vitals and such

Question
I was looking on the Internet to see what bunnies vitals are, but I can't seem to find anything on heart rate or breathing. So I was wondering if you could just give me the normal vitals of a bunny. Also I got my bunny from a ranch and when I got him I discovered he had a tape worm. So I took him to the vet and she gave him some medicine. That was about two weeks ago. Now he seems to have snuffles which I'm also treating with medicine from the vet. My question is that the other day I found a poop on the floor that looked solid and round like the other pellets but it wasn't completely solid. It still held it's shape and was average size so it wasn't really diarrhea, but it wasn't a normal poop either. So I was wondering what it could be from and if I should be overly concerned. It was only one pellet and he hasn't done another one since then. All his other bowel movements have been normal. So any helpful information that you could give me about my rabbit would be helpful. Also any general new information that has come out on rabbits or at least where to find the new information would be helpful. I just feel like now that he has snuffles once he will always get it and I'm always afraid to do anything out of the norm b/c I don't want to stress him out. Like playing music loud(not to loud to hurt his ears). The bunny lives in my room and I just worry about him all the time.
Thank you for any and all help that you give.

Answer
Dear Jessica,

A rabbit's heart rate is usually about 180 beats per minute--almost too fast to count!  Breathing rate varies with activity level, age, metabolism, etc.  A large, resting bunny may breathe about once per second, but a bunny who's just finished running around may breathe and pant so quickly that you can't count the breaths easily.

For information on "snuffles," please read:

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

and

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

and for all the best info on good bunny care, please visit

www.rabbit.org/

Hope that helps.

Dana