Lop-ear bunny

Question
Hi there,
  I live in student housing in St Catharines Ontario and we just rescued a domesticated lop-ear rabbit who had been neglected, if not abandoned, by it's owner. We have been in contact with local rescue group and they provided us with everything we need to make him a nice place to live inside. We got him just in time because there's a frost warning for tonight! :( Anyway, we don't intend on keeping and he will eventually go to a home but for the time being I have some questions about his behaviour. This is what we are noticing:
1. He is generally sticking to his one corner to poop, but we also notice he is going everywhere else and some of it is coming out stringed together.
2. We saw him eating his poop which can't be good.
3. He seems to run around really quick then plop on the floor and roll over onto his back. His heart is going pretty fast as well, even while resting.  

  He is eating normally, which is mainly grasshay, a carrot he nibbles on, and a piece of apple. In the pen with hii he also has: a water bowl, a toy, a blanket and a plastic rectangle bucket as his litter (this came from the rabit rescue group and may have had pre-existing nibble marks, if not he might have nibbled it). We do have pellets for him, however we have been having mice problems and we don't want to attract them. We have the floor lined with newspaper right now, but it is coloured newspaper because that is all we had at the time....we know that it's not good for him and we see that he has been nibbling at it which might be causing some of the behaviour?? The woman from the rabbit rescue group suggested that HE might actually be a SHE but that was just from picture we showed her -- it could help determine the bahviour. Anyway, he seems to be alright and he has a real bond and connection with one of my housemates and loves to have his nose rubbed. He is adjusting to a new environment though....the same housemate used to own a bunny she she says she's never seen them act like this. So I think I have given you all the information you'll need to know...we just got him yesterday (Saturday) so this is about all we know so far. Any suggestions as to what's going on?
PS: We want to get him to a vet, but we are students and have no idea what to do. I left a message with the woman from the rabbit rescue group and am waiting to hear back. Thanks.

Answer
How great of you to take in this rabbit.

I'll answer your questions as best I can.

First, I'll address what you see in your third question.  The running around then flopping sounds like happy bunny behavior.  This behavior seems more common in young rabbits.  But if a rabbit is happy, it may zip around the room, possibly jumping in the air.  Also, bunny flops are also common in rabbits.  I call them happy bunny flops.  The first time one of my rabbits did it, I thought he had died.

If you look at these videos on youtube, hopefully this is the same type of thing you're seeing.  This is good, happy to be with you behavior.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfSS276wVow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqEZ9MNSr8w

As for the heart racing, it's kind of hard to tell.  It can be a variety of factors from possible stress from adjusting to a new place and noises, playing and exercising, or health issue.

Next, I'll answer your second question.   Eating his poop is exactly what he needs to be doing.  Rabbits have to send their food through their bodies and then ingest special poop (cecotropes) that are full of nutrition.  Actually, if the rabbit is healthy, you should never even see the cecotropes because they're always eaten.

This site has pictures of the different kinds of poop.  
http://www.fuzzy-rabbit.com/sick.htm
The third picture of the cecals are what your rabbit needs to eat.

In terms of the colored newspaper.  This could be perfectly safe.  I'm not sure about Canada, but in the states, a lot of the ink in newspaper (and phonebooks for that matter), are made with soybeans.  My rabbits love tearing it up, and I've never seen a health issue from it.

In terms if he is a she, if the rabbit is an un-neutered male, it will obviously be easy to tell because of the testicles.  And intact boys have a musky smell to them.  If the rabbit is a girl or neutered boy, it's tougher to tell.  This site has some great pictures for sexing your rabbit (if you are so inclined)
http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/sexing.shtml
At the bottom are links for pictures for each sex.  Or, you can just wait for the vet to tell you.

OK, now the longer part of the answer.  if some of the poop is strung together, it could be fur.  It may be a sign of some intestinal (gi) trouble.  Who knows what this poor thing has been eating, but his gi system will most assuredly undergo an adjustment.

One way to get a feel if the bunny is having some gi trouble is to watch the food and water intake along with what the poops look like.  The bunny should be eating and drinking.  Poops should look like the ones in that first picture at the fuzzy-rabbit site.  Hard, small poops can be an indication of a gi health problem and/or dehydration.

What I would do for now is to simplify the diet a bit.  Since you're not keeping him and you're students,  we'll just work with what the rescue gave you.

First, I'd stop the fruit.  Bunnies love them, and apples are a nice choice.  But fruit is a treat and there is obviously sugar in them, and for now I'd stop.  If the poops look better, you can add them back in sparingly in a couple weeks.  This site gives good guidelines for fruit and good general diet guideline.  It's what I refer to as a starting point for all my rabbits
http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/diet.html
I'd also cut back on the carrot, for the same reasons as the fruit.  If the poops start to look normal, an occasional baby carrot is fine.

Next, I'd feed him the pellets.  Hopefully, the rescue gave you a pellet with at least 18% fiber.  A lot of times, too many pellets are given and then pellets become bad for rabbits.  But if you give 1/8 to 1/4 cup for each 5 lbs of rabbits, that's about all he should have.  Mice won't be a problem because he'll eat that up pretty quick.

For now, I'd give just a little bit of green vegetables.  Starting out with half a cup and see what the poops look like.  I'd rinse them with water first to make sure the bunny is getting enough water.  Romaine is a good first choice.  This site lists good veges for rabbits.http://www.rabbit.org/care/veggies.html

I tend to be more conservative with greens when I don't know what the rabbit's previous diet was.  If a rabbit hasn't had many greens, I don't want to surprise his digestive system.

To help you find a vet, these sites have some listings:
http://www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html
http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/PB_vets.html
and many vets that see rabbits are listed in the phone book under exotic vets

I hope this information helps you.  It's a great thing you've done.

Someone on etherbun asked about vets in Ontario.
Someone posted these links, if you can't find a vet, maybe you can find one here:
http://members.shaw.ca/cocoasun/CanadianRabbitVets.htm#Ontario
http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/Vet_CA-ON.html
http://www.rabbitrescue.ca/vetinfo.html