Desperate Need advice!

[datdotty]

Hello my name is Ray and my girlfriend and I recently bought a bunny off of craigslist. I believe she is a netherland dwarf. The previous owner says this bunny is about 1 year old. My girlfriend and I renamed her Luna and I don't know if this is bad. When we got her she was pretty scared and shy and would run under our bed to hide. While hiding she would poop everywhere under the bed and sometimes there would be some sign of pee marks. I would vacuum all this up and she would do it again the next time. I read that this is a territorial thing. After 2 days she began to gain trust of us. We could pet her and hold her without any struggling. I know she liked being pet because she would elongate her body when I give her a full body stroke. However 2 days ago I let her out of her cage and she would play and jump and twist around having a blast, but I had to run some errands so I put her back into her cage. When my girlfriend came back home and put her hand in the cage to take her out she scratched and bit her. I know that rabbits don't like that but we are new owners of a bunny so we didn't have any idea till we read up on it. After that incident she has never been the same. She still scratches at us when we go under the bed to try and get her to come out to go back into the cage when we are about to sleep. We are desperate to gain her trust again but we don't even know whats wrong. I been doing non stop research and I found out it could be hormonal and she is in heat. Different sources would tell you that because she is in heat she would be aggressive and territorial and some sites say rabbits do not go into heat. If she is in heat how long does it usually last??? Currently Luna is running around the room and she will come towards my feet and sniff around but the moment I reach out my hand to her she would run away. Im resisting to touch her and just ignore her like:whatever but its proving very hard cause she is just so cute and fluffy and my girlfriend and I are desperate for her love!!!!ullhair:ullhair:ullhair:I leave carrots around the floor for her to take her pick and eat it but she ignores it =(.

 

[Blue eyes]

No. Rabbits don't have heat cycles like dogs or cats. They do become hormonal and that can cause hormonal issues. Those issues may remain until you have her spayed. Some potential signs of hormones (every rabbit is different) can include lunging, biting, scratching.

Be sure the area that you are letting her run around in is bunny-proofed. If you don't want her under the bed, you'll have to block it off.

With my rabbits, they only spend the night in their cage. When it comes time to get them in their cage, I give them their pellet food and they run frantically into the cage to get their pellets.

That brings me to rabbit diet. At 1 year of age, she should have limited pellets. Mine get 1/4 cup of pellets per day. That is why they are so excited for it in the evening. The rest of the day, they have 24/7 access to timothy hay. I also got them gradually used to a variety of greens. They get 2-4 cups of greens every day too.

Carrots are really just a treat since they are so high in sugar. I wouldn't feed more than a 1" slice of carrot per day.

As far as gaining her trust, this just takes time and patience. Allow her to initiate contact. Read her body language so that you know when she is receptive to being pet. (They definitely have their moods.)
You can learn about body language for bunnies here.

 

[Blue eyes]

And general rule of thumb (at least in my book) is to never reach into a rabbit's cage to force them out and never force them back in their cage. It's more like tricking them into thinking that they are the one deciding to go back in. So if I put pellets in the cage, they are the ones hopping in on their own. OR, for another rabbit, perhaps an x-pen is surrounding the cage to allow for exercise. When it is time to go back in the cage, the x-pen can be gradually shrunk in toward the cage door. Eventually bunny will have no choice but to hop in, but he's still the one hopping in.
I had one rabbit that was stubborn and I would follow him around clapping. He kept hopping away and I'd keep following and clapping. Eventually he'd try hopping back in his cage and then I'd stop clapping and close the door.

As for getting them out, just open the door and let them hop out when they feel ready.

 

[datdotty]

Thanks blue eyes for the quick response. She is currently binkying around my floor so I guess its enjoying itself.