hmm that is very odd…bunnies usually don’t like being picked up—
the crying is a bit alarming…I hope she isn’t hurt in any way…but as long as
she can hop around thats a good sign. I would just say be patient and just
sit on the floor with her while shes hopping around. Let her sniff you out and
come to you on her own terms. Trust might be an issue…

This link might be helpful it’s called first few weeks in a new home.

It is on the rabbit org website.

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/4-3/new-home.html

Our bunnies LOVE the phone book. They play with it for ages. They chew on it, dig at it, flip the pages. I never would have thought that they’d like it so much.
– Annette

I would definitely recommend taking her to a rabbit savvy vet to give her a check-up especially since she came from a pet store.  It’s always good to do anyway so you have a baseline should anything else come up.  Is she spayed yet?  Also I think with time she will feel more secure so just be patient.

aside from picking her up for monthly maintenance / vet visits, i’d follow her lead with regards to how ‘hands on’ she is comfortable with.  it can take a very long time for buns to develope a trust & bond.  at least it did with my 7yr old lop.  i totally know how you feel.  i thought she hated me for the first few years she was here & then i just let her be her & slowly she came around.  spending time with her down on her level without trying to pick her up or pet her really helped.  one thing i’d caution you about… still pick her up regularliy so you build confidence & learn how to do so swiftly & safely.  talk gently & firmly while you pick her up and after you set her back down.  i did not do this with babyout of respect that she absolutely hated it, but then every time i had to pick her up i was anxious & then so was she.  when i got lots of practice picking her up to give her meds after a recent surgery things went much much more smoothly.  be patient… she’ll come around. 

both my buns make ‘bunny grunt’ noises that sounds sorta like “hmmMmm hmmMm hmmMmmmm”.  pinky has only been home with me for one day so i haven’t deciphered why / when she makes the noise, but baby does this when she’s happy to see me (if i go in her room & lay on her flor during the day she’ll wake up and run to me for pets while grunting) AND when she’s upset while i hold her (if i have given her a sitz bath in the sink she’ll also do this while i dry her off before i put her back down). 

i also agree… def go for a vet visit & make sure all is well with her health.  it’ll be useful to find a rabbit savy vet before you have an emergency.

I would think that the phone book would be too dirty and the ink would be toxic to the bunnies. Do you need to use a brand new one? (dumb question, I know)

No need to use a new phone book, they won’t care. It does get kind of messy cleaning up the little shredded pieces of phone book paper though!

hi yelpot10! welcome to binky bunny.

as others have mentioned it takes a while for bunnies to settle into their new home, and from her reactions it sounds like she is very nervous around people. Also – at 13 weeks she is just reaching the point where hormones kick in – which makes bunnies MUCH more territorial and can honestly get kinda aggressive. It’s time to start looking into local vets in your area that are bunny savvy- since she will need to be spayed at around 4 – 5 months old. Unspayed females are at very high risk of uterine cancer, so that’s also something important to consider, and she is likely to calm down and be less aggressive once she’s spayed too.

if you let us know where you live we can help you find some possible vets in your area. rabbits are still considered an exotic, so it’s important to see a vet who really knows a lot about rabbits.

as far as bonding with her – i’d recommend laying on the floor with her and ignoring her. read a book or watch tv – and she’ll have a hard time resisting coming over to check you out. but just let her explore, without grabbing at her. you might also try hand feeding her – since it’s another way to a bunny’s heart.

Hello!@
Here is a list of vets in PA (I”m a dumb canadian, PA is Pensylvania right?) that treat Rabbits.

http://houserabbit.usersource.com/vetlist.html

Welcome to binkybunny! Kokanee was super hard to handle when we first got her. It’s been just about a year and a half. She cuddles with me for hours sometimes now. Keep at er!

it looks like that list is covering more the Philadelphia area and not as close to Pittsburgh by you.  there’s a Pittsburgh house rabbit group that may be able to help you with a vet referal for you.  Here’s their website so you can get in touch with them:  http://www.pittsburghhouserabbit.org/info.html

this list of vets may help too – but it seems a bit out of date.

homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/Vet_PA.html

I’m so glad to hear your found a bunny savvy vet to take Oreo Bunnies generally loooove under the bed, I think it reminds them of their warrens.

Hmm – bunnies often like to munch, but they can go some hours without any interest in food. you might try offering something enticing to see if she’ll eat it. If she’s not eating by the morning I would recommend calling the vet to try and get her in early. you also might see some strange poopies in her litterbox – so you might take a look and see what’s going on in there. hope she’s just fine though – but please let us know.

my rabbit has a small “den” next to the couch.  a big cardboard box turned on its side with a phone book and junk mail scattered in there.  she will sleep in there amidst the shredded paper for hours at a time in the afternoon and not come out to potty or to eat at all ( she is also littertrained.)  she’ll wake up some hours later and eat a ton of food.  i think as long as she’s eating throughout the day and having regular poops, she should be okay.  maybe ask the vet when you go for her opinion. 

what kind of food are you feeding?

she’s still pretty young.  have you started veggies yet?

Here is a couple of links they are under Bunny Info tab, the first is on diet and the second is litter training.

You can start rabbits on vegies as soon as they become interested in them, introducing fruit is around 12 weeks.

I would try one type one type of veggie first (from Binky bunny list) just to make sure it doesn’t give your rabbit poopy butt, if that is ok introduce another one etc.

With litter training have you put hay in the litter box as well? Rabbits love eating and pooping, also if there are any poops around scoop them up and put them in the litter tray.

I am in Australia so not sure on what litter products you have there.

I wouldn’t leave bunny unattended while you are working just encase something happens.

binkybunny.com/Default.aspx

binkybunny.com/Default.aspx

Just to respond to your initial posting, your bunny I’m quite sure doesn’t hate you

Is this your first bunny? I think a lot of times people expect a bunny to play like a dog or cat does, and expect the bunny to come to them and jump all around them etc. Since bunnies are prey animals, they act very different from dogs and cats, and can actually be frightened of humans too because they can mistake us or our actions as predators, so what we need to learn to do is how to best interact with the bunny in a way that they are comfortable.

If your bunny runs away from you, chasing them is not the best idea, as they can feel as if they are being pursued by a predator. Instead, try petting your bunny when she comes to you. A couple ways to get her to do that is by hand feeding her treats (try keeping the treats in a jar so that she can identify the sound of them, then when you shake it, she’ll know its treat time!), and by giving her gentle pets when she’s taken the treats. If she runs away, just let her be, she’ll eventually come around, its quite hard to force bunnies into interaction, and most interaction needs to be done on their terms.

Also – bunnies feel safest with all four feets on the ground this is because they need to feel like they could escape if something came after them, and also because they are just generally more comfortable on the ground. As was mentioned before, lying on the ground with your bunnies and letting them come over and sniff and investigate you, and DON”T pet them, just let them investigate for a bit, will help them become more comfortable with you.

To help with her litter training – I’d recommend putting a layer of timothy hay over the litter, hay is essential to the bunnies diet, and I’ve found it really encourages them to sit in their box if they have something to munch on while they are sitting there

is she neutered?