Does this poor shy bunny really want any attention? Bonding advice needed...

[Sarah & baby Benjamin 4ever]

A friend of mymum,has givenme her rabbit today becausefor the last 5-6yrsithasn't getting any of the care or attention itneeded.

It is a 5 or 6 yr old Netherland dwarf, and a very shy one at that!Like she lets me pat her, but it just seems she doesnt like it at all.At her old home no one gave her attention and she didn't haveany animal company either, so shes very used to been alone.

See my last rabbit was a very very VERY friendly little bugger who iloved dearly but sadly lost her to Pasturella. And so i was wonderingis this new rabbit too old toget hertoactfriendly towards me..... and if not then what can i do toget her to act friendly.

Also i already have a guinea pig and when i put the new bunny in thecage she pretty much nipped and chased the guinea pig in a kind ofaggressive way...... so i had to separate them..... what can i do aboutthis!!?

I appreciate any help i can get!
thank you,
Sarah.

 

[Hollie]

Bunnies are like people - they all havedifferent personalities! Since yours has been used to not gettingattention, it may take some time to get her used to being fussed over.

What I do with my buns to get them to trust me is sit with them atdinner time; since my buns are indoors, this is easy. Basically, I'lloffer them food from my hands before putting it all down, so that theyget used to being near my hands without thinking that they're going tobe grabbed. Doing it this way has worked wonders with all of mybunnies!

About the guinea pig; a lot of people are against keeping rabbits andguinea pigs together. I keep one guinea pig with two baby bunnies, buthe's used to being with rabbits (I rescued him along with a bun who Ihad to put to sleep last month). He isn't intimidated by the bunsbecause they're about his size, and they were used to living withpiggies at the pet shop, so there isn't an issue there.

However, my other girls will not tolerate the guinea pig at all. Arabbit can easily kill a guinea pig, as they are much stronger andlittle piggies are quite fragile.

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

You've only had her for a day, let her settle inand she may gradually warm up to you. And I also agree that if she hasnever recieved a lot of attention before, that can contribute to it.

I got a doe in November of 2005 and I spent 4 months working with herdaily and gradually building up her trust. She got to a point where shewould beg for my attention but that was after countless hours ofwork.I probably spent 1-2 hours a day with her and lettingher come to me. Zoey was not neglected in any way and she was handled alot but it's just her personality to be a bit shy. I'm just saying thisto illustrate that it may take a lot of patience and time.

Oh and if she lets you pet her, that is a good sign. Perhaps you arereading her body language wrong? What makes you think she doesn't wantattention? Is it because she hunkers down (flattens herself against theground)? I have a buck who does this because he wants to be pet and isthoroughly enjoying it althoughhis body language may make youthink thathe wants you to leavehim alone. Or is itbecause she doesn't come to you asking for attention? My other buckexpects me to go to him to give him attention, he rarely comes to measking for pets but simply soaks up the love when I go pet him.

I hope some of this helps!

One last comment on the guinea pig, it's not recommended because even avery small rabbit has a very powerful kick and can easily (andaccidentally) kick out and kill the guinea pig. A friend of mine usedto keep her netherland dwarf with a guinea pig until the rabbit wasenjoying himself in his cage one day and did a binky and kicked theguinea pig by accident and they had to put the guinea pig down.

 

[hunnybunny63]

you could consider getting another small bunnyto keep the netherland dwarf company as well as you! id keep the guineapig away from her!

let the bunny come to you when she is ready for petting and have soem food ready to encourage her and reward her.

you know we will need to know her name and some pics to see how beutiful she is!!

 

[Sarah & baby Benjamin 4ever]

Thank you all for your replies, they have helped me greatly!!

And especially the advice concerning the Guinea pig, i tried puttingthem together once again and she attacked him again so i'll definatlykeep them separate.... though if i buy another small bunny wouldn't sheattack that one too?

MyBabyBunnies i think you aretotally right!! See my lastBunny Benjamin (the VERY friendly one) used to lick my back when ever ipatted her so i guess i expected a bit of them same reaction from thisnew little bunny, because when i do pat her she does kinda flattenherself down which made me think she didnt want to be pat.

lol its funny although i've only had her for about a day and she's veryquiet i still cant help but to love her to bits already!! haha

I looked at some Netherland Dwarf Pictures and my little bunny doesntseem to look excatly like them.... she seems to have a bit bigger earsi think.... once i work out how to put a picture on here of her can youplease tell me if i have her breed wrong.

Thanks so much,
Sarah.