Weird Behavior

Question
I'm taking care of my girlfriends rabbit while her family is away on vacation and have no way of contacting them to find out if this is normal behavior. When hes sitting down either stretched out or sitting on his bum he'll tilt his head really far back and it sounds like his teeth are clicking together, a few times he was on my chest (I was laying down) and he did this and almost fell backwards, usually will do this 3-4 times in a row. I don't think there is a problem with his breathing and his heart beat is fine, I've been cleaning his cage out every few days so there isn't alot of waste built up, food and water changed daily. His teeth the upper ones more specifically are not white their a slight tint of grey and I've been giving them a lil brush every night

Answer
Dear Michael,

Is the bunny asleep when he's doing this?  I have seen some rabbits go into very weird contortions and click their teeth in their sleep as they dream.  The eyes will usually be partly or completely open, but not really focused, and there will be rapid eye movement (R.E.M.) and little body twitches if he's asleep and dreaming.  If he's a very relaxed little rabbit, that may be what he's doing.

However, if he is wide awake and doing this, he may be having a breathing problem (a rabbit with pneumonia will stick his nose in the air and breathe with mouth open to get enough air), and you need to get him to a good rabbit vet immediately for treatment.  Please find such a vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

I hope the little guy is okay, and that he's just relaxed and dreaming.

Good luck, and please write back if you have more questions about this.

Dana