Snoring Rabbit

Question
We adopted an 8 month old Holland Lop about a month ago. Ever since we got her, she's been making these weird snorting sounds. At first we thought it could be just to indicate anger or some mood but we soon realized that it seemed to be consistent with her breathing. She is ESPECIALLY noisy when she is sleeping. Oh, and every once in a while she'll give a little cough/sneeze type thing and it'll clear up for a bit. Any ideas what it could be?  

Answer
Dear Megan,

Some rabbits do actually snore.  These individuals may have an extra-floppy soft palate, and when they're relaxed, it may flutter with their breathing, causing the snoring (just like humans).  Short-faced breeds such as Holland Lops may have even more predisposition for this type of thing, since not only might your bunny have a floppy soft palate, but also might have sinuses that are narrower than those of a normal, long-faced rabbit.

If you hear coughing or sneezing, though, I would have this checked by a good rabbit vet to be sure there's no upper respiratory infection causing the noise:

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

You can find a good vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Hope this helps!

Dana