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Twitches and Fast Runs

22 10:14:28

Question
Hi there,

about three weeks ago a rabbit showed up where I live. Me and the neighbours have been feeding him, but the rabbit sometimes disappears for a couple of days. I only go home late at night so I only see the rabbit at night or in the morning. When I see it, I always have a carrot of food that I bought in a pet store and that the rabbit really loves (prefer it then the carrot!!).
For the last three days the rabbit has been acting weird, jumping and quickly twitching as if to shake something out of its body. Then it will start running quickly, come back, runs a bit more. Then it runs again, quickly changes direction, and it seems really bothered.
The behaviour of the rabbit has been worrying me. I know the rabbit has been afraid because it lives on the street, and I know it really likes me, trusts me and loves my food. I read somewhere that this kind of behaviour is a sign of happiness, but honestly I would only think it is sick.
I am really worried, could you please help me?

Answer
Hi Vivianne,

You are seeing what we call a binky.  It's the sign of a content and happy rabbit.  I suspect this is an abandoned domestic since it is rare you see truly wild rabbits exhibit this behavior since it attracts your attention....and that of a potential predator.  If this is a domestic rabbit, I would be very concerned over it's well being as their survival skills are lacking.  If you can confirm this is a domestic, it's best chance of long term survival is with a loving family where he can do his binkys for his "bunny slaves" inside the safety of a real home.  An adult rabbit can do some spectacular binkys....we have a pair of 30 pound Flemish and their binkys are truly something to behold....plain amazing.