Bonding with a baby bunny

[rrjs0123]

I recently adopted a 7 week old bunny! She seems very sweet and social, but is very skittish and does not like to be approached. I have given her plenty of free roam, and she likes to do her thing, but if you so much as cough she'll jump. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with getting a younger bunny to trust and approach you-- I am following all the traditional advice of sit with her, don't pet or pick her up, let her come to you, etc. I would give her treats, but she is still too young. Any advice?

 

[TeddyTruly]

Maybe try to hand feed her pellets?

 

[FuzzyBunny ph]

Bonding with a bunny does take time, sometimes few days, sometimes a few months. Not sure if the age has to do with this but you may have to keep laying on the floor with her but ignoring her a few times a week. What I like to do is put some food on my tummy and wait for my bun to come

when she's a bit older, you can try to clicker train her. There's this very helpful group in facebook that teaches you how to train your bun, its a great way to bond with them too TrickBun Spark Team

 

[JBun]

You could try leaving some music on(not too loud) to help desensitize her to sudden sounds.

For getting her used to you, sitting with her in a smaller area like a bathroom or in an xpen so she doesn't just wander away, can help her get more used to your presence.

Yes, use her pellets as treats, though this only works well if she is on somewhat limited pellets and eagerly awaits her pellet feedings. Otherwise you could try a little bit of alfalfa hay. Most rabbits love it, and she's still young so is ok to have a little bit of it in her diet.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/bonding-with-your-bunny.html
https://flashsplace.webs.com/bondingwithyourbunny.htm
http://language.rabbitspeak.com/
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Understanding_your_rabbit