There is a really great site about rabbit language http://language.rabbitspeak.com/

It’s hard to fully know what’s going on unless I can see a bit of video but she sounds like Rucy.  Rucy likes to be talked to and will purr.  As she has aged, she likes to be pet more and more.  But sometimes, it seems for no reason she’ll just decide she doesn’t want to be pet.  Many times I realize it could be the scent of my hand – if I just washed my hands with the smelly lemongrass  soap as opposed to the lighter scented almond soap, if I was eating Salt&Vinegar chips, if I just fed the cat, etc.    She seems to really mind these things, where Jack doesn’t care – he is just like pet me, pet me! (unless he’s eating, then he grunts and runs away)

That is an awesome website, I’m glad I took the time to read through it. My Honeygirl acts like your rabbit, sounds like. I call it her “split-personality.” Some days are cuddle “attention” needy days, and others are “leave me alone” days.

it’s a great sign that she wants to be close to you! if she were annoyed by you and grinding her teeth in dssatisfaction, i don’t think she’d stay where she was. keep talking, maybe offer a treat in exchange for a pat on the head?

Grooming nearby can be a “see – look how comfy I am” or “I have better things to do than pay attention to you”.

It sounds like she is interested in you but still unsure – she is choosing to be near you but wants to keep her options for escape open.  My Pepper is like that.  The closest she will get to “asking’ for pets is to sit very close by and sort of stare at me – “You know, you could pet me.  If you wanted to.   Cus I’m right here.  I’m soft and pettable”.  But she has never smushed down for pets.

I got Pepper as a rescue when she was almost 2 so I knew she’d be pretty set in her ways and I was okay with that.  She is free-range in my apartment but usually chooses to sleep under my bed at night and will often choose to hang out in the same room i’m in.  I take it as a compliment that she wants to be near me and don’t push her for more than the occasional face-rub session.

Hmmm….I’d invite her to be groomed, cup your hand likeyour going to catch some water and hold it inches from the ground and let her come up for nose rubs. (all my buns have recommended a cupped hand inches from the ground and their face as a ‘I will groom you’ invite and they take it) If she doesn’t flick when she runs off I don’t think it’s disgust!! Can you scoop her up and cuddle her? Sometimes doing that for small amounts of time really helps them come around. The second bunny is a bit harder for the human to bond with.

My little Pookie is like this. She is almost 4 years old and is so skiddish. She has Cooper to hang out with so she tends to be his shadow but sometimes she will jump right up on the couch and let me give her one pet and run off. She never comes looking for pets. I think I drove her crazy until I finally understood that she will ask for pets when she wants them. And we are ok with that. I have two other cuddle bunnies so I dont feel that horrible need to chase Pookie around for pets like I used to.

It is so hard to have a cute little bunny and not be able to pet them!

Fiver grooms everything…except me. But then Pip & Mimzy seem to think I’m their personal tooth sharpeners and they don’t groom me either, so…I just don’t know about that whole groom = love thing…. 0_o

Fiver also has the ‘no touchie’ rule. (Maybe I should’ve called him Cuzco?) I can try to approach him, but once he sees those hands coming, ZOOM! Back into his condo he goes. If the hand has a cookie or other treat in it, he grabs it with his teeth and yanks it out of your fingers…HARD! He’s like a fuzzy shark.

It is a struggle to get him groomed and nails clipped. In fact, the latter I must go to the vets to have done. And yet, if you can get him in your arms, he’ll just sit there and let you pet him…for hours. My arms fall asleep. ~_~

How long have you had Layla now? Fiver’s been with us since late August. Mimzy seemed to take to touching right off or soon thereafter and Pip has always been an easy to handle bunny. I think it’s just personality. Every bunny is different.

lol mimz! The Emperors New Groove right? ‘No touchie!’ I love that movie lol. I used to quote it all the time.. wow im a dork lol

Try a bit of the reverse psychology. Sit near but “ignore her”. Buns will often ask for acknowledgement and pets when you’re not focused on them. Trying to get their attention sometimes you get a look that says:- ”when I so deign to give it to you…”

Cupped hands… Where did you learn that one? I wonder how that got translated by buns to “I want to groom you.”

See, the nailclipping thing… I clipped three of Velvet’s toenails – and she never forgave me for that, so now, I always take her in to get her toenails clipped. She doesn’t associate me with it, but she associates other people (it’s always the same person) with it. Dancer is very shy, too and if I had clipped his nails, he would have never come around.
I am THRILLED to hear taht the cupped hands worked!!! YAY!!! You will see, in no time, she will beg for you to give her some loving!!! Great to hear this fantastic update! You sound like a very patient person and I bet that’s why Layla is so comfortable around you that she will groom right by your side and hang out with you.

Awwwwwwwwwwwww…….. that is just too adorable!!! I can totally picture that too! Charlie sounds lovely and I bet in no time, Layla will take a liking to sleeping on a soft bed with the heat radiating from her human… Charlie is very good for Layla’s confidence! I’m glad you got those two bonded! Layla will learn from Charlie, it just takes little bit of time. Awww, I’m all teary over here… Those special moments are priceless!

Oh how sweet! ^_^ Good thing you didn’t suck a bunch of bunny fur up your nose and sneeze though, eh? Goodness that would’ve been a rude awakening for all three of you! 0_o

What a lovely picture, I can just imagine it!

That is so sweet!!! They just do the greatest things sometimes.