Anti-social bunny??

[bunbunlovers]

My female lop Minnie has never really actually liked us a whole lot. Complete opposite of Bob, our dwarf Dutch mix. She won’t bite us if we pet her, but she will just walk away and ignore us when we try to pet her or something like that. Have any suggestions on what we could do to help?

[Slowebot]

How long have you had her?

Some rabbits just don’t like to be pet much. Also some rabbits get shy when they are outside of the cage. My bunny’s desire for affection varies with the hour, in the morning he’d rather be stand-offish and hang out under chairs, the afternoon he will hop back into his cage and pass out and in the evening he gets really hyper but after that he is a cuddle bug. So if she’s like my bun maybe its just not the right hour for her? You should also try hand-feeding her? My bunny got much more tolerant of pets after I started feeding him pellet by pellet with my fingers, and while he was chewing I’d pet him. Or you could always try treats too but pellets are in my opinion easier because you can only give them one or two treats a day whereas pellets you can hand-feed however many you typically feed her during the day.

Also some rabbits get weird when you scratch their back or bum and start grooming themselves like crazy, it’s almost like a strange reflex or hypnosis that my bunny has trouble getting out of, but he seems to enjoy it so try scratching her. OR sometimes my bun just wants a pretty rough petting, getting his ears (he’s a lop as well) pulled back or his cheeks rubbed, sometimes he hops away if we pet him too gently but if we follow up with a rough pet he will lay down. My rabbit also likes it when I pick at the fur around his eyes. I do it because he doesn’t clean his eyes well and I don’t have another bunny to clean his eyes for him so sleepy crust builds up around his eyes but sometimes I just do it because he seems to really enjoy it.

On a totally different note she may just be picky about who grooms her. I think the hand-feeding would probably help and try the light scratches on the butt or back because its really comical. I encourage you to keep trying with her and hope that you will see a least a little progress.

[BunnyLady1989]

I agree Slowebot. I think lops in general adore the ears and cheek massages I clean Lulu’s eyes like that too and she seems pretty content. But oh heavens don’t touch her butt or belly in the wrong spot! lol Lulu gets a tad upset when I do that, and she has always been like that. I hear a lot of lops are just like that in general.

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