Cooking nightmare

[Beanie Bunny]

Wonder if anyone can help? Our rabbit’s base is in the kitchen. We haven’t only had him two weeks and he seems fairly comfortable in his surroundings but he is yet to venture out of the kitchen. Our problem is when we come to cook he hates all the noises. He starts shaking and hides at the back of his cage. We haven’t picked him up yet so taking him out is proving difficult. Do we carry on cooking and hope he just gets used to the noises or do we try another option? Like trying to pick him up or carrying him out in his cage? It’s got to the point where we can’t cook as I can’t stand seeing him so scared. What do we do for the best?

[BarbaraC]

Can you move him to another room permanently? Or at least until he gets used to your home.

[The Law Bun]

Honestly, it depends on the rabbit. The first few months I had Lilith (she was young), I lived in a small apartment and my bedroom was the only place to put her living quarters. Not only did I have lots of parties in the apartment, but I also did p90x in the same bed room within feet of her. At first she definitely was scared, but she adjusted so quickly. By the time I moved out, she would even try and come up to me while I was jumping all over the place haha. It also helped her get accustomed to strangers, and now she is pretty good with lots of people being around.

Then again, I have read horror stories about bunnies who couldn’t adjust and it made human-bunny bonding really difficult. Thus, depends on the rabbit!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Can he leave the kitchen on his own? Is the flooring different than the rest of the house? I don’t understand if he’s afraid why he doesn’t venture into another room?

[Beanie Bunny]

Yes the lounge is open to him too but whenever he edges towards unfamiliar territory he backs off. So when he is cared he hides in his cage. I would love for him to hop in to the lounge but he is very reluctant to venture from him comfort zone. He definitely doesn’t like the kitchen floor as he will only make a couple of steps before retreating to the rug we have put down. I might try some blankets and encouragement to visit the other room.

[emm_renn]

Maybe he feels like he isn’t allowed in the lounge? My rabbit isn’t allowed to leave my room or go in the closet. Whenever I catch her sneaking in my closet, she runs to safety real quick and act like she was being a good little angel. Maybe you should add some toys in the lounge area or even food/treats.

[Bam]

You can put old newspapers on the floor and make like a “bridge” to the lounge, rabbits are reluctant to go out on slippery surfaces because they can’t escape quick enough if sth scary should happen. If he likes that you could replace the newspaper with some ragrugs etc to make a more permanent “bridge”.

It’s not surprising he wants to hide in his cage or near it, it’s huis safe place, but you can provide him with an additional safe place, f ex an upside down cardboard box with doors cut in it placed at a distance from the cage. They like to have hidey-places like that. It often makes them braver, when they know they have safe places to run to if the need to.

I’ve a memory of having read here a long time ago about bunnies that hate the scent of raw/cooking meat. I don’t know if that may be what your bun reacts to. Blood meal is after all used in gardens as a rabbit- and-deer-deterrent. It would make sense that they are afraid of the scent of blood/meat. If you are vegan, this would not apply though. Obviously =/

[Beanie Bunny]

Thank you got your ideas. He is very skittish rabbit and whenever anything is moved it takes him a while to readjust to their new place. He ventured a couple of times in to the lounge area after putting a blanket down on the slippery floor and some of his favourite things at the end. It was funny watching him want to explore but being nervous to do so. Yes hiding places does seem to be his favourite kind of toy and cardboard boxes. So maybe I can place more of these around for him to find. I just didn’t want to be picking him up when he is stressed or to be moving his home. He wasn’t a house rabbit so constant human interaction and all of these sounds are very new to him.

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