Help with new bun

[Rescuemom]

'Fluffy'(soon to be changed to something else), came to live with me the other night when my friend moved to BC and couldn't take the bun with(she had a baby, a two year old, three cats and two dogs to take and an added rabbit was too much)..

I discovered quite a few things. As much as I want to say that Fluffy wasn't a rescue, she was. Her cage was FILTHY and DISGUSTING when I got her. She stunk up my house. I don't believe she's litter-trained, so I've been working on that. She's extremely skittish because she was almost never held and if she was, it was by the two year old more often than anyone else and she was harassed by their cats. To boot, she has charged my friend once before and bit her(she was cleaning the cage with Fluffy inside of it - not something I would do with any bunny).. The cage would get COVERED in feces before it would get cleaned at all, and her water bottle would hit dry before they would refill it, not to mention that they free-fed her because they were too lazy/busy to bother going down once every day to give her food. So... Yes, sadly, she was a 'rescue'. And she's very, very dominant. She is about eight months old, and yes, she is spayed.

She thumps, she grunts, she presses her ears back and she'll charge you too. Soon as you reach for her though, she's running to hide. Thump, thump, thump, grunt.

I've been doing bunny dates with her and Crush, but she's to the point I think she's rude? She'll hump him, then she'll hop over and start nibbling(doesn't quite look like licking, but isn't drawing blood either) his ears(which bothers him and he immediately does a side-hop to get his ears away from her mouth), then return to humping him. I have to make her back off if she gets to be too much. And he just sits there and deals with it, unless she goes back to his ears, because her touching his ears seems to bother him.

I'm not sure how to deal with a skittish/dominant rabbit and make her realize that human contact isn't to be feared. And I'm not sure if she's the 'right match' for Crush or not. I know it takes time, but I almost feel cruel for putting her with him and making him deal with her. They're ALWAYS put in neutral territory. And they've always got goodies like hay and greens to munch on during their dates. I always end the dates when they're relaxed and leaving one another alone to end it on a good note and their cages are side by side so they can smell one another(neither can actually reach the other, so there's no biting through bars) and see each other.

Overall though, I'm looking for some input. Both on bonding and on dealing with Fluffy.

Next bunny date, I'll get a video of them to show and see if anyone sees anything wrong, or if I should keep trying. If these two don't bond, I won't bother trying to re-bond Crush with someone else - he's quite happy as a human bonder it seems. He's the complete opposite of her. Submissive, laid-back, relaxed, calm, quiet, cuddly, curious, and LOVES to be handled and his favorite is the nose-rubs. Crush is a three year old Holland Lop, and he is neutered.

Fluffy on the other hand, is skittish, dominant, noisy, jumpy, pushy, curious, and is likely fearful of being handled. Fluffy is a Lionhead.

Are there any typical behaviors here of either breed? I know every animal is individual, but you often find certain types of personalities within a breed, or typical/common behaviors in each, which is what I'm asking. Also, anything I can do to help Fluff be more okay with handling, other than handling her more frequently than she used to be?

 

[cwolfec]

Typically lionheads are pretty chill I've heard. Mine is. With love and patience, I bet you can get her to blossom and become a sweet bun again. She'll probably always want to be dominant, but it sounds like that may be a good thing for your relaxed Crush.

However, I think I would work on getting Fluffy to relax and feel comfortable with you and her new home first. Keep their cages close to each other so they can get familiar. Once she's more settled and less grunty and skittish, I would introduce them again.

Sounds like you have given her an amazing new life. Just start at the very beginning: read outloud to her, lay on the ground and "ignore' her, and tempt her with treats.

Let us know how it goes, and good luck!!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Time, patience, and bribery. Make sure your bunny always associates you with food, treats, and veggies. All mine get rubbed at those times and have come to expect it, so they no longer shy away and even our skittish buns now come around to be rubbed and interact when they are out to the pint they are pesty--gotta love it.

 

[Rescuemom]

I'll have to keep trying to find what treats she likes best then... I know she doesn't like Strawberries(Crush goes nuts for them) and barely even touches any greens or veggies given. I believe she likes Banana's, which is Crush's favorite too... So I may have to give those a shot. I plan to spend some time with her free-roaming in my spare room tonight and see if I can coax her around.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Keep working at it. We just baby sat Peanut for larryng and introduced her to veggies. She was sure the first nite and only ate a little, but by the third nite she was standing up in her hutch in anticipation.

 

[Imbrium]

Gaz will eat anything green pretty much (though she has her favorites), but my little lionhead turns up her nose at most veggies. the only two Nala will eat are kale and cilantro (well, and occasionally lettuce, but not always). I just printed out the veggie list from http://www.rabbit.org/care/veggies.html and took it shopping with me, getting 1-2 new veggies a week until I figured out what they liked.

 

[agnesthelion]

I have a Lionhead and she is a complete sweetheart. Just a joy! To me it seems the issues you are dealing with with Fluffy are only because of her treatment.

Good for you to rescue her! I think with time and patience she will be a fantastic bunny.

My thoughts is that maybe there is being too much shoved at her at once? I'm not completely for sure but just reading her story made me think it. She didn't seem handled good from the beginning. Then all of a sudden a new home with new hoomans trying to befriend her. Plus, this new male bunny who wants to "marry" her, she might be overwhelmed!

Not sure whose trust you should work on her getting first though?? Like, if you keep up with the bond and then they do would she trust better and warm up to humans? OR slow down with the bonding first and then get her to like hoomans and THEN try a bond again? Not sure either way but possibly just taking things one at a time might be better......

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

[Rescuemom]

I hear you, Lisa. I actually started the bunny dates BEFORE moving her in because my friend only lived two doors down and we were able to do it at night after the kids went to bed. The first date was very, very good. They ignored one another at first, ate together, groomed themselves, were completely relaxed, and when it moved to the living room, she began humping, and was very eager to keep at it. But it went well otherwise and Crush tolerated her with ease.

He still tolerates her really well and I try to hold her several times for short periods each day to get her used to handling again.

I do think it was her last few months at her last home that caused the behavior.. She was adopted at a young age, and then she was almost never handled - who WOULD want to be handled when they don't know if the hands are safe? Especially after a two year old would pick her up and drop her? So I definitely get where she's coming from. But I will add, I know dog behavior better and I have rehabilitated aggressive, and fearful dogs with no problem because I know what I'm doing. With bunnies... I'm not entirely sure what all works, lol.

I think I will stop the bunny dates for now until I can work on earning her trust more. It's really important to me to be able to handle a bunny without her getting scared, or charging me in her cage. If nothing else in the instance she is injured. I do understand that she may never ENJOY being picked up and held, but if she can at least get to a point where she knows she's safe and not get freaked by it, that would make me happy. For now, they're both caged in my spare room, cages side by side. When/if they bond, I intend to build one big NIC cage, as right now, they're temporarily both in the pet store cages I got them in with just lots of free-roam time in the spare room individually. I can't wait to bond them and get them in one big cage together.

That said... I was trying to find fruits to bribe Fluffy with - know she doesn't like strawberries, and tried peaches, pears, cherries, and nadda in those. Crush was ecstatic for all of it - he LOVES his sugary fruits as treats. Fluffy could care less. I may just continue to use greens, as she seems to really enjoy those. And banana's - but I'll have to get more of those later on. Anyway... more to the point... I was handling her the other night and I noticed something... She has a big mat right above her tail on her back end. Lovely, right?

So... Does anyone know how to deal with a mat on a rabbit? I'm aware that combing it out could hurt her more than anything. What about having someone else hold her while I take some scissors and cut it down as much as I can safely, and then brushing the rest out with a gentle brush? I don't want to hurt her, but I can guarantee if the mat gets worse, it will hurt more...

 

[ldoerr]

I would cut the mat out. I have to keep Beautys rear end cut short otherwise it gets matty. As for treats my rabbits LOVE raisens and pieces of dried papaya. They will do anythign for them.