New Rabbit Owner! Various Questions with inconclusive results so far

[Ashley S]

Hi there! I am a first time bunny mama! I have had Napoleon "Dimple" Bunnyparte since he was 7-8 weeks old. His birthday is February 24th so he's 2 days shy of turning 8 months old! I know generally a good amount of rabbit info, but theres some stuff he's doing that makes me wonder if I should be concerned for his health.

He has had GI Stasis before. Not currently, though. He's pooping fine. BUT.....he only poops between just before sunset to just after sunrise. He is free roam all day and I put him up at night around midnight or 1 am. He is let out in the mornings around 7 or 8 am. During the day when the sun is up, he is more or less inactive. He loafs in the same spot and occasionally get up to sip some water or nibble some hay. He doesn't poop during the sunlight hours. Is this normal? I thought maybe it was due to the winter weather, but after giving it some thought and asking my boyfriend, Dimple has pretty much more or less been like this the whole time we've had him.

Dimple sneezes. Its not frequently, but when he DOES sneeze, its more than just once. Yesterday was the first time he sneezed up mucus. It was clear with a slimy consistency. Unfortunately I live in a small town with a population of around 10,000 and just ONE vet. This vet I do not trust to touch or perform checks on my rabbit. I have another vet 2 hours north I take Dimple to because my parents live up there and eventually we will be moving back there. But Dimple has had too many moves in the last month and I worry about moving him around right now because I don't want to add unnecessary stress. So I asked a rabbit group I'm in on FB what I should ask the vet for and they said Baytril. I'll be able to pick it up in 1.5 hours. Should I be doing more? Is this correct? Should I be doing something else instead?

Dimple's ears are sensitive. He shakes his head if you even just lightly press on the base of his ears. He sometimes shakes his head as he's hopping away and I can't quite tell if thats a binky or not. The mentioned vet who is providing Baytril has checked Dimples ears and didn't see anything but treated him for mites. That treatment didn't resolve anything. Is Dimples ear sensitivity normal?

I just can't lose this rabbit. He's my therapy animal. I still need him. I want to make sure I'm doing right by him and keeping him happy and healthy.

 

[CharlieRae]

I have 5 rabbits. They poop constantly. Does your rabbit poop a large number of pellets when he does poop?
How is his eating and water intake? What kind of rabbit food are you feeding? Any veggies? Hay? Are his poops soft and loose or round, firm balls?
Also, my rabbit sneezes occasionally. I think sometimes her hay is dusty. But there is never mucus, so a vet may not be a bad idea. I know a dog is not the same as a rabbit, but one of my dogs has super sensitive ears, and hates having them touched. I'm very certain its an allergy thing, he's also a sneezer. Your rabbit could have allergies. Some animals present allergies with sneezing, itchy ears and itchy feet.
I don't think a 2 hr car ride to a rabbit savvy vet would stress him out much as long as he was being comforted throughout the ride.

 

[Blue eyes]

My indoor rabbits sound very much like yours. They have free roam all day, and at night they would go back in their cage when I fed them their pellets. (Down to just one rabbit right now.)

During the day, they would spend almost all of their day out and about and didn't seem to return much to their hay, water. Rare to see them in the litter box too. Yes. They seemed to go all day without pottying.

 

[Ashley S]

My indoor rabbits sound very much like yours. They have free roam all day, and at night they would go back in their cage when I fed them their pellets. (Down to just one rabbit right now.)

During the day, they would spend almost all of their day out and about and didn't seem to return much to their hay, water. Rare to see them in the litter box too. Yes. They seemed to go all day without pottying.

I'm relieved that Dimple isn't the only one! My roommate also keeps it so cold in the house! Its me, my boyfriend, and our two roommates. Roommate #1 keeps turning the AC on. It's 42 degrees outside and Dimple has allergies so we have to keep the ceiling vent closed if the AC is on. If the heat is on, it can be cracked open to allow heat inside the room. We keep the door closed because cats. I'm getting a space heater on wednesday.

 

[Ashley S]

I have 5 rabbits. They poop constantly. Does your rabbit poop a large number of pellets when he does poop?
How is his eating and water intake? What kind of rabbit food are you feeding? Any veggies? Hay? Are his poops soft and loose or round, firm balls?
Also, my rabbit sneezes occasionally. I think sometimes her hay is dusty. But there is never mucus, so a vet may not be a bad idea. I know a dog is not the same as a rabbit, but one of my dogs has super sensitive ears, and hates having them touched. I'm very certain its an allergy thing, he's also a sneezer. Your rabbit could have allergies. Some animals present allergies with sneezing, itchy ears and itchy feet.
I don't think a 2 hr car ride to a rabbit savvy vet would stress him out much as long as he was being comforted throughout the ride.

He poops about 100-150 pellets a day, just....all at night lol. He drinks fine, eats fine. Interested in hay (although he switches which one he wants ALL the time. So I've started leaving both out. He gets 2nd cutting timothy and 3rd cutting timothy both from small pet select.) but he is losing interest in Cilantro. I'm worried about other veggies because he got a full leaf of red leaf lettuce once and got some BAD gas and I thought I was gonna lose him. I'm going to post in the nutrition board in a minute about what and how much to feed him veggie wise. His poops are firm round balls. I JUST discovered that the litter I got is scented! Its a crumbled recycled paper bedding that I had used for years for my guinea pigs. I didn't even know it came in scented! I just ordered some different litter. hopefully thats whats causing the mucus? I made an appointment for him at the vet 2 hours away for Wednesday. It cant be now because that ride stresses him out so badly. We go up there at least once a month and I don't trust my roommates or anyone here, so we take Dimple with us. He's very familiar with the drive and he does NOT like it. I've tried to comfort him on the trip last time and he seemed really pissed at me for several days afterwards which is new behavior for him.

 

[VioletRose]

My bun is around 2 years now and he has always pooped morning and night but not in the day, as he sleeps from around 9-5ish and is free roam, sleeping downstaris in garage and never any poop there. He has to come upstairs to his litter tray so I'm pretty aware of his pooping habits. He poops a lot in the morning, the most probably then, and quite a bit at night. (wow, all this poop talk, we are the poop monitors, lol). Have you tried different herbs, like basil, oregano, thyme, parsley (usually a favourite with buns, but go easy, high in calcium, maybe just every couple of days). It's good to mix up their greens, maybe a little salad with a different dark lettuce than the one he got gas from and a few bit of herbs. It is a good idea to go slow with new foods for rabbits, just a very small amount of something new at first to see how the bunny copes with it. They are all so different. My rabbit eats loads of different greens and has since really little, and quite big quantities. He is a chunky, though not fat, Holland Lop, and gets probably 2.5 cups of greens a day, over the day, in 3 or 4 lots. They do get bored, like us, with the same food, and toys, and like new experiences. No iceburg or pale lettuce, as these are nutritiously poor. You could try rocket, a bit of kale (also considered high in calcium, so not too much), baby spinach leaves also (considered high in something else, can't remember what it's called, so just a bit of this every now and then too). I think the key is small amounts and check to see how it goes, and increase amounts when he is doing fine. I think the recommended daily allowence of greens is 2 packed cups a day. Mix it up for interest. Buns need to eat at least 80% of their diet as hay to aid their digestion. Cheers.

 

[VioletRose]

Oxalates is what is in spinach, just remembered. This is detrimental in large quantities.

 

[CharlieRae]

Honestly, it doesn't sound like anything is wrong. He's pooping fine it seems. He just has a schedule. Hahahaa. And He's just picky. Lol. Switch up his veggies and see how he does. And scented bedding may be the culprit.