Hates me or hates me not?

[Nickkohl]

So my baby boy Chester was given to me by my boyfriend for my birthday present this year I’ve had him for a little over three weeks now which makes him 11 weeks old. Chester will tolerate being pet on his tushy and his back, but will nudge my hand away if i try to pet his head and he would scurry into his hut right afterwards. One day i was laying on the bed and he had free time on my bed as well and he came over to sniff me and i thought that was cute, but then he sprayed my face with pee afterwards which was delightful. He also lays and flops out in the open which i’ve read means he feels secure, but then whenever I have him out to play he is constantly moving and doesnt seem to really notice that im there. He’d nudge me but I think he nudges everything he comes into contact with. My bun doesnt cuddle like other peoples baby buns seem to will he be even less affectionate after he gets neutered? how do i get him to love me

[MK]

All rabbits are different, and your rabbit is very young. bonding with people doesn’t happen quickly for some rabbits. it may take a little bit for Chester to start bonding with you. He is still exploring his new home.
Not all baby buns like to cuddle. Don’t worry about it. Give Chester time, and just keep spending time with him.

[tanlover14]

First off, spraying you with pee is a hormonal thing that unaltered rabbits do that means they “love” you or rather would like to mate with you Hahahaa, so he can’t find you all that bad if he’s doing that!

Anyways, babies are also very curious. It sounds like he’s a typical young bunny curious and happy. I would spend as much time interacting with him as you can. Find things that he likes to do that you can do with him. My Tans are hyper rabbits and aren’t very cuddly either… but they’ll “hang out” with me if I find something they like to do. If I give them a toy, they’ll yank it out of my hand but we’ll play the game for quite a long time. Interacting with treats will help a lot but I’d give him another week (12 months) until you begin to introduce.

Have you tried ignoring him? I ignored them by laying in their area and reading a book. They’d keep coming up to me to investigate and I’d continue to let them do their thing. The more I ignored them, the more it seemed they pried me for attention. It may/may not work but it’s worth a try!

[Elrohwen]

Every bunny is different and some never like physical contact. One of mine is a sweet boy, and he likes to interact for treats or hang out in the same room as us, but he just does not like to be petted. It’s normal!

[Nickkohl]

Oh wow thanks for all the replies! I’ve also tried to ignore him and then he just treats me like an obstacle he would like to climb over haha. Sometimes I wonder if he forgets that I’m there because I would move when I know he’s staring at me and then he would get scared. He also started recently rearranging his “furniture” aka the pine ones and twigs I gave him to play with so I’ll try to see if he will play

[tanlover14]

Using you as something to climb over is awesome! My buns began by doing this and slowly became more accepting of other things. The more they climb on you, the more they are interacting with you and becoming accustomed to your presence!

[kinggoblin]

Mine got a lot more loving the longer I had him. I think it took almost a year before he would lick me. Now he puts his nose to my lips when I make kissing sounds and sometimes even licks my lips. He also stretches out and flops out on my stomach when I watch tv. He cuddles up to me and is demanding of ear rubs. If I try to stop petting him before HE is done with me he forces his head under my hands or nose bumps my face until I start petting again. He also likes to wake me up because I’m apparently his on demand massage slave >.<

The moment he sees I’m awake in the morning he goes nuts rattling his cage (his pen is at the bottom of the stairs and he can see me in the bathroom at the top of the stairs).

He follows me all over the place. If I’m in the kitchen he is circling my legs and standing up and pawing at me because I usually give him some bites of fruit or vegetables every time I’m in there. He even tries to follow me into the bathroom and nose bumps my leg the whole time when he succeeds >.>

[Ellekke]

Hi Nickkohl!

I have some baby bunnies too, 8 weeks old now. They sound like your Chester! When I let them out of the cage they don’t really stand still. Especially Arya wants to run around and nudges away anything that stands in her way. Frodo is calmer but he doesn’t like me petting him either.

What I do to let them bond to me is the ignore tactic that they come and investige and sniffle. Then I trigger respones by food and clicker. I’ve had them for a week but they know that around 5 – 6 pm I let them out the cage to get their pellets. I hand feed them their pellets and they go nuts for it. I say their name, then offer them a pellet and if they take it I press the clicker. After they’re done eating they run around, make binkies and play tag.

Right now they are in their cage having a rest. Can’t stop watching it, sooo cute!!!! So I stuck my hand in there and started petting them a bit. And then you notice that they do like it because their eyes were squinting and they did a little bit of teeth grinding.

Yesterday I had my nieces over. Arya just munched food out of my nieces hands but Frodo didn’t really trust that so he came to me to hang out. It’s those little things that tell you that they’re bonding to you. I’m sure you have those moments with Chester too. Like he lets you rub his tummy??!! That’s awesome!!

But I totally know the feeling that you just want them to jump on your lap so you can cuddle them to moosschh!! But that’s also a long way off for me
Still it’s worth the wait. <3

Good luck

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