunny flop" or dbf. There is actually athread on it with pictures in the Photo Philes section.

 

[maherwoman]

Yep...DBF..and quite a happy one, too!

Flower does that kind, where she kinda rolls around a bit, like a dog in grass. It's so cute!!

 

[Starina]

My bunny does this too, my BF jokes that she istoo fat to get up. SOmetimes she'll stay upside down for a good longwhile. :rofl:Then I see those little teeth purring away and Ilose it. I love her DBF's they are so much fun.

~Star~

 

[Haley]

Lol, sounds like a dead bunny flop to me!

I thought I had some pics of it, this is the best one I could find.

I think we have a photo phile thread on DBFs though!

 

[maherwoman]

Here's a pic of one of Flower's...hehe...

She quite frequently flops so hard that her hind legs wind up stickingup in the air, and she gets all stiff...it's hilarious!!

 

[polly]

Yeah Dido used to do it but lie with all 4 legsstraight up in the air i had to catch him from falling off the bed acouple of times!!

 

[CookieNCream]

I think I have seen Cookie do that...I thought she was dead for awhile, then she heard me and got back up. x)

 

[Rusty]

well i had never seen him do that so when i sawhim go stiff i was a little worried and then he started rolling aroundand i just couldnt stop laughing lol. why exactly do they do that?

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Rusty wrote:

why exactly do they do that?

Happy sleepy is my best explanation.

 

[Starina]

It is a show of being completely comfortable. Aprey animal NEVER shows their belly unless it feels safe. It is acompliment to how good you make them feel.

~Star~

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Well put Star!!

It's funny, I've had Angel for almost 4 years this summer.She had 2 homes before me and it took her a really long time to feelthat safe and secure, now she does them all the time-so cute!

 

[Starina]

My bunny was DBFing her first week with me. Ithink she was glad to be away from that pet store. :rollseyesIt wasaround Easter, and there were lots of noisy kids around the bunnycages. I thought something was wrong with her, :thud:until I realizedshe was asleep. I would justwatch her for hours,facinatedby everything shedid.:shock:Eating, drinking, sleeping, washing,peeing, EVERYTHING. She is my first bunny, so I didn't know anythingabout them.The only rabbits I had seen were wild ones, andthey don't let you get too close.

~Star~

 

[Rusty]

but he didnt go to sleep or anything. he justdid that dbf and i watched him to make sure he was ok and after he hadrolled around on his back he just layed on his side, but his eyes wereopen and everything. so is this maybe something different, like an itchhe couldnt reach lol

 

[Starina]

Bunnies don't always close their eyes when theysleep. But they get that far off stare, where they aren't quite lookingat anything...:expressionless

~Star~

 

[Rusty]

i see. ive just never caught him sleeping, so imnotexactly sure what it looks like. and besides hes my first and onlyrabbit. hes definitely my man!

 

[Starina]

My bunny usually gets really flat, ears back,and starts twitching. TinkleBunny is my first rabbit too. Everythingshe did for like 6 months was amazing and adorable.

~Star~

 

[Rusty]

ya im still amazed and ive had him since nov 2005. i can stare at him for hours

 

[naturestee]

Fey and Sprite DBF when they're hyper.They do it exactly like your bun- they fall over sideways reallystiffly, then wriggle till they're on their backs. Thenthey'll lay on their sides for a little bit before they run off formore binkies. They used to do this all the time in winter bythe draft from my front door. I guess it felt good.

Here's Fey mid-flop:

And after: