Need help with my scared rabbit

[Babygroot]

Hi,
So I have a bunny whose around 2 years old and she's very scared of us here at home.
She's been in a cage ever since we got her (cause we didn't know any better) and now I'm trying to move her to a different space so she can run around, but she's to scared to move outside her cage. So I've tried different methods where I put her outside of her cage but of course it just gets worse that way and she gets even more scared.
I really want to get her moving because even though she is a generally big rabbit, I'm pretty sure she's overweight, which doesn't come as a suprise since she can't move around alot.
Because I've been moving her around so much not trusting me, she's been extremely stressed out and I noticed her poop getting smaller. It's still has a nice color, but they are just a but smaller in size.
I did move her today again, but what I did this time was to put her outside in a exercise pen so she wouldn't be surrounded by us and she loved it! She did binkys and was running around a lot! But the problem is when I go to pick her up and take her inside or outside...

I'm very lost in what I should do... Should I just wait and keep her in her cage to try and build up a relationship with her first so she can trust me more before moving her around?
Help!

 

[Hermelin]

You can move her with a travel cage place something yummy in the travel cage and let her jump into the cage with her own free will. This way she will be calmer and you can start to slowly build up a bond with her.

First let the travel cage be in her cage and train her to get used with it. Make the travel cage a safe place, so when she's in her pen and get scared the travel cage will act as an hide that will make her feel safe. This way she can explore the run in her own time and take it slowly

Make sure to always carry (daily ratio) pellets on yourself to reward her and give her a good imagae of yourself. You can make the pellets bits smaller to have more as a treats.

 

[Babygroot]

You can move her with a travel cage place something yummy in the travel cage and let her jump into the cage with her own free will. This way she will be calmer and you can start to slowly build up a bond with her.

First let the travel cage be in her cage and train her to get used with it. Make the travel cage a safe place, so when she's in her pen and get scared the travel cage will act as an hide that will make her feel safe. This way she can explore the run in her own time and take it slowly

Make sure to always carry (daily ratio) pellets on yourself to reward her and give her a good imagae of yourself. You can make the pellets bits smaller to have more as a treats.

That sounds like a good idea! I'll go ahead and try that and see how it goes

Thank you very much!

 

[thevanguard6]

Yep. Those bunny/cat carriers are great for that sort of thing. I think every rabbit owner should have one.

Try sitting on the floor and letting your bunny come to you. Resist the urge to reach out and grab her. Act like you're ignoring her and she'll be climbing on you in no time.

As for the stress and 'output' issue, here are some bunny diet tips:

- unlimited Timothy hay
- unlimited water - a total of 1/3rd cup of extruded timothy hay pellets a day per rabbit
- dried thin slices of apple (do not feed them the seeds, since they're poisonous)
- dried thin slices of carrot The apple and carrot are measured out each day.

Each rabbit gets five or six slices of apple/carrot a day. If you were to give your rabbit non-dried foods, here are some that seem to work well (in moderation):
- carrot tops
- parsley

 

[Babygroot]

Yep. Those bunny/cat carriers are great for that sort of thing. I think every rabbit owner should have one.

Try sitting on the floor and letting your bunny come to you. Resist the urge to reach out and grab her. Act like you're ignoring her and she'll be climbing on you in no time.

As for the stress and 'output' issue, here are some bunny diet tips:

- unlimited Timothy hay
- unlimited water - a total of 1/3rd cup of extruded timothy hay pellets a day per rabbit
- dried thin slices of apple (do not feed them the seeds, since they're poisonous)
- dried thin slices of carrot The apple and carrot are measured out each day.

Each rabbit gets five or six slices of apple/carrot a day. If you were to give your rabbit non-dried foods, here are some that seem to work well (in moderation):
- carrot tops
- parsley

Okay, thanks for the advice and tips!

 

[Preitler]

As for the stress and 'output' issue, here are some bunny diet tips:

- unlimited Timothy hay
- unlimited water - a total of 1/3rd cup of extruded timothy hay pellets a day per rabbit
- dried thin slices of apple (do not feed them the seeds, since they're poisonous)
- dried thin slices of carrot The apple and carrot are measured out each day.

Each rabbit gets five or six slices of apple/carrot a day. If you were to give your rabbit non-dried foods, here are some that seem to work well (in moderation):
- carrot tops
- parsley

That's only one way to feed pet rabbits, there are many others that are ok too.

Well, which hay doesn't matter as long as it's of decent quality. Timothy is just one species of grass that gets commercially farmed. How much pellets dependsn on what's available, size and age of the bunny, apart from any high calorie treats those are the first to cut back if a rabbit gets chubby.
That apple seed tidbit is a myth, you would need to stuff at least the weight of the rabbit in apple seeds into it in one go to get any effect (apart from the explosion)

I use pellets and treats to train them to return to their hutch or to come by always calling them when giving them some.