Do rabbits enjoy their owner's scent?

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This topic has 4sd replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 7 months ago by kurottabun.

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- 09/23/2018 at 8:22 PM
  ayahhhh
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  1 posts
  I just got a 10 week old Holland Lop yesterday and I have researched a few ways to introduce myself to her. I was thinking about putting a pillowcase of mine into her cage similar to how some other animals familiarize themselves.
  
  Will she react well or is there a possibility that she may become territorial as a reaction to the scent? She is really sweet and doesn’t seem like she’d become territorial, but I don’t know her personality very well yet.
  
  And even if she doesn’t become territorial will introducing my scent actually help her become more familiar with me?
- 09/24/2018 at 7:26 AM
  Q8bunny
  Participant
  6345 posts
  An item with your scent on it will be comforting during car trips etc after she has bonded with you. In my experience, your presence nearby is far more likely to lead to that than your scent alone. But perhaps others have had different experiences?? Keep in mind that she’s still settling in, establishing her territory, and that her behaviour will likely alter once her hormones kick in as an adolescent. For now, I’d focus more on building trust in person.
- 09/24/2018 at 7:37 AM
  Asriel and Bombur
  Participant
  1104 posts
  I second Q8. The best way to build trust and a bond with her it to simply be near her and avoid petting/touching her unless she seems comfortable enough with it. Just simply be with her and let her explore you while you do something else. And yes, she may seem like an angel now, but once hormones come in a lot of females turn into monsters xD
- 09/24/2018 at 8:14 AM
  Bladesmith
  Participant
  849 posts
  I’ve found that, if your bunny is the cuddly kind, they do enjoy having your scent around. If I changed shirts in the middle of the day, and put the used shirt on the couch, Clover would hop up on the couch and either snuffle her way into the shirt and sleep on/in it, or she’d steal my shirt and haul it off to make a nest with it. It’s why so many of my t-shirts have Clover holes in them.
- 09/24/2018 at 7:45 PM
  kurottabun
  Participant
  908 posts
  I think it really depends on the bunny, but like Q8 and A&B said, best to do it after you’ve bonded with her and not as a way of bonding. If it’s still an unfamiliar scent she might be wary of the pillowcase and a little helpless if she can’t remove it from the cage.
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