I am trying to interpret my bun’s behavior to gauge how I should approach him better.
Basically we got him as a young adult from a shelter, he was already not really afraid of people at that time (not at all phased by begging for food, running all over our laps when we eat trying to get human food (big no), coming to see if something interests him). He allows us to pet him but generally doesn’t seem to care for it unless he’s already lying down or else feeling cozy after food.
I’m totally okay with him doing things on his own, but here’s what I don’t quite understand. We let him free-roam our apartment, which is not that big really, and he chooses his own areas to spend time in. He does love his X-pen and spends a bunch of time there with his litter tray, hay, water, etc. He snoozes there during the day periodically and also between 6-8am or so. In the evening, he comes to sleep alongside our bed in a tunnel formed by our bed and a long overhanging blanket. He relocates early in the morning, waiting for us to wake up and for his pellets.
During the day he’s relatively stand-offish. Meaning he rarely seems to demonstrate any signs of wanting to hang out with us. He might want to come into the same room and briefly see what we’re up to, but he just wants to do his own thing. I try to spend time with him by visiting him myself, but most of the time it seems like he wants to be left alone. It can be hours of him doing his own thing somewhere, and I would love to know if I should persevere in making myself more present or let him continue choosing what he wants to do. I’ve tried playing games with him, offered toys, offered extra towels outside the X-pen for him to toss and jump on, I run along the corridor trying to encourage to follow me (he used to sometimes run after one of us back and forth a little, but not so much lately), I sit next to him and just talk to him, or lie down next to him. A lot of the time he just looks vaguely interested, checks me for treats, and walks off to do his own thing. He doesn’t chew on stuff anymore: he has chew toys he ignores, a grass mat he’s no longer shredding. He used to do a bit of that and loved shredding grass mats, but that was when he was mostly confined to his X-pen and was possibly a sign of boredom. After he got full free roam access, he’s stopped being interested in chewing anything other than food.
I can’t even tell if it’s a sign that he wants another rabbit or if he just likes being the king of the castle, so to say. For reference, I’m home most of the time due to my job, so he’s rarely alone in the apartment (in that case I do lock him in his X-pen home). So I’m able to spend a lot of time with him if he were willing. He just doesn’t seem to be.
Could still be him getting used to humans being interested in him, I don’t know. I wonder more about whether he’s unhappy and whether his stand-offish behavior indicates that. Is he depressed?
P.S.: he eats well and frequently, his poo looks very good.