Hi from Newfoundland, Canada

[Remi_The_Rabbit]

Hi, I've recently gotten my first rabbit a female (not really sure) lop rabbit that I've named Remi. She's between 4-6 months old.
I've left her alone for the first few days and now I'm trying to get her comfortable with me handling her, it's slow going but I've managed to pet her without too much fuss. Any advice for a first time owner is welcome.

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[Nancy McClelland]

Slow movements and speak softly and use the name a lot. Mine will "mostly" come to me when I call them, even the ones that were shy at first.

 

[stevesmum]

Try hand feeding some of those pellets to her while petting her so she associates you with something positive- food. She is so cute! Welcome to the forum.

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

Hey welcome!!
Best advice I gave is to hang out with her, like if you let her loose in a room to hop around, like a bathroom or somewhere not too overwhelming for her, and sit in there and read a book. Let her decide when she wants to come to you and be friends. I lay on the floor so I am at rabbit level, and it works really well.

 

[Remi_The_Rabbit]

Thanks everyone, I've been following what you said but have run into a bit of a problem. Remi has been with me a few days now and I've been trying to let her come to me... so I open her cage and sit on the floor either reading or drawing but she won't leave her cage. She'll hop to the door and look out but not come out picture below on what she does. I don't want to scare her by just taking her out. Any ideas on a way to move forward,

Thanks again.
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[Aki]

What a pretty bunny! ^^
First, I advise you to take out that walkway thing. I've known several rabbits who slipped, got their foot stuck between two bars and broke their foot while panicking and jumping. Your rabbit doesn't need it to go in and out of her cage. To help her get out if you feel like it's too much of a jump (it's probably not - a dwarf lop can jump 1.5m with no run-up whatsoever), you can put a small cushion on the floor in front of the 'door' (I did that when I got Aki as she was incredibly tiny, but I removed it after a few days as she was jumping in and out of the cage like a champ even when she could fit in the palm of my hand).
To incitate her to go out, put a few pellets or carrot pieces on the floor in front of the cage and stay far away from the cage looking busy. But a few days is nothing, it's normal that she's still skittish. I always thought skittish animals were a lot smarter than others - I mean, you'd have to be pretty dumb to throw yourself at a giant creature you don't know after a few days. ^^
If she's already 4 to 6 months you'll have to take her to the vet to check if she's a girl soon because she will need to be spayed around her 7th month if you don't want her lifespan to be cut in half by cancer (the risk is around 80% at 5 years for an intact female).
It will also give you the opportunity to look for a competent vet and to ask them a few questions to assess their rabbit's knowledge while your rabbit is healthy - considering how fast a rabbit's condition can deteriorate when something goes wrong, it's best to have a good vet picked that you can go to when you notice a problem (mine is listed in my cellphone - none of my doctors are!

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

I agree. That walkway the problem. Get rid it or when you open it, cover it temporarily with something so she is comfortable with walking on it. A piece of carpet would be idea but an old towel might work too. In the picture it looks like she wants to come out but can't because of that ramp.

Also, it's true about getting her fixed. She'll get cancer otherwise. When looking for a vet try to find one that deals with exotic pets. They will know more about rabbits. Regular vets are trained for dogs and cats and those are nothing like rabbits. Meficine ok for dogs and cats will kill a rabbit. I've seen more than one person on this forum take their rabbit to a regular vet only to have it die. Once it was because the vet put a cone on the rabbits head, like they do after surgery of dogs and cats, which is ok for them but not rabbits!! It ended up killing the rabbit. Be super duper sure your vet knows about rabbits. And be sure to have the vets number on hand, after getting spayed you will probably never need to vet again.... but like the person said above, when rabbits do have a medical emergency it happens fast. Very fast. So it's good to have a vet already and have the number ready.

Your bunny is very cute btw and I'll bet once you fix the gate she comes right out.

 

[RavenousDragon]

Hello and welcome! The biggest piece of advice I have for new bunny owners is to remember to feed the bunnies all the hay (any kind but alfalfa) they will eat! Many people don't do this with their new bunnies, but that causes health problems as they get older.

She is a SUPER cute little bun! Keep us updated on how she's doing with you!

 

[katiecrna]

Welcome! So this is a classic case of nervous scared timid bunny, sometimes they take a while to get use to their new owners and home. Your doing everything right though you just need to be patient.

My bunny was incredible scared and stubborn and it took us 3 months of everyday bonding for her to trust me and to be able to pet her without her running away.

Just sit there and wait for her to come out. Don't grab her, trust me she will eventually come out in a day or so especially if you have some good food to offer her. And when she comes out just ignore her and let her get use to you. It's all about gaining trust, and it has to be done on your rabbits time. When you grab her or take her out you break that trust and it takes longer.

Also if your not... feed her by hand through her cage everyday so she gets use to your hand.

 

[katiecrna]

https://youtu.be/1E2ZEJO81bM

Here's my favorite video on how to bond with your bunny

 

[Remi_The_Rabbit]

I've made a bit of a breakthrough with Remi. It seems she didn't like the hardwood floor I don't know if it was cold or slippery but I put a blanket down and now she's running and jumping all over my room.

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She'll even come close and sit by my legs if I don't try and touch her.

Thanks everyone for all your advice.

 

[katiecrna]

Hey @remi_The_Rabbit I was just looking at your pics and didn't see any hay in the cage. Or maybe I just missed the hay in the cage, but anyway if you don't you need to get some because buns need access to fresh hay everyday 24/7.

I know your a new bunny mom so I'm just making sure you know proper care and diet

 

[Remi_The_Rabbit]

Thanks Katiecrna, there's a hay in her litter box

 

[Remi_The_Rabbit]

Thanks Katiecrna, there's a hay rack in her litter box.. I read online somewhere that it helps to put it there when litter training.

 

[RavenousDragon]

I have one rabbit who HATES any sort of hard flooring and will pretty much avoid it at all costs (she does ok if we put her on it and she has to walk on it to leave, but we don't usually do this). The other rabbit I have actually enjoys hard flooring, and will slide along it on purpose sometimes (like people do in socks). Rabbits are quite picky sometimes! You may need to consider getting a permanent rug for your kid, it seems.