I have a very shy bunny

[Stacey12stacey]

Olive is about 6 months, and has been with us for 3 months now. She is still a very shy bunny. She runs and hides, and usually does not allow us to pet her. She will take food out of my hand, but she is very cautious and runs away right after she takes the food. I have almost completely stopped picking her up because she hates it so much (except for nail trims or vet trips). Instead I open the door of her pen and let her come out at her own pace. I am trying to sit on the floor and let her approach me. She will come up to me, sniff me, and then run away and won’t let me touch her. Does anyone have any tips for helping Olive to come out of her shell and feel more comfortable here? Her bunny buddy Zorro is a very outgoing bunny who loves head scratches. I just wish Olive was a little bit more social. 

[Elphie]

My bun was also pretty shy when I first got her. My advice is to (if your schedule permits) to hand feed her all of her meals. Veggies and fruits especially. It’s amazing how a hungry bun can suddenly become a social bun My bun also does not like being picked up, so I get down on the floor and she runs up to me, demanding head scratches. At first, I would just sit on the floor near her, reading a book or doing something else quietly, and she’d come and sniff and run away. It took awhile, but having me there plus the feeding really got her to open up.

Hope that helps!

[Bam]

Elphie’s tips are great!
I have one bunny who used to be shy. It took him a whole year to warm up to me, but he was adult when I got him and he was a stray, so I don’t know what kind of humans he’d had in his life before me.
Anyway, it took him a long time to become cuddly and social, he just sat for a whole year under the coffee table and ran away if we tried to pet him, and then he just changed. They absolutely can be very surprising animals, rabbits

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