Unusual behavior in new baby bunny

Question
Hi Dana, This past week I got a little girl miniature lop at the local pet store. This is the 3rd bunny I have bought there.... The first one I got died a week after I got him home, the second is doing great, and now I am worried about the third. While holding her this evening she started have little convulsion like things, kind of like how people do when they have the hiccups. She is eating and drinking, with no problems, and she is going to the bathroom normally. The reason I am worried is because my first bunny did a similar thing a few hours before he died, but he was very lethargic, and she has lots of energy. Is the hiccup type thing normal for a rabbit, or is this a bad sign? Do you know?

Answer
Dear Katie,

Rabbits, like any mammal, can get the hiccups.  If the movement you see is rapid little jerking movements that are rhythmic and don't seem to disturb the bunny, she probably just has the hiccups (a spasm of the diaphragm muscle that separates the thorax (chest) from the abdomen).

If you need more information on how to tell if a bunny is sick, please see:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/sickbun.html

and if this is a young baby, please also read:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html

You can find a good rabbit vet here, and should get acqainted with wellness checks for both your bunnies so you'll already be a client in case you have a real emergency.  

www.rabbit.org/vets.html

I hope this helps.

Dana
P.S. - If you decide to get any more bunnies, I'd recommend you contact your local rabbit rescuer at:

www.rabbit.org/chapters

and adopt a needy, abandoned bunny.  Thousands of abandoned rabbits die in shelters and from being "set free" when people get tired of them, and they need a loving bunny mom like you.  Adopt, don't shop!  :)