Bunny refuses attention

[Coelinhos]

It’s not really a worry but just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience?

My youngest bunny won’t let anyone or anything (not ever her bonded bunnies) touch her, but she’ll groom us all endlessly.
Occasionally she’ll decide she wants a cuddle and has a specific spot that she’ll sit in and a really specific look on her face which means “love me now”, but otherwise she must be the provider of snuggles and no-one else has that privilege (she’ll even headbutt people or rabbits out of the way if she sees them grooming another rabbit so that she can be the groomer).
We’ve just learned to appreciate her odd little quirks and it makes the moments that she seeks us out for attention even more special.

She’s easy to pick up though (if she’s in the right mood); really calm. She’ll just headbutt you out of the way if she’s on your lap so that she can lick you!

Such a weird animal.

She loves watching us and being with us, and she chatters when we talk to her. She’ll also chin any part of you that she can reach and she’ll even chin the other rabbits! I’ve caught her licking the furniture and walls as well. She has a fondness for jumping in the dirty laundry and licking that too.

Not worried about this behaviour; it’s just her being… well her. She is called Small Potato (Batatinha) so I guess she was always going to be strange.

When she does want a cuddle, however, she is the cuddliest and chattiest of all of the bunnies!

Does anyone else have a rabbit who avoids contact? I’m also interested if anyone has an explanation for this behaviour. She’s 2 now and I’ve had her since the day she was born.

[joea64]

My own Panda has never really liked being petted; she’ll almost always shy away when I offer, even if she’s just been in a grooming session with her son and bondmate Fernando, who has always been more outgoing than his mother. However, she really likes and appreciates being talked to and enjoys “rabbit gaze” sessions where we stare into one another’s eyes for minutes at a time. In her case, I was told when I adopted them that Panda had had unspecified bad pre-rescue experiences, possibly when she was pregnant with her litter including Fernando, which made her frightened of humans for quite some time; after a year living with me, I believe she’s become quite used to me and has come to trust me to a considerable extent, but she’s not yet where she feels comfortable routinely being petted like Fernando (who customarily presents himself for pets at breakfast time almost every morning now).

[Coelinhos]

Fernando sounds like a cutie! Breakfast and headrubs sounds like bunny heaven!
I love the idea of gazing sessions! I have to try that!!!

[Asriel and Bombur]

This is my Asriel! It took him months to open up to my hubs and I (but he rarely goes to him ) For the most part he’s pretty independent and prefers to be alone, except during bonding sessions then he’s a ham! Occasionally he’ll come up to me and just be the sweetest little bunny on the planet begging for snoot rubs. I treasure those moments Bombur on the other hand is a total love bug. Attached at my hip.

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