Socially awkward bun

[bonenewt]

Hi, we have had our bun for quite a while now and kept thinking she would bond with us. We have tried everything, laying on the floor being calm, letting her approach, but she always sprints off and gets nervous. She was a rescue bun from a bad situation but it’s just so frustrating that she doesn’t warm up to us. Any help would be awesome because i’m at my wits end as to what to do with her. I’d love to have a bun that was friendly and warm to the family.

[NewBunnyOwner123]

It took Sally a good month to be comfortable with us and we got her as a baby. The bad situation could make your bun take even longer. Try not to get frustrated because she can probably sense the tension of your disappointment that she isn’t warming up to you. I’m sure someone will offer bonding advice between human and bun shortly. Do you feed her veggies? If so, feed them individually by hand. She will soon associate your presence with tasty food. If she is extremely shy and still refuses the veggies. Do not sit facing directly at her. Have her to your side and you looking away while you offer her the veggies. and most importantly, be calm and quiet while doing it and move slowly. It all depends on just how nervous and afraid she is.
If she takes the veggies do not try and pet her or approach her at first. Give her a few days of JUST feeding by hand. You will eventually be able to tell that she is a little more relaxed. You can talk to her as well while feeding her in a low, calm voice. Don’t worry, some buns are a little more difficult to win over but the patience is definitely worth while.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Welcome to Binky Bunny!

I can relate to your situation. My bunny Olivia is from an unknown background but I am very convinced she was abused and/or neglected. She was very aggressive and afraid of humans when I first brought her home. It took a long time to get her to come around. Almost a year. Your bunny might not take this long, but this was my experience. When I say a year, I mean it took a year for her to enjoy us giving her attention and letting me snuggle her. I’ve had her 5 years now and she’s not my cuddliest bunny but she is definitely a happy, loving bunny when she wants to be.

The best bet with any bunny is to sit on the floor and ignore her. Let her out, read a book or watch a movie. You can have some pellets or small treats near you, when she comes over reward her with a treat. Don’t pet her, just ignore. She will start to see you as a positive thing. When you do start to offer pets, make sure to always approach your hand by the side of her face, not from above as this is a predatory action.

If you love your bunny, give her patience and understanding. It will take her time to trust humans again, and even more time to be loving and affectionate. But it will come.

[hannaroo]

It’s a slow progress to get a bunny used to being handled, as everyone else says take it slow and start with ignoring her. She’ll soon get used to you! Sometimes it’s easy to feel discouraged but you’re got many happy years ahead to create a strong bond! Some buns just take longer than others!

[Buckley's Mum]

That could have been me wrote that a few months ago! My bun is very shy and afraid of his own shadow, we’ve now had him 6 months and he’s only just warming up to us, he’s not cuddly but like you, I spent many-an-hour laying on the floor. I still find he won’t come to me if I sit on the floor, so I can only lay on the floor. I found that if I pretended to be asleep with my eyes closed (well, I admit open a tiny slit so I could see) he would get curious and would come over for a sniff, also every time I got on the floor I had a treat, now if I get on the floor he’ll automatically come over to see if I have anything for him – yes I was buying his love, but he is slowly coming out of his shell, I’m hoping we have further to go as I would love him to be more affectionate, but I know that is my issue and I will accept anything he gives me, but it does take a long (long) time. You don’t say how long you’ve had your bun, so it may just take a little more patients (well, that’s what I’ve learnt so far), stick with it, it will be worth it in the long run. x

[Stickerbunny]

My Stickers came from a home where she was an autistic child’s pet. The parents did not supervise. Her whiskers were all beat up (people tried to tell me it was just rex whiskers, but they look FINE now), there was sticker glue matted on her fur where the kid tried to “decorate the bunny” and she was so terrified of me that she hunkered down and peed herself if I got within arms reach. I have no idea what she went through in detail, but she was in a tiny pet store cage and scared of people.

I’ve had her a while now (2 years?) and she’s still pretty skittish. If I get up from my computer chair, she’ll often spook and run away. I have to baby talk her and walk slowly and let her know I am not coming for her to get her to stay calm. Pets are very occasional and only when she asks for it, else she’ll run away. She does have a little attitude on her though, she’ll give me foot flicks, run up and nip me, thump if I annoy her. So, she’s come out of her shell a lot. But, I don’t know if she’ll ever be very social. If I lay on the floor and ignore her, she runs up and puts her front feet on me and I am not allowed to touch her. If she gets REALLY scared by something, she does seek comfort though and if she’s ill, she trusts me to make her better.

It’s hard to get an animal to open up after they’ve been abused and it can take years of hard work and even then, they might still stay a bit shy. I’ve worked with abused dogs, cats and such and not one of them came through it without emotional scars. A rabbit will be no different. I remember one dog was scared to be pet and forever after being taken away from the abuser, shied from hands because they feared being hit. Even years after only having hands give them kindness, they never got over it. So, I don’t expect Stickers to ever become as social as my other bun. Also, some rabbits are just more aloof than others, like cats. Keep laying on the floor though and showing you can be trusted and the bun should over time trust you more.

One trick I did use with Stickers is I would cut up treats into tiny bits and anytime I walked into her room, I would give her a piece. She always hid when I walked in scared of me, but the treat got to tempt her over to me. And eventually, she started running up to greet me when I walked in instead of running and hiding.

[FlemishMom]

How wonderful Stickers has such an understanding Mommy now!

I know a lot of my erabbits need to have some time with me lyingtotally on the floor so they can explore me and figure out what I am. We just really don’t fit into their eye-level view of the world.

[Author]

Messages