How are we doing?

[BinkyBunny]

My first bunnies and I got along famously from the beginning. They were 8 weeks old and adventurous and unafraid when I first met them. In a short week, we were very close and I received grooming and was often nudged. My new bunny is a little older. I guess 4 months but honestly, I could be wrong. I tried to have some time with him today. When I reached in his cage he ran away I'm not used to that. I placed him on one end of the couch and sat on the other. He looked at me a few times and after about 10 mins I laid down so my head was vulnerable to him. I wanted him to see I meant no harm. He leaned in toward me and gave my head a close sniff. His fur tickled my forehead. He quickly retreated. He mostly stared at me. A few times he would slowly turn around fully in place. Not turned around giving me the butt but turning a full 360. What does that mean? When I went to take him back, he did seems calmer than when we started. I guess I feel a little sad because I got on so well with my former buns right from the start. Does this sound normal? Will his age affect our bond? Is it a mistake to hope we can be very close someday? I don't mean to expect him to be my former bunnies but I was just expecting him to be a little less afraid of me. Inside I thought... Maybe I made a mistake thinking he will want to befriend me? What do you think? Did you and your bunny take time? I think maybe my overly easy first experience may be dampening my new journey...

 

[whitelop]

Maybe this will help you. http://language.rabbitspeak.com
And there is something in the library for bonding with your bunny.

I think it takes time for them to adjust to new surroundings. Don't put too much pressure on him or yourself. It takes a lot of patience and perseverance.

 

[JBun]

My guess would be that he wasn't handled much as a baby and so is a little nervous in this new environment and being around people. I got a new rabbit this summer that was 1 1/2 and I was told he was hardly ever handled by the previous owner. He didn't want me touching him or petting him. When I would reach into the cage, he would run to the other end of the cage to try to get away from me. Unfortunately being in a new home stressed him so much that he ended up getting GI stasis. He managed to get over it and get better, but it took 2 weeks and alot of syringe feeding food, meds, and water, and lots of tummy massages. Basically he had no choice about being handled as I had to try and save him. After a couple more bouts with stasis and lots more hand feeding, he now is my 'pet begger'. Every time he sees me he wants nose rubs and even likes me to hold him and give nose rubs. I'm not suggesting, to all of the sudden start handling your bun a lot, as that might cause him a lot of stress. I didn't really have a choice with my rabbit. But with patience they can come around. If when you get him out, he doesn't explore at all but just sits there looking scared, you may be moving too fast for him, and may just try working with him first from his cage. Try to handle him as little as possible and let his cage be his safe place. I would use food to help him get used to you. If you can find a little treat that he really likes, then that will help. Try a little bit of carrot, small banana piece, raisin, little pinch of oats, just try different things to find something that he absolutely loves, but don't over do the treats though and only give them if he has perfectly normal poops, and start with small amounts. You could do this a couple times a day. I had another new bun and she was nervous being in a new place and thumped and grunted at me whenever I reached into her cage. She even went off her feed. I knew she had been given oats at her previous home, so I mixed in a pinch of oats into her pellets and man, what a change. She was crazy excited about oats. It got her back on her food and also got her excited about seeing me for feeding time. With shy and nervous buns, you have to back off a little, give them their space, and try little tricks like treats, to help them open up.

 

[BinkyBunny]

Does the fact he wasn't handled as a baby mean we can't have a close relationship?

 

[JBun]

No, not at all! My bun that got stasis, that was hardly ever handled and was scared of me, is now the sweetest boy and loves to see me and loves to snuggle. It's just a matter of helping them to realize that you are ok and they are safe and nothing is going to happen to them. When your bun starts realizing this, he'll start not being so scared and will begin to trust you. With him still being a young rabbit, there's a good chance that he'll come around pretty quickly, as opposed to an older rabbit more set in their ways.

Edit: If your rabbit really likes pellets, you can even use those as treats and try to hand feed them to him.

 

[BinkyBunny]

Will I get nipped!? They are pretty short! I offered him a raisin and he wouldn't take it from my hand but when I handed it to him and stepped away he looked at me and then at the raisin and gobbled it. I know you don't want to give a lot of fruit ultimately but I thought that might entice him. I will need to give myself the patience pep talk tomorrow evening I am constructing an NIC cube playpen so I can just sit in it with him and do some computer work while ignoring him. I hope playing had to get will interest him

 

[JBun]

If he's not a biter, I can't see that you would get nipped unless you are trying to feed him a really tiny piece of something. I would keep doing the treat a couple times a day with whatever treat he likes, just make sure the poops stay normal. I would maybe start with just putting the treat in there and not trying to hand feed it to him. Do that for a few days, maybe even a week or more, and when he seems to be getting really excited for his treat, then start trying to hand feed it to him, and just be patient and give him a minute to see if he'll take it from your hand.

You could try the playpen thing, but if he just sits in one place and doesn't really move around, he may be too nervous still to be moving to that step, and you'll just want to work on building his trust in his cage.

 

[BinkyBunny]

I will try the pen and let you know how he does. I feel he will probably move around, so maybe he is doing better than what I'm giving him credit.

 

[Blue eyes]

I wanted to add that your bunny is in no way too old to get "used to" you. Every bunny truly has a unique temperament -- some are just naturally more cuddly than others. Give him time, patience and occasional treats and he'll warm up to you.

I would also highly discourage ever reaching into his cage to pull him out. I think this is counterproductive in getting a bunny to learn to trust. His cage should be his sanctuary where he knows he will not ever be disturbed -- his safety zone. Let him come out on his own and explore as he feels comfortable.

Your idea of sitting nearby and ignoring him is absolutely ideal. That will let him see that you are safe.

Mocha is my most recent rabbit. I've had him just over 3 months. It's only recently that he's finally been allowing me to pet him outside of when he is getting treats. Some rabbits just take more time than others.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Some are instant sweethearts and with others, you have to invest time and they still may not be a snuggle bunny. We have had some extremely shy rescues that are now borderline pesty.

 

[tamsin]

Yep, he's just getting to know you. Bunnies will often ignore each other (whilst sneakily sizing up the other rabbit) before making friends. So copying that and letting him investigate you in his own time, and then showing how nice you are with some treats is the best way to make friends

 

[BinkyBunny]

I think he's doing pretty well today. He took a couple sprigs of cilantro from me and he came over and gave me a sniff and hopped off to look at me from afar again. I need to build him a ramp so he can decide to get out of his cage because as it stands he really has not way to decide to come out. I put a box there like some suggested but realistically, I don't think he will be able to use the step until he is a little big. Maybe I am underestimating his bunny abilities.

 

[BinkyBunny]

I left him alone for a bit in a pen on the floor and he began binkying when I came back in the room. I sat down in the pen with him and he came up and put his two front feet on me looking up. I went to pet him, but that was too much and it scared him. I set up the boxes in front of his cage so he can get back to it. He figured that out quickly I will need a long term solution but for now it will work. He did atleast 5 or 6 binkies while I was there with him. He seemed to be saying I really like this play pen and I think I like you but STAY OVER THERE LOL He's warming up nicely! I just went to shut the cage door because I cleaned everything for him while he was out and he was sticking his head out like HEY I HAVE THINGS TO BE DOING DONT SHUT THE DOOR!!! I will have to remind myself that rabbits can back track from day to day. Initially, with my other bunnies I had good days and bad days where they were more scared. Ultimately the bad days went away, but they showed up from time to time for the first few weeks.

 

[JBun]

Yay!!! That's great progress! It's always fun to see a rabbit's first binky, and it's a good sign that he is really starting to relax

If he's not ready to be petted, next time try just slowly putting your hand near his nose and let him smell your hand instead. Then he'll be able to get comfortable with your hand being near him without worrying that you're going to do anything.

 

[BinkyBunny]

So today I set up the pen and the boxes for him. He investigated them a lot, but he decided to stay in his cage today. He ate some greens and hay and got his alotted pellets. I was hoping to interact with him today, but it just wasn't in the dice