scared bunny

[Sissy2170]

We have only had Lily for a week and she hasmade some progress since being here. Before us she was kept outside andI don't think was handled a great deal if at all. She will let us holdher, but you can tell she was scared so I stopped doing that with her,especially once I read a bit on here. When she first got here she wouldjust sit in the corner of her cage and would not come out into theplaypen area. Well now she is coming out and she is doing her bunnyflops in the playpen area and she is playing with her toys, but once westep into her area she goes directly back into her cage. Now I readwhere we can lay there and wait for her to come to us and I haveproblems with laying down as her playpen area is not large enough forme to lay down and even if it was it wouldn't be comfortable for me asI have an illness that affects my joints and causes them to dislocate.Laying down on the hard floor would not be good for me. Is there aproblem with just sitting down and maybe bending over at the waist tobe on the floor. I know that would be uncomfortable for most people,but due to my illness I am very flexible. I can hold that position fora bit. I have to move around a lot and can't be in any one position fortoo awful long. So is there anything I can do with these issues inorder to bring her over to me in her time? We also have dogs and I amnot going to test the boundaries between the bunny and the dogs as I amnot sure it would be safe for Lily. My dogs are getting on in years andwill not be with us too many more years (maybe 2 or 3). Unless theylive well beyond their expected life span. I was told that it wouldtake a bit to get Lily to bond with me anyway and that I wouldn't wantto make her a house bunny until she was bonded and litter trained. So Ithought getting a bunny now would give me time to do that with thebunny and then once the dogs passed she could have full roam of thehouse. This also gives me time to bunny proof everything. I have beengetting conflicting information and trying to decipher what is rightand what is wrong is getting really confusing. So I am reading a lotand going with my gut at this point. I can lock my dogs out of mybedroom and play with her on the bed, but that involves picking her upto get her on the bed and I don't want to force her. She lets me pether without a problem, but she does seem scared in a way. She doesn'trun away though. She'll also let me pick her up without any flailingabout. She just won't stay in the same area as me if she has a choicein the matter. Any advice you could give me on bonding strategies basedon the information I have given you would be greatly appreciated. Thissite is wonderful and I am learning new things every day reading onhere. Everyone on here seems really great as well. I thank God thereare sites like these for new pet/human relationships.

 

[missyscove]

You don't have to lie down. If you cansit on the floor for a while (perhaps with a book) she may eventuallycome over to you to see what you're up to. A little food,maybe her daily veggies, placed near you might help also.Even if she dosn't come out the first time, she will start to get usedto you being in her area.

As for the dogs, if they really are older, do they seem interested inbothering her? I have two ten year old Golden retrievers whowill let the buns climb on them. I personally think they'rein denial, as in, rabbits, we don't have rabbits.

 

[Sissy2170]

Well I have 3 shar-pei's. They are older, butdon't really act it. LOL They usually live to be around 9 or 10 andmine are 6,7, and 8 years old. Two of mine have vision issues (geneticproblem) and they wouldn't harm her at all I don't think. However, my 7year old female has been caught killing rabbits in our backyard if theyaren't quick enough. She hasn't done this in quite a while, but I justdo not trust her. Lily is locked up at night, because i fear the dogwould get in her playpen and do something. When Lily first came myfemale (Glory) was whining at her cage and watching every move shemade, but now she acts as if Lily doesn't exist. I am hoping in time wemay be able to attempt supervised outings with the dogs, but I am goingto go very slow and cautiously about that one. Glory has already made agreat improvment around Lily though. She does get jealous when I holdLily though and just stares at me like what's up? LOL Now that I knowLily does not like being held that will stop anyway. I will continuesitting in her playpen area until she comes around then. How longshould I sit in there every night? Should I start out with just a fewminutes and increase my time in there over time? I just do not want tostress her out too much as she does seem stressed when we are in there.I also was wondering if it is ok if the family takes turns going inthere or if I should be the only one going in for now until she adjuststo me and then let others take their turns? My oldest daughter lovesher a great deal and spends a great deal of time with her. The othertwo kids have more important things to do, but when the mood strikesthem they go visit with her. I have had a dislocated hip the last 4days so I haven't been able to climb in her enclosure, but will as soonas it goes back into place. I do sit outside of her enclosure and talkto her though. Sorry so long. Thanks so much for your reply.

 

[maomaochiu]

i think you are doing a great job trying tomakeher comfortable. it takes a little time to earna bunny's trust, but it is well worth waiting.

as far as the dogs, she might be afraid of them. i know mybun stresses out even hearing or smelling dogs. but i guessagain, it takes time for bunnies to be assured that they are safe.

a lot of bunnies love their head/nose to be rubbed, so doing tons ofthat would help. also little treats here and there go anextra mile too.

good luck!

maomaochiu

 

[missyscove]

You could start with shorter amounts of time andwork up, but she should really see you as just another part of herplaypen. It's a nice feeling to have a bunny climbing on youlike you're a jungle gym.

 

[Sissy2170]

Thanks so much. I was able to go into Lily'splaypen area tonight as my hip went back in late last night. Well sheacted afraid of me earlier in the day time, but I went and purchasedsome craisins and she actually took them from my hand and startedcoming up towards me to see if I had anymore. That was the first timeshe has ever taken anything from my hand, so that is some progress. Iwent to pet her nose and she jumped a mile. She is just so afraid. Iwill wait to touch her when she comes to me to be touched. She normallyjust sits in a corner never moving a muscle, but tonight she wasgrooming herself and moving around so she is feeling a little morecomfortable. The first time I tried to pet her nose today she made aweird growling noise and jumped pretty far away. After she settled downI tried again and she let me no problem. I am going to take my timewith her. I had one pair of sugar gliders that took me 2 years beforethey would even come my direction so I have the patience I just hope itdoesn't take that long with Lily.
I thought maybe she was afraid of the dogs too, but I watchedher come straight up to Glory's nose today and sniff her and shedoesn't seem to fear them at all, but when I come in she runs away. LOLI just can't wait until she will snuggle with me when I am laying inbed or on the couch. She is such a cutie pie. I know I haven't had herlong, but I adore her completely. I appreciate all the advice I can getwith being a new rabbit parent.

 

[ec]

I'm finding that patience is crucial to buildinga relationship with my rabbit - she's not a scaredy-cat, but I did takemy time when I first brought her home, with just sitting nearby readingand allowing her to come and check me out when she was ready.

One thing that really worked in her case: reading aloud. She got usedto the sound of my voice that way, and she knew I'd be sitting there,talking to her without trying to touch her in any way. Nibbles isn't ashy bunny, but she needed a lot of time to get settled in initially.The folks at the rescue where I got her told me to expect it to take atleast 2 months for her to start really getting settled, and they wereright on the money.

Even now, almost 6 months after getting her, I'm seeing new facets ofher peronality, as she learns to trust me more. Patience seems to bethe key, though there are days when I run pretty short on that score!

So hang in there with your new girl - my guess is that things will go well, as long as you take it slow.

I'll second the comments on bunnies feeling free to climb around. it's very rewarding!

 

[Runestonez]

Hi Sissy!

When we got our two bunny girls, Skittles was really freaked out byeverything. (They had been in a petstorefor alongtime and had been on display where kids were harassingthem.) The first thing she did when we brought her home wasbite me almost to the bone on my finger!Ouch!:shock:

My hubby and I would lay on the floor in the livingroom and read ournewspaper flyers and things like that. After awhile our bunnswould come over to check us out, then they would climb up on us andthey would start to take away the papers if they felt they weren'tgetting enuff attention! My absolute favorite way to get toone of our bunns heart is bribery! If it works useit! I know Skittles LOVES raisins and craisins and driedbasil...so we will sit and offer her one while petting her.Or if we have to pick her up (which she HATES!) she gets one when weput her down! It really has worked! She will run tosee us now whenever we walk in the room!