Monkey hates being touched. Never has. But she likes me. She’ll play and climb all over me, provided I don’t try to touch her. No kisses, but its fine.

I think she DOES like you, as she allows pets and nose rubs occasionally. She just isn’t a snuggle bun. Not all are. In fact, MOST aren’t snuggle buns.

She won’t hate you for trimming her nails. And if you put it off too long, it can actually cause her harm. So clip, and give a treat after. That usually helps

..It will take a while My Chacha was scared to death of me for a few months.. yes, a few months. She did not trust me at all, and I don’t blame her.

Your bunny is still adjusting to her new surroundings,.. it can take a while.

My bunny hates when I try to snuggle her. In fact, she runs away, footflicking me. She won’t tolerate it.

My bunny gives me the footflick after trimming her nails/grooming her. But.. with a treat, she will forgive

She will come around, it just takes time

Huckleberry hates snuggling. It usually ends up with her giving me a “Mom, really?! I hate you right now.” death stare and then dig and bite me. She will give kisses but only if I have more nom noms to be handed out. She allows head scitchies as long as I am only touching her head, otherwise I get honked at, bit, bunny butt or foot flicks…. If I am plucking fur I get all of the above! She was really cuddly as a baby and then went through puberty and hated me for a while. Now she loves me because I feed her and bring her toys.
When you trim Tillie’s nails, only do one paw at a time, it wont be as difficult and or upsetting.
good luck!

It took over a year for Olivia to trust and like me. She likes attention now but it has to be her terms…and I have to keep her on the ground.

Ponyo was the same way but now after giving him his space he comes around.. I’ll sit on the floor ignoring him and he comes up to me and tries and get my attention! Don’t worry your bunny will come around! Sounds like you’re doing a great job! Today I clipped his nails for the first time and he was very hard to handle and afterwards pretty mad.. But nothing a treat didn’t solve! He’s back to normal!

I’ve had my bun for about a month and a half now and she still hides away and doesn’t seem to like me much but I can definitely tell she’s coming around. She is 5 years old and I adopted her from a friend. Just keep at it, she will get used to you and just keep telling yourself that your bun may just be shy, but that she lets you pet her sometimes is a definitely plus

@inspiring: I love that your bun’s name is Ponyo. HAM!!!

It can take a very long time! I’ve had Otto for over two years and he still doesn’t want to be petted or messed with. Hannah loves pets, but she’s not exactly snuggly – I can’t pick her up and she doesn’t like to sit on laps, but most of the time she’s perfectly happy to flatten down for head rubs. They’re all different! I try to work on my relationship with Otto in other ways, like doing tricks with him, to spend time with him since he doesn’t like when I chase him around trying to pet him 🙂

I’d say she likes you if she allows nose rubs! She’ll get more comfortable with you over time (it can take a very long time) but she’ll probably never be a snuggle bun.

I think her letting you give her nose rubs sounds very promising like the others have said. I have one bunny Thumper who loves people and will run up and bump our ankles when he sees us. Gabby though is the opposite. Like your bun she will “allow” us to pet her forehead but it’s when she wants it. I can’t pick her up as it makes her so mad. I just enjoy it when she allows me to love on her.

My male is friendly but he isn’t exactly a snuggle bun – he likes to be pet and he’ll tolerate being kissed, but don’t expect him to give you kisses back or want to get too close to you. Arms length pets, please.

My female is skittish, but with her background… I can’t blame her! She’ll take the occasional nose rub like your girl, but mostly it’s just run away if you try to touch her. She’ll jump on my lap for a few seconds if I am cleaning her litterbox, but that is just because it’s the only way she can supervise that I am doing it right and she runs away right after.

Rabbits are individuals and not all will be snuggly. Nose rubs are a good sign though, so she likes you… she may calm down as she gets older and become a bit more friendly. With buns we adopt they often have had bad experiences too, which will make them less likely to be snuggly. Just take her the way she is and the attention she’ll accept you giving her.

All bunnies are different!
It was about two months before Thane would let me cuddle him, pet him or anything! It just takes time!

Give it time.. it takes time for a rabbit to warm up to a human. They are prey animals after all and are more scared than other animals.

Prey animals are a lot different than predator species – a predator is more likely to adjust to a human faster. Birds, rabbits, etc have a few trust issues because every unknown is a possible thing that is going to eat them. It’s just their instincts. It’s hard not to love their cute little faces though.

Ok you want a pity party I can throw a bigger one, i have had Anya almost 2 YEARS and she still runs away from me every time I go anywhere near her!

Anya is a cutie She looks like my Chacha bun

While it does take time for some bunnies to come around, it’s important to realize that some bunnies will never like to be cuddled or give kisses easily…but it doesn’t mean that they don’t like you! Like Monkeybun’s Monkey, my Remi is quite skittish and rarely allows pets. If I lay on the ground he’ll climb all over me and beg for treats, but he’s gone the moment I try to reach out and touch him.

In my 8 years of having Maryann, the only time I got kisses was in the middle of the speed dating time with her. For some reason, she got overly affectionate one day as if to say, “Really, dad, I don’t need anyone else. See? I love you! Please stop sending me to see other buns.” Other than that, only pets on the ground. Oh, and her boyfriend Dono that I’ve had for almost 3 years now still runs and hides from me no matter what I do – except when I have treats of course.

But that’s being a rabbit.  They’re prey species, we’re predators with our front facing eyes and big stature.  It’s asking a lot for an animal that instinctually knows we eat meat to trust that which should be devouring them.

This thread is comforting.. My Binksy is so off on his own and doesn’t come when called and sometimes I feel he doesn’t love me!!

Its a good thing she knows where the raisins come from.

My suggestion is to just get a book, read on the floor and ignore her…

I did that! haha, it worked actually! Binksy jumped onto the book and kept bothering me, though honestly this could be interpreted as Binksy interested in the book. I tried it again and he just ignored me. The only time he comes to me ‘when I call’ is in the morning when his pellets are all gone, he follows me and circles around me

It took Miss Chacha 4 months to warm up to me.

I am thinking it’ll take my rabbit a year to warm up to me. loll..I read an article of ‘are u ready for a rabbit’ or something and it mentioned how it takes a year for rabbits to be truly be comfortable with you….but you never know because there are so many different rabbits.
@luvmyhunybunny Its only been a month so I am sure your rabbit will warm up soon…I haven’t even had mine for 4 months yet. He just turned 3 months today. You can try clicker training to help bond with your rabbit. I think it sorta helps with mine, but only around his time which is early early morning

It also depends on the rabbit – it’s almost over 6 months and Remy still doesn’t allow snuggling. I have to admit that this was a bit of a disappointment after my first bunny, but it’s perfectly okay. He’s gotten a lot friendlier though – he’ll tolerate some petting and he’ll always stick his curious nose into everyone’s business and will bother you for treats, but he doesn’t lick anyone either. I wouldn’t worry, though

stinkybinky, your rabbit is 3 months old? Baby rabbits tend to be extremely scared/skittish. After Chacha was spayed at 6 months, she became more social with me, and the people around her.

in my opinion, it takes a longer period for rabbit’s personalities to truly blossom.

I don’t think any of my rabbits “like” me like I like them. It’s our natural instinct to want our pets to be cuddly and like to be petted and want attention, but in reality, most rabbits don’t like this type of attention.

That’s not to say they aren’t friendly and nice pets, they are wonderful, but you just have to like them on their own terms.

It is frustrating because they look so cuddly though and you want to cuddle with them, but it’s just not most rabbit’s way. They are more like look but don’t touch.

I tell my boyfriend I like rabbits.. because they are independent and that nature appeals to me. I can go to work without worrying that they need to be fed.. because well, they have a bunch of hay to munch on.

I can’t pet Chacha on my own terms, only on HER terms. Sometimes she’ll mess with me by – playing in my blanket and nomming the cushions near me, and I will go and pet her.. and she’ll run off

I know how you feel. With my first rabbit, Nicky, I was not sure he thought of me as anything more than the person who brings him food. One after noon I was sitting around on the couch with him exploring the cushions when my friend came storming in angrily and slammed the door. It was very loud and scared Nicky, so he jumped right onto my chest! He never really was terribly affectionate, but that one moment (although under less-desirable circumstances) let me know that at the very least he felt safe with me.

Aw. Just be patient. She may come around. It takes time. My two girls still pretty much stay frozen and don’t move when they’re having out of cage tiem but they’ll let me pet them.

It took Otto 8 months to let me pet him, then he decided he didn’t like it and won’t let me do it anymore. I’ve had him for over 2 years and he’s comfortable around me, he just wishes I wouldn’t be so grabby. Haha.

Hannah does love to be petted at any time, but it has taken her a long time to settle down and actually trust us – after a year she’s much better, but still anxious. She still gives us a funny look if we do anything loud or different – she’s very nervous.

They’re just all different, but I’d say that it does take at least a year.

I have had my bunny ever since he was 6 weeks old and he is still warming up to me.  I went through all the questions about why he didn’t like me.  He only likes to be petted on the head.  Once in a while he will let me pick him up and then only for maybe one or two minutes. Just recently I bun-proofed the rest of the house and let him run free in it.  In return, he is getting more relaxed with me.  He will search me out in the bathroom and touch my ankle with his nose just to let me know he is there.  I love that!

Rucy, Jack and Vivian were all very standoffish and also aggressive bunnies. Jack, though almost doesn’t count, because he warmed up pretty quickly.

But in all cases, I did what member, inspiring, did with her bunny Ponyo. I would just hang out on the floor with them and let them explore and come over. (I’ve never had a bunny that is snugly in my arms– just on the floor). And I also think that providing them with enough space helped too – just as what member, Snuggle Bunny, noticed with her bunny. I don’t know if that allows them to feel safe to test things out because they can run away if they want, but I also notice that helps relax them. At first that may offer them a “hiding” place to stay in, but in time, that may get better as a bunny gets more secure.

It took Rucy the longest to get used to me and for the first two years, I felt like she just thought of me as that somewhat tolerable human that feeds her, puts up some fun toys and tries to pet her. With all of my other bunnies, they would come over and give nose bonks and request to be pet. It’s natural to feel more loved when they come over and want to interact. Even Vivian who won’t hesitate to show me that she doesn’t like something I did, is always wanting to be closer to me, and so it’s a nice feeling. And even Rucy, though it took her a couple of years, mellowed out and actually started coming over to me to get affection. I was so surprised when that started happening.

But even if Rucy never warmed up in a way that I made me feel warm and fuzzy, I’d be okay with that. I had found things she really enjoyed – like a diggy box and certain toys and projects she especially would get busy with, and I got a lot out of watching her funny bunny antics.

Just give Tillie some time — there is no way to know this early on whether this is how she will always be or whether she’ll warm up eventually. In the meantime, look for things in her that make her unique, things that you will appreciate about her regardless of how things turn out. And then, just be patient, hang out with her and give it some time.