Strange behaviour?

[Skip&Piper]

Hi all,
So, in the two weeks we’ve had these bunnies, I have noticed three times where Piper just kind of stops what she’s doing, lifts one paw, and then chews as if she has something in her mouth, but she doesn’t. It almost seems like a seizure of some sort, it seems to happen at weird times, like, not when she’s thinking about something or looking at something, it’s kind of like she zones out.

Is this just a thing bunnies do, or should I be concerned? Skipper has never done it, that I have seen.
Thank you!

 

[Imbrium]

When she lifts a paw, does she bend down for just a second before it looks like she's chewing? If so, she's eating cecotropes!

Rabbits excrete two things from their anuses:
~ Fecal poop - the regular (and plentiful) poop; hard, dry, odorless balls that tend to end up scattered around no matter how often you sweep/vacuum. Rabbits produce up to 500 of these poops a day! An interesting fact: rabbit poop makes excellent fertilizer and is one of the few kinds of poop that doesn't need to be composted before being added to a garden.
~ Cecotropes (aka "cecals") - while fecal poop is waste matter, cecals are packed full of nutrients that couldn't be extracted fully the first time through the digestive tract. Rabbits ingest cecals directly from their anus to run them through the digestive system a second time. You usually never see these but if you ever encounter one that went uneaten, you'll find that they're mushy, sticky and SUPER stinky! (Uneaten cecals usually indicates a need to feed less pellets; it can also happen with arthritis or obesity if the rabbit has trouble reaching down to eat them.)

 

[Skip&Piper]

Thanks for your reply Imbrium! I wish that’s what she was doing but no, she just switches into this with no warning at all, it’s quite strange! I will try get a video of it but it’s hard because there’s no rhyme or reason to it.

I do have this adorable picture of her when she fell asleep after/ during eating cecotropes though!

 

[Imbrium]

Wow, that's ridiculously adorable. She looks so much like our little Alice!

Unfortunately, I'm out of ideas on what she could be doing... took a shot in the dark with the cecals suggestion since it looked like you may be newish to rabbits and eating them is pretty weird and unique behavior! If you can get a video, though, someone might be able to offer some insight. JBun, among others, is really good at answering the medical-type questions and should be along later today...

 

[Skip&Piper]

Had I not been reading these forums for hours on end the last few weeks, I would have definitely made a post like : WHY is my rabbit eating her own poop?!?! Lol! I’ve learned so much here!

 

[Imbrium]

Oh, the things you'll learn about poop while browsing this forum! Rabbits are so quirky and unique from a biological standpoint and their poop (or lack thereof) is a great window into their general well-being.