Getting bunny out of her cage (without her HATING me!)

[Nonvieta]

I’ve been posting in the bonding forum of the site, about bonding my 2.5 year old lop, Peanut, with my freshly adopted 2.5 year old ladybun, Clementine.  I’ve had Clem for two weeks now, and have bonding them daily since then (we just starting confined semi-neutral territory, in the living room where Peanut spends most of his playtime).

Unfortunately, to do bonding sessions, I must have both rabbits.  Peanut, being the original bun in the home, come right out when his cage door is opened (right now they are living in a NIC condo that is divided until they are bonded).  He is mostly free-range, and sees being enclosed in his cage as an undignified inconvenience.  Clem on the other hand, sees the condo as shelter….and she is loath to come to come out when I am near the door.  Right now, her play area is confined mostly to an ex pen run attached to the condo…she willingly comes out to binky and run…but she usually darts back in if someone reaches for her or gets too close for comfort.  This is problematic because, as much as I can, I try and keep out of the condo while the buns are in it (it’s THEIR place and I want them to feel that i respect that), but when it’s bonding time, there’s not much I CAN do but reach in to get her! 

I have tried coaxing her with food, waiting patiently in the expen for HER to come to ME, EVERYTHING.  I hate reaching in to get her, because I don’t want to invade her space, and I know it is scary for rabbits to be grabbed and picked up….nevermind by a human they haven’t really learned to trust yet!  I hate tricking her out with food, because the only way that works is if I snatch her up before she can dash back inside…I feel like that’s worse!  She usually hunkers down in the hardest to reach part of her cage and will thump and grunt (this also happens when I move anything in her cage like the food dish).  As is, it can take a half-hour or more just to get her TO her bonding sessions…with busy schedules, you can see how that can be a bit daunting.

Clementine was rescued from a hoarding situation in 2011…she was living in the shelter when I adopted her from HRN, but I am unsure if she ever lived in a foster home, so I’m not one hundred percent sure if house-living is all new to her or not.  The HRN volunteers assured me that once she gets to know you, she is a very snuggly, friendly rabbit, and I saw a  bit of that when I took Peanut to the shelter for speed dating!  In my home, so far she does not seem completely scared, but definitely mistrustful…and by that I mean, she’s not out and out terrified of anyone’s presence, she just doesn’t care for us to touch her or move toward her yet….if i sit with her in the ex-pen she’ll investigate me and bump me with her nose.  She is curious, and has shown no fear of either the dog or the cat and likes to sniff them through the ex pen bars. 

I know it takes time to gain a bunny’s trust, and I am willing to put in that time but until then, I want to get her and Peanut bonded ASAP…once they are bonded, they can live together (have more room) and she will be free to start exploring the whole house instead of the confined areas we have given her so far.  I am confidant that given more space, and Peanut as a bondmate (he is an utterly fearless bun who I am sure will lend her some comfort in learning that this new house is not scary!) she’ll warm up to me and the whole household quickly.

But until then I am scared I am doing irreparable damage to her trust of ME – I feel like she sees me as just, the scary person who picks her up and takes her out of her cage and puts her in the bathtub or other strange places! 

Should I just continue with the bonding, and hope she’ll forgive and forget later, or is their some better way I could be doing this??

[Elrohwen]

Could you change her housing to something like a simple xpen? Give her boxes and things to hide in, of course, but it will limit her ability to sick back in the corner and not come out. At least then when you need to get her for bonding sessions, you can more easily scoot her into a carrier or something without having to pick her up.

Neither of my buns were thrilled with being put in carriers and hauled up to the bathtub every day for bonding, especially Hannah who was very new to my house. I just tried to make it as low stress as possible and set it up so I could easily get them into carriers.

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