So a few days ago somebody dropped off a Rabbit at my girlfriends pet store….long story short apparently in NYC pet stores aren’t allowed to hold Rabbits and they can be fined…she told me about the bunny so I told her I would take it in(since I love animals and I know I would do my best to take care of it).
I brought Bandit home on Wednesday night, got him a spacious cage, food(hay + pellets), a few toys etc. Have not brought him to the vet yet(going this Wednesday) so I am not sure how old he is(he appears to be young) and I want to hopefully get him neutered.
I love him so damn much already and want to make sure he’s well trained and guess I don’t know where to start….
One thing about him is he seems to be VERY curious(I know rabbits are naturally curious), I have a pretty decent sized play space for him to run around in and he explores it constantly(goes up to my bed constantly, tries to sneak into the closet etc) and hes constantly always moving and doesn’t sit still. I want to start learning how to handle/train him and get him familiar with his name but all he wants to do is explore. Is this due to the fact he may be young/its a new environment for him?
He’s been alot more social with me (especially today) since I got him… Since he got comfortable leaving his cage and wandering around hes been doing alot of binkys(in the past two days I’ve probably seen him do about 15 of them), he let me pet him briefly(on his head), ate out of my hand, rattles his cage when he wants to roam around. I got a bit worried because hes nipped me a few times…I am not sure if it was aggressive biting or not though. I held my hand out earlier and he approached me and nibbled on my fingers 3 or 4 times.
I’ve been reading up on behaviors of rabbits but hes doing so many different things at different times that I feel a bit overwhelmed with its body language as well as if I am doing a good job or not. I am pretty afraid to pick him up/handle him because he starts to kick and squirm and don’t want to upset/frighten him(and like I said he rarely sits still for more then a few seconds)…
I guess my main questions are:
Is he extra curious due to his age?(since he seems small for a rabbit especially compared in size to my girlfriends female rabbit who I believe are the same breed)
Will he eventually calm down(in the sense of always moving)as he gets more comfortable being in my house?
What commands should I start working on first?…I guess I am pretty confused as to what to prioritize first.
Is him approaching me and nibbling on my fingers a good sign or a bad sign?
Whats the best advice for learning to handle him?
Best tip for a new rabbit owner?
Thank you guys for reading this mess of a post, sorry if its extremely unstructured…just super nervous/having a bit of anxiety. Not going to lie though I’ve been so damn happy since getting Bandit(he’s really awesome and seriously makes me crack up with the stuff he does)