At My witts end

[Foxybunny]

Hi all, Please help me. This is a two parter.
I brought our rabbit to our house from my mums over a year ago. There she was a 4 year old outside neutered doe with a neutered 5year Buck (love of her life). She was never a people person. when coming to put her away she would hide, then grunt if you put your hand in the hiding place (various places to hide)
We bought a buck from a baby and got him neutered so she could have companionship all before she arrived at our house about 4 months before. To this date they do not see eye to eye, biting scrapping hair ripping you name it. after trying different ideas, neutral ground i.e. bath tub/back garden. still they hate each other. I ask this should I just cut my losses and keep them apart or keep trying.

2) Ever since bringing our Doe (Dodge) from my mums to my home. she has been immovable. She has had to become an indoor rabbit. because of an unsafe garden and no run. wherever I put her down in the house she barely moves from. The most exercise she gets is running from my 2x1m hallway up the stairs to sit on the 2x1m landing or on the toilet floor. and still she does not warm to human interaction, she does NOT grunt now however, but she just sits arched back into a corner.

I am so worried that she may be still heartbroken, which I know can be bad for bunnies health, But also she seems to get recurring sniffles (another reason for the move to indoors) as the crust on her nose is non existent indoors. she is always sneezing at least 5 times daily. Could this effect on her ability to smell? and could that inability to smell be a reason for her wariness. Thank you for taking your time to read this enormously long post, and I appreciate any posts in response.

Yours Gratefully,
Adam

 

[lovelops]

My kits started as outdoor and when the mother died and 2 of the kits died they became indoor. They run around about as much as your little doe does and my girl Chica seems to like sitting around in the hallway in her wicker basket lounging about. Her brother is more active, but they are ok and sometimes they sneeze but I think it's due to a certain type of dry pellets. Other times it's due to an air freshener that I have in the living room near their play area and I move it after I hear them sneezing so it's not any where near them. I don't know if that would bother her ability to smell.

About the bonding, what happened to her first bonded bunny?

Sorry I can't be more help

Vanessa

 

[JBun]

If she is sneezing repeatedly each day, even though she doesn't have discharge, she could have a URI, though in some cases sneezing can be caused by a sensitivity to a particular hay or litter, household chemicals, dust, etc. It really would be good to have her checked by a vet for this, so it doesn't progressively get worse. Yes it is possible that this could contribute to her not feeling well and thus affecting her behavior.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/sneezing.html
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Respiratory/Bacterial/URI.htm

It sounds like you may need to back off some with her and let her go more at her own pace. Exercise and hopping around is good for rabbits, but not if you are essentially, forcing a nervous rabbit to do it. In this instance it sounds like it is just making her more fearful. A rabbit siting hunched into a corner, does not feel safe. In some cases handling a nervous rabbit more often, can help get it used to you and realize it's ok. But also in other cases, handling some nervous rabbits can just make them more fearful and withdraw even more. It sounds like this is what is happening with your girl bun. I would suggest keeping the handling and picking up, to a minimum for now. What would be the best thing if she has a cage in your home, is to have an xpen around it, and leave the cage open, so that she can come and go if she wants to. This will allow her to have space to hop around when she is feeling more comfortable, but doesn't require you handling her at all. Then after she's had a little time to get used to it and know that she is safe in her area, you could try just sitting next to the xpen and doing your own thing while basically ignoring her so she doesn't feel threatened at all. You could also place a dish of her veggies in there with her when you are doing this, to coax her out. Start with it closer to her cage and gradually work it closer to you as she gets braver. Once she starts feeling comfortable enough to venture out into the xpen area with you near, after a little while you can try sitting in the xpen and doing the same. This could take some time though. But with persistent effort she will start to come out of her shell and learn to trust you. Read your rabbits behavior. If something doesn't seem to be working out, take a step back and try and approach the situation differently, until you hit on the thing that seems to work the best.
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f28/bonding-your-bunny-29064/

Since her and your buck didn't take an immediate liking to each other, it is probably just stressing her too much at this time to attempt bonding. I would suggest to hold off on that until you are able to get her feeling more comfortable with you and her new home, then it might be possible to reattempt the bonding at a later time. But be prepared to keep them separate permanently though Some rabbits just do not get along, no matter how hard you try.

 

[Foxybunny]

My kits started as outdoor and when the mother died and 2 of the kits died they became indoor. They run around about as much as your little doe does and my girl Chica seems to like sitting around in the hallway in her wicker basket lounging about. Her brother is more active, but they are ok and sometimes they sneeze but I think it's due to a certain type of dry pellets. Other times it's due to an air freshener that I have in the living room near their play area and I move it after I hear them sneezing so it's not any where near them. I don't know if that would bother her ability to smell.

About the bonding, what happened to her first bonded bunny?

Sorry I can't be more help

Vanessa

He Unfortunately died. Fence panel came down on him. did the prescribed thing and placed the Buck (Ar-for) with her In the hutch for grieving till the next morning, and left it about 3 months before bringing her to ours with new bun Ace.