Bonding with my Bunny- looking for advise

[ThunderBunny]

Hey all! I am a fairly new bunny owner. We adopted our rabbit in early June, as a baby. So no previous owners, aside from the breeder. She’s a lovely bunny, and her and my cats get along really well. They play and groom together. I am just concerned about my bunny bonding with me. She gets excited to see me. When she hears my voice or sees me after Ive been at work all day, she runs up to the edge of her enclosure and looks very interested. However, she does not seem to like to be petted or picked up. She will sit right beside me to eat when I feed her, and has no problems eating from my hand. She is healthy, seemingly happy, has a lot of toys and chewing objects, and her enclosure is large enough to run around. Other than the aversion to pets, there seems to be nothing else wrong. Any suggestions to help me bond with my rabbit more? I am just awfully worried I have done something wrong or it is “too late” to have that type of relationship with her…

[Alexmack2016]

Congrats on your new bunny!

I brought my girl home when she was 4 months old and it took a few months for her to bond with me but now she’s my shadow and she’s growing even more attached the older she gets.

I’d suggest letting her out of her enclosure, sit on the floor, and just letting her explore. Keep some treats with you and give her one when she comes to you. She’ll eventually start laying down beside you and hopefully let you stroke her. When she realizes how nice it is, she’ll beg for pets.

 

My bunny is now 5 years old and has never enjoyed being picked up but she melts into a puddle when I pet her. She’ll sit in my lap on her own terms but does not tolerate being restrained and I’ve accepted it. Some rabbits will never enjoy being held or picked up.

 

If you haven’t already, I’d find an exotic animal vet to give her wellness check, just to get a baseline on her health, especially the teeth, and to get proper tips on diet.

 

I also keep an emergency kit: critical care, baby gas drops, sun-q fluids and Meloxicam, things always seem to happen after hours when the vets are closed.

 

Sorry for the long post! What breed is your girl?

[ThunderBunny]

Thanks for the tips! I really appreciate the help. Our bunny is an English Spot and Lionhead cross breed. What about yours?

Her enclosure is 30+ square feet, and she does get to roam the house (supervised) from time to time. I do have to limit this since it cam be difficult to get her back into the enclosure area without making her upset by picking her up. But Id like to let her free roam a lot more once she gets more used to me. I do at least want to be able to pick her up for her own safety, just in case it became necessary.

I am really glad to hear that your bunny loves pets 🙂 Maybe it’ll just take mine a little longer to warm up. I was just getting worried I was doing something wrong! This is my first rabbit, and Im trying to learn all I can

[Wick & Fable]

Wow what a large enclosure. Wonderful that she also gets free-roam of the house. If you have any pictures, that’d be great to see if you feel people could draw some helpful inspiration from it. You don’t need to share if you’re not comfortable though.

I do agree that it’ll take time, naturally, as she is a prey animal and you are obviously a large predator! If you think about it even on a small-interaction level, your large hand hovering to her body is coming from above, which instinctively is going to set off alarms since that’s how predatory birds swoop into get rabbits. It can be good to always approach from the side, and also present your hand at eye-level before then raising to do a pet.

 

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.

[LBJ10]

Her behavior sounds pretty typical to me. Most rabbits do not like to be picked up and held. Not sure how old she is now or if she’s spayed yet, but bunny puberty can influence their behavior. They can go from sweet babies to little demons in the blink of an eye.

[DanaNM]

It sounds like you are doing great and she likes you. 🙂

Agree that most bunnies hate being picked up, but I think you will build a relationship in time. Bunnies are all about the long-game!

I suggest playing “hard to get”. Spend time with her on the floor, but don’t try to pet her hover over her. Eventually you will notice she may lay on the floor near you, that means you are on the right track!

When she gets to the point where she relaxes on the ground near you, you can “ask” to pet her by making your fist look like a bunny head and placing it on the ground in front of her nose (off to one side a bit because buns have a blind spot right in front). If she puts her head down, then she’s saying “yes you can pet me”. If she doesn’t put her head down or flinches, don’t try to pet but don’t worry about it. You can try again in a few weeks. Most buns like nose, cheek, and ear rubs, but petting the back is a sensitive area, and the bum is definitely a no-go.

. . . 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.  

[Alexmack2016]

I googled English Spot and Lionhead cross and they’re absolutely adorable! Mine is a red satin, not the mini ones, she’s the size of a cat, I had no idea she’d get this big, she’s my first rabbit as well and I had to do a lot of learning.

 

I pick her up when I have to but she’s never enjoyed it. I don’t know if this is the best suggestion but I’d avoid trying to pick up your bunny until she accepts you as her friend, which hopefully won’t be too long, she doesn’t sound fearful.

You sound like you’re doing great, it will just take some time and soon she’ll be running after you while you try not to trip over her, best of luck!

[DanaNM]

I agree with the suggestion about not picking up unless necessary. In my experience the more you try, the harder it is, because they anticipate it all the time. I think it’s more about handling skill and finding a way that works for your bun, and less about getting the bun to accept it.

I only pick most of my buns up for nail trims and deep grooming, and I tend to use the “foot ball” hold the most (it seems the most reliable to me, and easiest for putting buns into carriers because you can put them in bum-first). One of my buns (Cooper) doesn’t mind being held too much, but he’s a really weird one!

The bunny in this video is sooo relaxed and calm, but this hold works very well for less-calm bunnies too (and you can very clearly see what she does because the bun is so relaxed). I always start by petting the top of the head, like she does in this vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Delxm5f3fmw&t=197s&ab_channel=EquidBlog

I only differ in that I support the rabbit’s rump but I don’t have their back feet on my arm (because then they could kick off). I do hold the bun very securely against me though, if they feel insecure or not supported it will lead to struggling.

Here’s a vid I made a while back of me picking up a bunny at the rescue that HATES being picked up.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12iIW-I7CAJIK7Zah6jN0470eQkOlaqr3/view?usp=sharing

Normally I would advise not to chase as much as possible (so in an emergency at home, you could coral your bun with an x-pen). I was in a bit of a hurry that day so I unfortunately couldn’t spend as much time with her as I liked to. Happy to report this bun was adopted. 🙂

Another thing that is nice to do is to train your bun to go into her carrier for emergencies. This is usually pretty easily done with treats!

 

. . . 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.  

[ThunderBunny]

Wow, thanks for all of the tips and feedback!! I really appreciate all of you, and I am thrilled to see how my rabbit grows to bond with me in the future. I feel a lot better knowing this sounds like normal bunny behavior

[Author]

Messages