My rabbit completely FREAKED and then started shedding like crazy? O_o

[DutchRabbitsFtw]

 so my mom came in my room to look at my rabbit because she thinks hes adorable but almost every time my mom comes in my room he gets shy and thumps and wont stop until she leaves…. and even when she leaves he wont stop -_-. she has done nothing wrong, she has never hurt him or anything. 

but today my mom came in and was on my bed watching my rabbit because he was out of his cage and when my mom was fixing my blankets he started thumping and then she left but he wouldnt stop. so around…. 20mins later i walk over to him and give him a few of his pellets as treats (since he already had his pellets earlier) and he would eat them but still thumped. i tried to put him in his cage by covering up his favorite spot to escape with a nic grid and he nudged it and it clashed with his cage and it made a huge noise and he freaked out and ran under the door of cage (dog crate) which is REALLY small, im glad he didnt get injured and then he thumped some more and then ran away when i crawled over to him and thumped some more. and after some time i finally got him into his cage and he likes to lounge on the second shelf so i started to pet him and he practically fell asleep! he lowered his head, and his eyes were half closed. i pet his body and there was SO MUCH FUR coming off his body. i know that rabbits shed a lot when they get scared. but when he was in his cage, was he still scared of me? even though he lowered his head and closed his eyes? after that i closed the door and he just flopped (not on his side, he just stuck his feet out) and is taking a nap. was / is he still scared/ annoyed? (at me to be specific) also, what should i do when my rabbit thumps? should i just ignore him? give him treats to calm him down? (although he never did calm down.. he ate them and then went back to thumping). 

is there a reason why he dislikes my mom? she does pet him when he allows it, i admit. i dont know what she does when im at school but she has told me that she has taken pictures and pat him through the bars of his cage (he sticks his nose out for a rub sometimes). but thats about it…. i mean i do the same things my mom does and hes not always scared of me? this is the first time he has reacted this way 0_o… 

any ideas? advice? also, i wasnt sure which section to post this in so if im in the wrong section please feel free to change it! and i adopted him a week ago from a rescue. before this he was very happy and not scared and very friendly. it all started when my mom came in, i told her to come back later when he started thumping so she left immediately after he started to thump. 

[DutchRabbitsFtw]

ha there are a lot of run ons and typos; sorry. its like 12 am here -.-

[Elrohwen]

Rabbits shed when they are scared sometimes. When you petted him you were just getting off that hair that he had already shedded.

He’s probably scared of your mom because he’s just not used to her yet. You’ve had him a very short time – just let him settle in and he’ll be less afraid over time.

[RabbitPam]

Hi,
It’s hard to know for sure, but I have a few ideas. First, he was NOT scared of you when he put his head down for pets. He was comforted and you are clearly bonding with him well.
If he was at a shelter, he might have been there due to a previous owner that did not treat him well, and perhaps something about your mother, or her actions, might have reminded him. My first thought was to ask if she has a fragrant perfume, or some smell on her that he might not like?
Also, a bunny knows us by our silhouette, so we can even scare our own bunny (at least when they’re young) if we change our shape, like wear a huge hat. From a distance they may not recognize us, and begin to thump a warning. If her silhouette is like one he used to know, it might be that. But if he lets her pet him sometimes, I think that probably isn’t it. Ask her to notice what she is wearing, perfume or clothes, or what gesture she’s just made when he thumps.
A bunny who was abused might be frightened of a hand approaching him palm down, but palm up is always less threatening. I would suggest that she approach him with her palm up and have a small treat in it, like a pellet or a raisin. Done several times, he will begin to associate her with getting a treat and that will calm him in her presence. Eventually he doesn’t get one every time, but he’ll never be sure when he’ll get one from her so he’ll expect a good thing when she’s around.
She can also sit quietly with a treat in her hand on the floor of your room, ignore him, let him run around and get curious to explore her. Again, no moves that set him off, but learn an association with good things (including pets from her) with her.
And his hearing is much better than ours, so often bunnies thump a warning because they hear something outside or in another room that sounds dangerous. He is running for cover and wants you to get away from the danger too, so he is happier in his safe place, his cage. They don’t see their cages as prison, they are their homes where they are protected and have their needs met.

[kralspace]

Dittos to what RabbitPam suggested, could be a smell that’s different (cooking, cleaning, etc) or a past experience. Having her give him treats will definitely help him to warm up to her in time. If you mom has time to sit quietly in the floor sometimes and let the bunny come check her out it will help too.

My Dutchie boy Daisy can do those sheds too. He hates to be caught and it’s like half his coat comes off when I put him back down…lol

[DutchRabbitsFtw]

well this is re-assuring! my mom wasnt wearing any perfume but she did smell like doritos since she was eating them and then decided to come in my room lol. i got him from a rescue, im not exactly sure how they found him. i’ll ask my mom to give him a treat so he knows that she isnt a threat or anything. my mom likes to sort of cower around him because she thinks hes cute. and i keep on telling her to just stay calm and sit still and let him come towards you and sometimes she listens. also, a random question: is it safe to let my bunny get on my bed? will he hurt himself trying to get down? he doesnt have too much of a problem getting up but he is sort of wary trying to get down. and he hasnt peed on my bed yet so i think its safe ha

[kinggoblin]

Well, my rabbit doesn’t really like anyone but me. He has made angry hissing sounds at my fiances dad, bitten his brother until he bled, and tries to bite his mom. He also doesn’t really care for my fiance, it is kind of funny, he ( the bunny ) will act dominant and corner my fiance, and my fiance will reach down to try and pet him and Goblin will bite him ( everyone says its the perfect name for him, haha ).

But sometimes even I frighten him and he will thump at me, like if I walk around the corner to the kitchen too quietly in the morning and he doesn’t hear me he will run and hide then come out and thump at me like “YOU SCARED ME! ……………now feed me”

And mine gets on my bed, he thinks its sooooooo much fun to zoom around in the blankets and pillows, and he has never gotten hurt jumping off but our bed isn’t really as high as some peoples I’ve seen, and we have carpeted floors.

[Stickerbunny]

He won’t hurt himself, if it’s not too high – if it’s too high for him to get up on his own, you can put a step (cardboard box, toy steps, anything) for him. I do warn you rabbits will often pee on beds though because it smells so much like us that they mark it.

Stickers will sometimes react that way to me (thumping) if I make movements too fast. To get bun used to your mom a good thing you could do is ask her to wear an old t-shirt or slippers or something you are able to put in your room with her scent on it, then leave it around where bun can explore (somewhere easy to clean, as bun might mark it). Your mother should move slowly and let bunny come to her. Cleaning always freaks my buns out as well, so it could be the actions she makes when she comes to your room as well if it’s usually to tidy up.

[Rei]

My bun is finally used to me but still thumps whenever I do something she doesnt like. She will get shy whenever another person comes in the room, because she isn’t used to them. I think if your mom wants to see your bun too, then she needs to spend a lot of time with him/her just like you do. There really isn’t anything to do when your bunny thumps. Its just their way of communicating. You can’t (nor should you try) to stop it. I don’t think offering a treat will encourage them to stop either. Just let it be The more you learn to understand your bunny and just let them do their thing, the more at ease you will feel.

Rabbits shed four times a year, and every other shedding period is more extreme than the other two. So one will be light, then one heavy, then another light, then another heavy….etc. If your bun layed down and closed his eyes while you pet him, then he is incredibly relaxed, and has probably gotten past the stress of your mom making him upset, or whatever it may have been. You handled it great by showing love when he was upset. That strengthens a bond

[DutchRabbitsFtw]

haha interesting, i guess some bunnies only like their owners yeah my bed isnt as tall as most peoples bed; it only has one mattress and not even 2 feet tall (just a few inches short).
and okay i’ll just let him be whenever he thumps, and thanks, thats good to hear (:

[kralspace]

He shouldn’t have any problem with the bed as long as there’s a rug or carpet where he jumps off so he has some traction. If he hit a slick floor he might sprain something because he slips on landing.

[Author]

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