Rabbit had psychotic break. Help!!!

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Brass

Brass

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Upper Peninsula, Michigan.
I believe I had a rabbit go crazy... It's like he had a psychotic break. He's a year old silver fox buck i have had for nearly a month. He's been easy and pleasant. Well, yesterday I was leaning against the wall across from their cages. I stood up and he freaked. Ran frantically in circles until his cage tipped over. Fortunately it is low to the ground and he was unharmed. Now, every time you approach him or his cage he panics, running in circles and bouncing frantically off the sides. I've moved him to a quiet out of the way area as he was upsetting the other rabbits by his behavior-also he was spraying the rabbit next door. But I still have to approach to feed him. I'm not sure how to address this behavior.

It's very upsetting to watch and he's a favorite of ours. The kids adore him and he's been nothing but relaxed.
 
It doesn't sound psychotic to me. I sounds like you startled him and it escalated from there. The cage upsetting was likely the icing on the cake. Rabbits are prey animals and it doesn't take much to make them panic.

Spraying other bucks is normal, but it may have been aggravated by this event if he views them as a threat.

I would locate his cage away from the others, partially cover it to give him a feeling of security (unless heat is an issue) and then mess with him as little as possible for a few days. Naturally he needs food and water, but by using larger containers for it, you can minimize the number of times you interact -- just until he has a chance to pull himself together. Always take him a treat -- it's a great way to build trust. One or two leaves of dandelion, clover or other safe green or a small cube of dried whole grain bread (quarter a slice and then quarter the quarters to make "bunny croutons") will help you win him over. Good luck :good-luck: and good patience too!
 
Thanks guys. He was spraying a doe... Well before this event. And I planned to move him anyway. He's currently out of the way in a darkish corner. I'll try covering his cage a bit. It's pretty cool so I'm sure he won't overheat.

Treats--he's a finicky bunny. He won't eat apple, carrot, or dandelion greens. He likes hay though and plain grass. I'll give him those.

I'm crushed this happened. PopperVille was so sweet and to see him terrified is horrible. Of course it's going to take ages to undo.
 
Zass makes a good point about the value of pleasant sounds. When MidnightCoder was a kid, we had a pet rabbit named Buffy who swooned for sappy, romantic music and was absolutely in bunny bliss if we played the Righteous Brothers' Unchained Melody. She lived in a huge cage in the kitchen and disliked the sound of fryiing . . . so I kept the tape handy to calm her down.
 
Has he something to hide in/behind? When I startle my rabbits I just hear a Whhoosh and scrabling noises and all rabbits disappear, I think it could help to calm him if he has a save retreat, a box, a divider wall, etc...
There he can evaluate the situation and calm down.

Imho it's their instinct to run and hide, if they cant hide I would expect some might panic.

Preitler
 
Wanted to report back that Popperville is doing much better!

I put him in an out of the way spot in the barn so that someone just walking by wouldn't set him off. Then every time I approached him he'd still freak out so I would just go up there, hold the cage steady (I think it chittering around really made him more nervous) until he stopped running. Then I'd deliver food, treats, whatever. Tried to minimize the number of times I approached his cage.

After about a week he'd do just one lap or a back and forth hop rather than frantic running. Now he mostly just stays still but on occasion has a panic;and then I just hold the cage steady.

Last night he was stretched out, totally relaxed and I had to push him out of the way to open the door. He just hung out while I petted him. He's really a mellow fellow so it was such a shame that he got so scared. Looking back I think that he ran a circle and the cage wobbling made him more nervous and then it self perpetuated. Poor fellow.
 
I'm so glad he's settling down! :) Poor bun... I agree that it would be good if you could find a way to stabilize his cage. We used a piece of chain to anchor one of ours from the bottom edge to the wall at a downward angle. Just the one chain helped a lot.
 

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