Behaviour

[Emma]

We adopted a rabbit who most definitely was bred as we also have her son, she is very skittish, loves pellets, not so much the 3 different types of hay I’ve tried her with (she nibbles) however she enjoys facing walls, is seemingly deaf she’ll sniff my hand and occasionally (twice!) will let me stroke her, she seems to love my rabbit Paddy we’ll try bonding when Eleven is spayed, she’s 3 years old I’m not putting her up for adoption because despite how nervous she is I’ve already bonded with her. I’m just not sure how to change her behaviour (despite having 3 rabbits that I’ve adopted they were all younger than her and not as nervous)

[Sirius&Luna]

Hi Emma

There’s a few different things here, so I’ll go through them one by one.

Shes skittish – how long have you had her? It often takes rabbits a long time to warm up to humans and come round to you, especially if they’ve been adopted from not great conditions (not that she necessarily was, but bred rabbits are not always well socialised). The best way to bond with her is to spend time on her level, so lie on the floor and read a book etc, and wait for her to come to you. Rabbits are inquisitive, so if you do this enough, she most likely will come and explore, and start to get more comfortable around you.

Pellets – it’s really important to get her eating hay, which I’m sure you know. Try limiting her pellets and veg to once each a day (eg. pellets for breakfast, and veg for dinner), and giving her only hay between those two times. If she realises there’s nothing better to eat, she probably will give in and eat hay.

Facing walls – since rabbits have eyes at the side of their head, when it looks to us like they’re facing a wall, they might actually be looking at something on either side of them

Deaf – lots of rabbits live happy lives while deaf, so it’s not a problem unless she has an ear infection or something, but there’s no reason to think she does

Its a good idea to wait until shes spayed for bonding, but if she seems to like paddy already, that’s a good sign!

Also, I love the name Eleven!

[Bladesmith]

I HAVE to ask, why the name Eleven? It’s cool.

[Deleted User]

I’m guessing it’s from Stranger Things, which is an awesome show! So good name choice!

[joea64]

This sounds a fair bit like my own Panda and Fernando. Panda came from a breeder originally, and from what I’m told had a pretty bad time there (and possibly with her first owner) before she was turned over to the animal shelter, where she appears to have already been pregnant; she was rescued last January not long after she gave birth to her litter of 4 kits (all of whom survived, became gorgeous buns and have been adopted ). Her boy Fernando, whom I adopted along with his mother in August, has spent pretty much his entire life in caring, loving environments, is pretty well-socialized as S&L indicated above, and is very playful, active and curious and is always on the lookout for attention, but Panda is, even after nearly half a year living with me, still overall a shy, reserved bun who likes best of all sheltering somewhere in their condo cage or in the big hidey box in the X-pen enclosure during their overnight playtimes.

She still shies away most of the time when I offer to pet her, though she’s starting to get better as time goes by, but she enjoys mutual gazing sessions (rabbits like it when they look at you and you look back) and being talked to. She’s also comfortable enough in living with me to routinely eat her salad calmly during our evening floor sessions when I’m just a foot or so away from her, and routinely bunloafs comfortably in the big hidey box during these same sessions, another indicator that she’s building trust in me a little at a time. Of note, Panda has lately become a lot more courageous about booping me with her nose when she wants me to move out of her way during floor sessions!

[GarfyTheLop]

I’m so excited if her name is Eleven because of Stranger Things!

[Author]

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