Biting and…. bipolar personality?

[KwlAznKid]

I have a dutch bunny that i rescued about 3 months ago, she’s about 3 years old based on what they estimate and I have been caring for her daily. From the beginning she was always very… distant, HATED being held and didn’t like to spend much time with me, I figured it was a new environment for her and since she is a rescue maybe she had some not so pleasant interactions with humans in the past. I talk to her and hang out with her everyday, let her roam my apartment in a large area that i bunny proofed, feed her, give her treats, give her hugs/kisses… but she still is extremely distant, when I let her out of her x-pen she just finds a corner of the room and sits there,, when I try to go hang out with her she moves away to another corner (usually, not always) and then randomly she would bite my toes (not hard, no bleeding but just a small nibble). another problem that I have had is that she’s a big chewer, and she would start chewing on things that she wouldn’t in the past so I have had to pretty much remove everything from her bunny proof area.. now she chews and rips on the carpet that’s there. 

She still hates being held and I try to hold her around once a day or so using the technique that was shown to me but she just jumps and hops away most of the time and on the rare occurrences that I do  get her in my arms she starts biting my shirt or hands within a few minutes until I let her go

BUT there are the good days where she will lay there and let me pet her for a while and she seems really happy….. why is she friendly at times and so distant during others?

any advice is appreciated, are there ways to train her to not bite? (me or the carpet?) is this just her personality? 

[Sirius&Luna]

If she hates being held, then you need to stop holding her. Persisting in holding a rabbit that clearly hates it is not going to make her like you.

When you say she doesn’t bite you hard, she’s probably just nipping. When a bunny bites you and means it you know about it! A nip is a rabbits way of communicating – it might be move your toes, or give me a treat! If she hurts you, give a high pitched squeal, and she should learn it’s hurting you.

Have you given her safe things to chew? My bunnies have a huge log that they love to chew, as well as willow tubes, apple sticks and card board boxes, which generally stop them chewing things they shouldn’t.

What do you do differently when she lets you pet her? Does she come to you?

Rabbits like to do things on thier own terms, so that’s why she’s sometimes friendly and sometimes distant. I’ve had Luna a year, since she was a baby, and sometimes she’ll hop up and snuggle up on the sofa with me, other times she runs away when I just walk past. It’s just her personality, and I love it.

You basically just need to hang out with her until she gets more comfortable around you. Lie on the floor with her and watch tv or read a book. If you do it often enough, she’ll soon start coming over to see you.

Could you tell us a bit about her diet and appetite? If she truly only sits in a corner when you let her out, then it could be a health problem.

[Deleted User]

Three months isn’t that long of a time to have her to the point where she’ll trust you completely. Some bunnies are like that, but as she’s a rescue it’s tough to know what her life was like before. That being said, there are things you can do to help your bond. First, as S&L said, stop picking her up. Bunnies don’t like to be picked up. Only pick her up if it’s an absolute emergency. If you need to transport her somewhere, use her carrier or a litter box. If you continue to pick her up she will associate you with fear and will not want to go near you. The best thing you can do to be honest is ignore her and let her come to you. It sounds counter intuitive, I know, but one of my bunnies has taken months to build up trust, and I sit on the floor with him an hour a day. Basically just sit on the floor and go about your business. Read a book, watch a movie, talk on the phone, text a friend, whatever, just do something. Eventually her natural curiosity will kick in and she will want to explore you. You should ask her permission to pet her though, as some bunnies never tolerate pets either. You can do this when she approaches you by extending your hand, palm down, and if she bows her head then you have permission. Start out with a few seconds and gradually build up that way she will associate you positively.

Honestly, my Asriel is still this way and I’ve had him for 9 months. The first four months I had him he would hop out and stay in one spot the whole time. He would cower when you went near him. The only way her liked you is if you were brushing him or giving him oats. I would spend 2-3 hours a day with him out on the floor while watching TV or reading. Sometimes I could pet a little, but usually he would just run away. Eventually, I started figuring out his little quirks and what makes him, him. I found out he LOVED nose rubs. One day in October (5 months of having him) he started slowly coming out of his shell. I could pet him for longer amounts of time. He would stand in his cage and beg for nose rubs. On very rare occasions he even crawls on my chest and lays there for nose rubs for a half hour. He is still very much in and out. He has days where he is the most loving bunny and begs for my attention, and there are days where I can’t even walk by without him getting stressed out. It really does take time and patience. Once you get a timid bunny to open up, it is the most rewarding experience, and the good days become days you don’t forget because they are so perfect.

[joea64]

I personally think it’s a good sign if your bunny starts to give you gentle nips when you’re interacting with him – it’s a sign he thinks you’re worth communicating with, even if he’s just telling you to get your big clumsy self out of the way.

[Wick & Fable]

It is also helpful to think of a rabbit’s personality and affect more like a human being. We’re dynamic, not static. I may really want hugs from people one day, but the next day, I’m less open to such physical forms of affection…. Wick is a very tolerable rabbit to being held and maneuvered about, and he too has times/days where he just would rather be to himself rather than with me. It’s a balance of respect and necessity for interaction. Finding that balance is key to a rabbit-owner relationship.

Best way to have her not bite you is in circumstances where the bite is coming from a place of “Don’t touch me right now”, respect that boundary.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[KwlAznKid]

thanks for the input everyone, i was told previously that if a bunny doesn’t like being held that I should keep trying in order for her to get used to it, but seems like from what i’m hearing here that is not the best way to approach it so I will stop trying to hold her now.

to answer a couple questions: yes she has PLENTY of chew toys in her x-pen and i lay on the ground next to her at least once a day to let her get familiar with me. She is eating/drinking and pooing/peeing very normally and a lot of poop i might add lol and plus she got a health check up right before we picked her up so i don’t think it’s a health issue

[Wick & Fable]

It is a common instruction to hold young rabbits frequently so they’re used to it, but there’s a threshold for tolerance that some rabbits have quite strongly and that will not go away with further exposure. If you feel you’ve hit that limit, then going for more training time will probably do more damage. You definitely were not in the wrong; now its simply growing with your rabbit and reading her signals, knowing when you need to/want to do things that may not 100% appease her.

Wick adamantly runs away from me when he sees me setting up his topical treatment time, but my goodness do I follow him to the depths of the bedroom and grab him. On the other hand, sometimes I try to do his daily butt checks at a time he jumps out once my hands reach under him, in which case I don’t go further and wait for another time of day to do it.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

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