This post may contain affiliate links. Read the full disclosure here. Show I used to work next door to my vets, so whenever my rabbits had surgery, I’d go round when I finished to see if the rabbits were ready to pick up. I was allowed to take them home earlier than other clients because I lived about two minutes away. Usually, a rabbit wouldn’t be allowed home unless they’d eat something, but I’d get there before they’re really woken up. So I became privy to the vet’s secret to knowing when a rabbit was coming round from anaesthetic, which is…that their noses start twitching. Annoyingly, the one time I had to work late was when one of our rabbits was having a tumour removed. She was 11 and I worried about her being sedated at that age, but the vet said she was eating the proffered food (coriander/cilantro I believe) before she’s full woken up. That’s my girl.  Rabbits twitch their noses to help them smell betterYou know when someone asks you to smell something, or you’re on a walk on a summer afternoon and you suspect you smell someone having a barbeque so you sniff the air to smell better? That’s what rabbits are doing all the time. Try doing it for a sustained period of time. It’s really hard. No wonder rabbits spend so much time sleeping. All that sniffing is exhausting. But yeah, rabbits need to be keeping abreast of any new smells all the time, just in case a weasel is sneaking up on them or something. If you notice your rabbit’s nose is twitching really quickly, they may have smelt something that they don’t like, or that is stressful to them (like a dog). On the flip side, they may also have smelled something they like – another rabbit, their dinner, a new couch just waiting to be chewed on. When you bring a new bunny home, you may also notice their nose going twitch-crazy. I mean, yeah, they’re probably a bit stressed, but they’re also taking in all of the new smells, including you. A twitching nose often merely indicates that your rabbit is trying to smell something really deeply, not necessarily that they’re scared or stressed. You should see Holly’s nose go when the toaster’s on. She bloody loves toast (and no, it is not a suitable snack for a rabbit, but I’m not gonna police what she twitches her nose at). Rabbits twitch their noses to help regulate their temperatureRabbits don’t sweat or pant, so they don’t have a lot of options when it comes to cooling down. This is why it’s so important that your rabbit has somewhere to cool down in the summer. Don’t worry about getting them cosy beds in winter (they’ll just pee on them!), since it’d have to be REALLY cold to bother a rabbit. Just make sure they have somewhere cool in the summer. A couple of floor tiles will do. What to do if your rabbit’s nose is twitching quicklyThis is unlikely to be a vet calling event UNLESS your rabbit is in distress, overheating, or also breathing really fast. That being said, if you notice that your rabbit’s nose is twitching very quickly and you can’t work out why, be sure to keep a close eye on them if you think they might be in distress. Remember that a rabbit’s world is considerably smaller than ours. Even if yours has the run of your whole house, they don’t get out much. Anything can warrant an exciting new development if you’re a rabbit. You may wonder why putting a box on the floor warrants much nose-twitching, and that walk they do with their ears forward, but to a rabbit, that’s the most excitement they’ve had all week (apart from when you dropped that bit of your sandwich and they nicked it, prompting a panicked ‘can rabbits eat mayonnaise’ google search). Do rabbit’s noses twitch when they’re sleeping?No. Except I think they sometimes do when they’re dreaming. It’s so hard to tell when rabbits are actually sleeping since they don’t necessarily close their eyes. Sometimes when I know they’re dreaming (eyes rolling around under their eyelids, teeth chomping away) their nose is going too. I’d love to know what rabbit’s dream of – it can’t just be eating. It seems so energetic for just eating. I swear Holly dreams she’s robbing a banana shop or something. When rabbits are calm and content (often when they’re being petted) the nose twitching calms down, since they’re pretty chill. I assume they’re thinking that you’ll protect them/any predator would get whoever’s petting them first. I mean, you can tell dogs are running in their dreams when their back legs go, but rabbits move around so much when they’re dreaming, but they never move their legs! Are they on a rollercoaster or something? Final thoughtsRabbit nose twitching is super cute and they 100% know it. If your rabbit is on your knee trying to steal your lunch, know that their nose isn’t twitching because they’re sniffing your lunch, it’s to make them seem cuter so you’ll let them have a bite. So now you know.
Most rabbits at rest will be wiggling their noses. Rabbits don’t need to do this to smell things, and they don’t necessarily do it in time with their breathing, and they sometimes stop completely. So why do they do it at all? A rabbit’s nose is like a thermometer for how interested it is in what’s being observed. The faster the wiggling, the more attentive or agitated the rabbit is. Nose wiggle signaling is generally only used by rabbits that are already moderately relaxed. A fast wiggle doesn’t necessarily mean a rabbit is upset. It may just signal interest in something being witnessed, or some passing thought. A slowly wiggling nose indicates a calm rabbit. Rabbits usually use nose wiggling to indicate fine gradations in their mood. If you start moving around or doing something odd, that nose will start moving faster, and the rabbit may also turn its ears to focus more upon you. If a rabbit is considering fleeing, though, it will usually stop wiggling its nose completely. One way to help calm a rabbit is to do the equivalent of whispering “there, there, it’s all right” using slow nose wiggling. Of course, humans can’t really wiggle their noses properly (OK, maybe you can), but rabbits will understand if you just use your upper lip. If you roll your upper lip under your top teeth and back again, this looks much like a rabbit nose wiggle. It’s especially effective if you happen to have a mustache. On the other hand, some folks can actually wiggle their noses enough for the rabbit to recognize it. Experiment to see what your rabbit responds to. You may also notice a rabbit will suddenly stop wiggling its nose, and this is a signal too. It seems to mean either that the interest level has gone beyond the highest wiggle rate, or that what is being observed is somehow confusing (either or both, depending on the context). You might have fun with this rabbit conversational technique, which is also a good way to test if your nose wiggling is being done properly. (Warning: Doing this can make your family fear for your sanity.) Lie on the floor facing your rabbit while it’s sitting or lying a few feet away. Your rabbit, who will be curious about what you’re doing, will probably indicate its attention by speeding up its nose wiggling. Do your own wiggling, but a little more slowly than the rabbit. The rabbit’s nose will probably slow. As its nose slows, keep slowing yours until you are both wiggling at a sedate pace. Then start speeding up your wiggling without doing anything else. You’ll probably see the rabbit start going faster too! Then you can both slow down to a calm, life-is-good rate of wiggling again. Personally, I only do this when no one else is watching. previous page | next page How does nose wiggling relate to other signals? Body position is the best indicator for relaxation, and ear position shows attentiveness (among other things). Nose wiggling rate seems to say more about the personal interest the rabbit has in what is being observed. These three aspects of mood are typically related, but don’t have to always move together. For instance, a relaxed but attentive rabbit doesn’t necessarily have to be particularly interested in what it’s seeing, although it may be. |
Why do bunnies noses twitch
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