Trouble bonding, dominance issues?

[grunesgryphon]

My :bunny24: is about a year and a half old and has been with me since he was weaned... and I don't think he likes me much.
He's a little attention hog, so he's willing to come up to me and demand being petted, but he behaves the exact same way to my parents and complete strangers (at least he isn't afraid of them!) He'll let me roll him over to clip his nails, check his teeth, or sometimes even just play with his feet and cuddle, but the minute he flips back over and I'm carrying him, he starts paying no attention and immediately starts trying to escape onto the floor.
If that doesn't work because I've held him back, he'll start digging ferociously on my shirt, nipping, then digging ferociously again. I've tried showing dominance by gently holding down his head, turning my back (when he's in his cage and being demanding), and I've tried to stop the nipping by squealng every time he does. He simply doesn't pay attention. If he's on the floor or in his pen or in a new environment, he ignores me even harder because he's too excited.
He is fixed - he was a little monster when he was unfixed.
I know that it's entirely possible he could be resentful, as when I got him in the summer I didn't know just how bad school could be in terms of sucking up all your time. During the school year, I feed him at night and pet him a bit and that's basically it; my parents ignore him during the day, too, although I've encouraged them to play with him when I'm not there.
Overall, I just don't know how to fix things with my bun. He ignores me.

 

[JBun]

I think you are ascribing behavior and emotions to your rabbit, that just simply don't apply. It doesn't really have anything to do with him ignoring you or being resentful. He's being a rabbit. And the behavior you're describing is pretty typical for rabbits. Many rabbits hate being picked up and held, and will sometimes nip, struggle, and do anything they can to get away and back onto the floor. Most of the time you can teach them to tolerate being carried and held, but very few rabbits actually like being held or picked up. They are a ground animal and a prey animal, and in nature only a predator wanting to eat them, would be picking them up off the ground. You can usually train them to be better behaved though, when being held.

A rabbit out playing and ignoring you, is also very typical rabbit behavior. My rabbits rarely pay much attention to me when they are out playing. They are busy exploring their environment and mapping it out to find all the hidey holes, in case there is ever a need to escape. Once they have mapped out an area, then they will usually start playing and doing binkies and bunny 500s. All my rabbits are like this. Occasionally they will hop up to me to check in to see what I'm doing, and then they are off again exploring and playing. The only time they come stay by me is when they are completely tired and want me to pet them(and even then only a few of my buns will do this), otherwise they just want me to leave them alone to play. There are always some rabbits that are an exception to the rule, and may be more interactive with people and more cuddly, but generally speaking, rabbits are very independent animals and not always very interactive in their play.

It is possible to develop a closer bond with rabbits, but that usually requires investing the time into it and sitting with your rabbit A LOT. Depending on the individual rabbit, it may only take a few days to weeks, but it can even take months to years for especially shy rabbits, to develop a close bond with them. You have to earn their trust. They are all individuals with different personalities, and learn to accept things in their own time, not ours.

http://language.rabbitspeak.com/
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f28/bonding-your-bunny-29064/
http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/shy.shtml

 

[Chrisdoc]

I agree with Jenny, my three now tolerate being picked up but I've taught them to accept this over a long period of time. Sometimes it does take a while to get hold of them as it's not something they enjoy so will do anything to avoid it. Mine are free range while I'm in and they do their own thing; explore, play together, groom and sleep. They do come and check me out and they're off again. If I sit or lie on the floor with them, they will come and climb all over me and lick my clothes and me but prefer me just to let them explore me and not try and touch them. They do like to be petted but when they feel like it. if I hold them when they don't want to be, they will dig and nip at my clothes and I've been nipped by them a few times and their teeth are sharp. Some peoples buns do sit with them, some breeds are more laid back, usually the bigger buns. Spend lots of time with them to strengthen the bond and take things slowly, buns do not like to be rushed.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

A rabbit will behave like a rabbit, but not all behave the same. Ours are all rescues and very few had it good before they came to us. Some took a long while to become friendly and some were that way since they were birthed. We had Stew since he was 8 weeks old and he was never even remotely friendly. I found Bonny in our front yard and she came right to me when I called her over, let me pick her up and snuggled right down in my arms. With time and patience you can work amazing things, but, not all bunnies are able to adapt to how YOU want them to be, they are just being themself. It took almost 4 years to get Mr B to quit biting and I was sure happy as I was tired of bandages and blood. But it took 4 years and I'm pretty good at working with my fur babies. The key thing to always remember is that a rabbit will always be a rabbit and will always act like a rabbit. If they were all like Mr B was there wouldn't be any house rabbits.