making her feel welcome?

Halucinate · Mar 19, 2011

I just got my BEW lionhead, from someone who was doing a big move and could not bring her along with ease. She has a HUGE play pen, and home setup.. but since she got here, shes been hiding... and it seems eating hay and had a small tad of water.

Shes pooped about 10 pebbles in several hours, so less then typical, but all solid, and healthy looking urine.

I think shes just timid, because of the new change. But.. i dont know what to do about it, shes already adorable, its hard getting a rabbit that dosent like ANY greens to trust you through bribery tho @_@ Yeah the owner told me, after a year and a half, she cant get her to eat some delicious veggies.

Is it possible, she will be a little more active come sun down, as some rabbits instinctivly are more awake at night?

hmmmmm

edit : might also be worth noting, i gotta get her spayed... but as of now, she isnt.

tamsin · Mar 19, 2011

Just give her some more time. It may take her several days to explore more and a couple of weeks to really settle in. Make sure she has plenty of hiding places and try not to disturb her too much. Yes, it's quite possible she'll be a bit more active in the evening/overnight too.

kirst3buns · Mar 21, 2011

:yeahthat: Just allow her to settle in for a few days. Then try getting her used to you more slowly by just sitting next to her cage and reading a book. Eventually, she will get used to her surroundings and your presence. She probably just needs a little more time to adjust.

Halucinate · Mar 21, 2011

Thank you all, luckily for me.. she is already accepting me, although slightly territorial as expected

The last owner, told me she had a hard time introducing her to any treats, or greens. I decided to try, but thus far no luck, so i bought some apple slice treats. So far she wont take it from me, should i just leave it somewhere for her to try on her own? or put it in the food bowl perhaps? thanks!

Korr_and_Sophie · Mar 21, 2011

Try leaving the treat in the food bowl or just in the cage. I find that with new treats the rabbits might not want to take it from me, but after leaving it in the bowl for a few days they will come get it from me.

I also have a BEW lionhead doe who is a bit shy. I have made some progress lately with her buy giving her 1/2 a piece of dried banana in the morning. She is now letting me pet her and is coming for the treat. I have had trouble as she is bonded to another rabbit so I can't just leave a treat in the cage as he will just eat it. I can now pet her and she is starting to like it. When we are at agility events, she wants to sit in my lap when doing high jump and will jump back over the jump toward me sometimes.

Lionheads are strong willed rabbits so it can take some time to win them over. Keep working on it and be consistent. You can't really force a lionhead to do something, you have to make it seem like it is their idea.

I would let her settle in more before you really start working with her. While you can't make every experience positive for her, try to make there be more positive than negative experiences. Don't just pick her up when you need to clip nails, pick her up to cuddle for a bit. Even when clipping nails (or doing something not so fun), make it more positive before and after.