Because bunnies are prey animals, sometimes traditional “handling” can stress them out. Hand feeding is a great way to get her to trust you. As far as getting her back in the cage, how are you going about it? “Herding” her back into her cage is probably the best way-you could tempt her with her favorite treat. You might considering trying clicker and target training as a method to try to get her to go back into the cage when nessesary-that might help you build trust as well. The honking/biting actually sound like hormonal behaviors, which also might account for some of the nervousness-is she spayed?

Posted By Daniellejane29 on 8/22/2017 10:26 PM

Me and my boyfriend got a bunny about a week ago (named her bun bun) and she loves to run around our living room and play. While playing she explores and binks a lot. But when it is time for us to get her back in her cage it is such a hard task. I feel as though we are stressing her out and make her nervous. She will start to “honk”, thump her legs, and even try to bite. We do try to hold her and handle her too, but she seems a little nervous about that as well. She will let us hand feed her ( I’ve been trying to do that often so she will trust me). Did we let her roam too soon before she got use to us? Should we stop letting her roam for now? Any other suggestions would be great also! Thank you

Stop trying to ‘hold and handle’ her. She’s clearly terrified. Bunnies don’t like being picked up. You haven’t let her free roam too early, you just need to find a way of getting her back to her enclosure w/o picking her up.

I find that the best way to get my own Panda and Fernando back into their bunny condo after an evening play session is, after 3 hours or so, to wait for both of them to hop back into their cage on their own and then secure the door. Alternately, I gently herd them toward the door, by petting them on the back/butt to coax them in the direction I want them to go, then close and secure it when they’re inside.Their X-pen is directly attached to the habitat, so it’s easy, and if they’ve headed for their litterbox for hay/toileting, they don’t much seem to care anyway.

Posted By Daniellejane29 on 8/23/2017 8:43 AM

She is not spayed; we are planning on doing that soon. Will having her spayed make her more comfortable with us? And it’s hard to herd her into her cage because every time I try to reach to touch her she runs away

Having her spayed will change nothing in regards to how comfortable around you she is. If you’re herding her, why are you touching her?

Having her spayed will likely reduce the honking/biting behaviors, as well as any territorial behaviors—which often make bunnies very protective of the cage. Sometimes it can calm a bunny, because they no longer have frustrating hormones that can cause unpredictable behavior.
While I generally don’t advise picking up an unwilling bunny, wanting to be able to touch your rabbit—especially for the safety/well being of the rabbit—isn’t an unreasonable expectation. Try not to get downhearted; you have had your bunny only a week. Sounds like you are doing a great job with the hand feeding. I would continue doing that frequently, and as well as talking to her. You can lay on the floor, reading, etc, and let her explore the idea of your presence—once you feel she is used to you being there, you can try to pet her, offering positive reinforcement and treats. If you feel most comfortable, you can reduce her running space until you have reached this point; you could use an X-pen around her cage. That way you could sit in the smaller area, and then when it is time for her to go home, you could use the sides of the Xpen to herd her back home.

As LEL says, you’ve only had her one week, so it’s very, very early days yet! A week is virtually nothing when it comes to gaining a bun’s trust. It is btw normal for a bunny run in the other direction. This is why they place themselves with the back towards what they don’t really trust. Horses are the same way.

As LEL also says, an x-pen could be good for starters. It’d make it less stressful for both you and her. When she’s got the routine down, she can have more space. Always serve her food in the cage, that way the cage becomes more attractive. I have a free roam bun that goes into the bedroom when its bedtime (I prefer him spending the night in the bedroom) because I put his evening salad + pellets there when I go to bed. He knows that and comes running for it. Bunnies are often very food motivated. Use that to your advantage!

First, congrats on your bunny….welcome! I think that there have been some good suggestions that can help you with this.

I am also in agreement with others, that starting with an xpen or some other enclosure is a good idea.

As prey animals, rabbits need to know every inch of their space, (they need to know escape routes and places to hide). Until your bunny knows every corner of the house -if she thinks the whole house is hers, she will be a bit nervous — even more so because she’s new. I think that if you give too much free range too soon, it can cause several different issues. Some of which you are experiencing. Having a “home base” for a while at first in a x-pen, or other enclosure helps them feel a bit “safer” and your bunny may relax a more.

Also, later as you expand the roam space, that will also help your bunny understand where territories are so that later, playtime and free range areas can be considered “neutral” sharing places, and less marking or no marking may take place there.

So hang out in the xpen with her – get a book, tablet, phone, hangout and just chill and let her explore you. Have a some healthy treats in hidden that you can just give her when she comes over. (I’m basically dittoing LEL! )

Keep us updated.