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BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BEHAVIOR Super Anti Social Bunny

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    • MsBrit
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        Hi all,

        I got this bunny, Mocchi, a couple months ago. She was my sister in laws, and she keeps her rabbits in an outside hutch, because for reasons, she can’t have them inside. Mocchi is a Dutch, so she’s kind of small anyways. She had a sister who passed. So I took her in as an inside bunny. Mocchi will let you pet her, but she hates being picked up. Which I get, she wasn’t played with a lot. She is only about 6 months old at this point. So I was kind of hoping to get her more comfortable with people. So far it is not even kind of working. I keep her cage in the living room so she can get used to having people around and noises and what not. So far nothing seems to be working. She will eat from me so long as she is in her cage. I let her out every day to run around. I put her cage on the floor to let her get out on her own. So she can run around and so I can clean. My issue being, once she is out, she doesn’t do much running around. She will either go under the dining room table or behind a chair in the living room. And that is where she will stay. I’m doing my best to just give her time, but like I said, its been a couple months. I can’t pick her up and I can’t bribe her back into the cage. So, its to the point where I have to toss a towel on her to pick her up to get her back in her cage. While I want her to be out as much as possible, I feel like I just end up terrorizing her. It’s getting to the point where I don’t know if I should just leave her I’m her cage rather than risk giving her a heart attack on a daily basis. If anyone has any ideas on how I can help her feel at home rather than just making her a solitary bunny, it would be appreciated. Thank you


      • BB & Tiny
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        637 posts Send Private Message

          You could get an x pen and move her into that, which gives her space but it’s still her territory. I would put a tunnel or cardboard box with back and front doors ( small enough to provide a hidey place for her ).

          My first bunny actually came from outdoors, because a neighbor was irresponsible and let him get loose. He decided this was his home and flopped behind my TV. He was socialized because this neighbor had 5 kids. However I still spent many hours lying on the floor talking to him until he began trusting me.

          I used to scoop him up all the time, but since Josephine came they keep each other company but now have grown unaccustomed to being picked up. I try to remember to do so once a day.

          I don’t think either of them will be lap bunnies or lay beside me, but they will hop on me when I’m on the floor and purr when they get pets. Not all bunnies are as friendly. I can only suggest getting down to your bunny’s level and spending time with her.

          EDIT

           Healthy treats are also a way to associate you with positive feelings. 


        • Bam
          Moderator
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            Bunnies can take a long time to warm up to people. Especially since she’s been an outdoors-bun. I think time and patience and association between you and good things like yummy treats and head-rubs will work wonders. But it may still take months. My bunny Bam who I found as a stray (someone had dumped him on a pile of garbage in the woods) needed a whole year before he trusted me and became a cuddly, social, easy-going bunny. He was an adult when I found him, I’d expect a young rabbit to take less time to acclimatize herself to new surroundings and people.

            Virtually all adult bunnies hate being picked up. It’s very stressful for a rabbit to be picked up, because being picked up is what happens just before you become dinner to a fox or bird of prey. But I still think you shouldn’t just let her sit in her cage all day long. They need exercise and a certain amount of freedom to be happy and healthy. Maybe you could set up an x-pen as an extension of her cage? She might even go in there voluntarily at night. My Bam does that at my mother’s when we visit, he has a cage there that’s always open and he goes there to eat and drink and sleep. I never have to catch him, he just hops off to his safe cage when it’s bedtime. It absolutely helps that he gets his food served in there. Bunnies like food.


          • BB & Tiny
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              Oh is that why they don’t like being picked up ?!?! I thought they are afraid of heights.

              I only do so briefly now so they are a bit more used to it, in case it is necessary someday.

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          Forum BEHAVIOR Super Anti Social Bunny