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Author: Dianne Cook, LVT
Updated: May 30, 2024
Did you know that your pet rabbit can become stressed, just like you? As a prey species, it’s no surprise that your pet may be a bit jumpy when encountering new stimuli, but ongoing stress can lead to serious illness like GI stasis or even death. It’s vitally important to be able to identify signs of stress in your little one so that you can identify the stressor and remedy the situation.
Rabbits are active and inquisitive by nature, regardless of what stage of life they’re in. They enjoy exploring their environment and interacting with companions. They love to graze on their hay throughout the day and should get excited when they hear their favorite treat bag open. Interacting with your fuzzy friend daily allows you to learn their unique personality and will give you a better chance to notice if something isn’t right.
Signs of a Stressed Rabbit
Stressed rabbit body language may be difficult to decipher at first, but behavioral changes in stressed rabbits are one of the best ways to first determine that something is wrong. Some signs of stress in rabbits can include:
- Ears pinned back
- Lethargy
- Excessively hiding, especially during normal times of interaction
- Sitting hunched in a ball
- Aggressive behavior like charging and nipping
- Biting at the cage bars
- Biting their water bottle but not drinking the water
- Restlessness or pacing
- Overgrooming
- Excessively watchful and wary
- Spooks easily
- Changes in normal eating habits
A variety of factors that can cause stress for our rabbit friends. As a prey species, bunnies will naturally be cautious and on the lookout for potential danger. Stress is an easy state for any rabbit to enter into because of this. Therefore, pet parents need to be fully aware of potential stressors for their herbivorous companion.
What Causes Stress in Pet Rabbits?
Environmental Stressors
Environmental stressors and fear-inducing stimuli can be relatively clear or more difficult to determine without looking at the world through the eyes of a rabbit. Environmental stressors can include:
- Sudden, loud noises
- A predatory species in the rabbit’s surroundings, such as a cat or dog
- Not having a large enough habitat
- Lack of adequate ventilation in the habitat
- Poor lighting around your rabbit’s habitat
- Temperature fluctuations around the habitat
- Lack of access to hay, food, or water. This can sometimes result from overprotective cage mates.
- Regular movement of the habitat (e.g., moving from one room to another often)
- A dirty, unkempt enclosure
Social Stressors
Social stressors can include:
- Too many animals in one enclosure
- The loss of a cage mate
- A new cage mate, particularly if they are struggling to get along or were not introduced properly
- Deviation from daily schedules
- Lack of socialization (or too much socialization) from companions or pet parents
It is important to learn as much about bunny social structures as you can to limit social stressors, but individual bunnies can also have specific preferences. Would your bunny prefer to be alone or in a group? Do they need a friend or would having others cause territorial disputes? Are they especially scheduled and grow upset when breakfast is late? Knowing the answers to these questions will help you proactively limit social stress in your rabbit’s daily life.
Mental Stressors
Mental stressors are a common cause of anxiety and fear for rabbits. Keeping them active and happy in a caged environment can be tricky, as pet guardianship is a lot more than providing them with a place to sleep and plenty to eat and drink.
The biggest mental stressor can stem from boredom and a lack of daily enrichment. Just like us, our bunnies get bored easily if they don’t have anything to do. A lack of mental stimulation can lead to a listless lifestyle.
For enrichment options, think about your bunny’s most basic instinctual behaviors, like chewing, hiding, exploring, and playing. Oxbow has a wide variety of enrichment accessories designed specifically for rabbits that can help nurture these behaviors in healthy ways.
Also think about what your rabbit would be doing in the wild. What additional behaviors do they exhibit in the wild (like digging, foraging, and running), and how can you supplement them in their environment? How can you provide ample pet-proofed space for them to stretch their legs?
How Do You Prevent Stress in Your Rabbit’s Life?
Become an Expert on Your Rabbit
First and foremost, educate yourself as much as possible about your pet. Spend time learning important information about the specific behaviors and tendencies of not only rabbits in general, but also of the specific breed of your rabbit, whether they’re large or small.
- What environmental requirements do rabbits need?
- How do rabbits behave socially?
- What do bunnies require for mental stimulation and what natural behaviors are important to them?
Once you can confidently answer these and other rabbit-specific questions, consider how you will be able to provide these things for them in your home.
Provide Enrichment Every Day
Learn about rabbit enrichment and explore what Oxbow has to offer. It is crucial to provide enrichment for them to both stave off boredom but also give them a long and happy life. Some easy and effective tips for rabbit enrichment include:
- Stock up on toys and enrichment items so that you can cycle through them, providing them with different toys and enrichment can keep things from becoming boring and tedious.
- Change up their enclosure a bit every time you clean their habitat. Moving their hides and toys around gives them a fresh new environment to explore.
- Provide nutritional enrichment by offering different hays, fruits, and veggies that are appropriate for bunnies.
- Hide some treats, pellets, or fresh herbs in their hay to promote those natural foraging instincts.
- If you have multiple little ones living together, consider offering food and water at several different locations, including in their litter boxes. This promotes exercise as well as limits a more dominant bunny’s opportunities to protect resources.
Keep an Eye on Social Interactions
If you have a multi-pet household, keep a close eye on the whole group to make sure no one is getting picked on or exhibiting aggression toward anyone else. Make sure your rabbits have plenty of room so they can get away and take breaks from each other if necessary.
Keep other species separated as much as possible, especially natural predators like dogs or cats. This is especially important if your canine and feline friends have caused stress to your prey species in the past. If you allow supervised inter-species interactions, ensure your bunny has an escape route to a place they feel safe.
When in Doubt, Consult Your Veterinarian
If your rabbit starts exhibiting any signs of stress, make sure you take them to the vet as soon as possible to ensure that there is no underlying health concern that you may not be aware of.
Prevention is half the battle, but sometimes stressors can be difficult to avoid. Your veterinarian is an excellent resource to come up with options to lower your little one’s stress level.
