beginning bunny owner! advice needed

[PickleTheBunny]

Just yesterday I had ended up getting a bunny for an early birthday present. He’s a 4 month old male holland lop who I named pickle. Pickle is doing pretty well so far, he’s zooming around my room and doing lots of binkys. I’m a new bun owner and I need a little bit of advice!

I’m not exactly sure how to start getting pickle to trust me, so far i’ve been laying down on my floor and every once awhile he would come up to me sniff me, jump over me, and sometimes even put a paw on my chest. I have no idea what to do next. I heard that treats are a good idea. However, he ignores any treats I try give him, which right now is bell peppers, cucumber slices, and a bit of celery.

What else should I do to earn his trust?

 

[White Rabbit]

Rabbit bonding takes time. You are having a good start. Just let it come to you slowly, it might take a few days to a month but he will come around. My bunny was a rescue and found roaming my area, she went from barely coming up to me, to all these pets. It just takes time as they are a prey animal. One of the mods should come by soon and they will have all the links for bonding. I hope it all goes well and welcome to the forum! You gotta post some pictures now

This was before we caught her as we were trying:



This is her now 7-8 months later.

 

[BunLover]

Just yesterday I had ended up getting a bunny for an early birthday present. He’s a 4 month old male holland lop who I named pickle. Pickle is doing pretty well so far, he’s zooming around my room and doing lots of binkys. I’m a new bun owner and I need a little bit of advice!

I’m not exactly sure how to start getting pickle to trust me, so far i’ve been laying down on my floor and every once awhile he would come up to me sniff me, jump over me, and sometimes even put a paw on my chest. I have no idea what to do next. I heard that treats are a good idea. However, he ignores any treats I try give him, which right now is bell peppers, cucumber slices, and a bit of celery.

What else should I do to earn his trust?

Your doing great first of all. That is what you have to do, lay on the floor and let your rabbit come to you. (What your doing) Try pellets and banana. Do you give him pellets? As @White Rabbit said it takes time. It has been 2 years and I still am bonding with my rabbit. It takes months. Unless your rabbit trusts you really good. He will love you more if you take it slow, Rabbits love when you read them books. (I know, pretty silly, right?) but they sure like it. Even if he sits with you when you watch TV or doing something quietly that is bonding time. Here is a link too bonding.

https://bunnylady.com/bond-with-your-rabbit/

 

[PickleTheBunny]

Thank you so much! I’ll try and get as many pickle photos as possible lol

 

[BunLover]

Thank you so much! I’ll try and get as many pickle photos as possible lolView attachment 61121

Pickle is SO CUTE

 

[JBun]

You're starting out well. If he's zooming, binkying, and flopping down, that means he feels safe and happy in his new home. Now you just have to keep on working on building a trusting relationship with him. When he learns he can trust you, he'll feel more comfortable approaching and being near you. He may even lay down next to you or lower his head requesting you give him head rubs.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/bonding-with-your-bunny.html
https://flashsplace.webs.com/bondingwithyourbunny.htm
Treats/veggies can be used as an added incentive to teach a rabbit that being around you equals good things, but new foods need to be introduced into the diet slowly, one at a time and starting with a small amount. Also, any sugary foods like fruit, carrots, etc, should be limited to a very small amount, which amount is based on the size of your rabbit and if your rabbit can tolerate sugary snacks without developing mushy cecal poop. If you feed a limited amount of pellets each day, buns usually love their pellets, so pellets can also be used as a treat.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/greens--veggies.html
https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/treats.html
Usually you don't want to let a new rabbit have too much roaming space in the beginning, due to needing to let the rabbit establish and understand where it's territory is and where it needs to go potty(litter training). So if your bun is having any accidents outside of the litter box, you may want to consider cutting back on him being allowed to run around too big of an area at first, then gradually expanding his roaming area as his litter habits improve. Also keep in mind that he is just at the right age when their hormones start coming in. When that happens, it can cause litter habits to go out the door, with spraying and urine and poop left to mark their territory. Not to mention that the urine from intact bucks can be pretty musky and strong smelling. If your bun starts having these issues, usually the best and easiest solution is neutering.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/litter-training.html
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Spaying_and_neutering_rabbits
https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/