Help bonding with my bunny?

[Ashley Rose]

I adopted my bunny Calvin about 3 weeks ago from a local shelter. Hes my first rabbit and im having trouble bonding with him. He doesn’t like being picked up at all which I know is normal and I have no problem with. My issue is he wont even let me pet him. He’ll sometimes tolerate it if im giving him treats at the same time but as soon as the treats run out hes out of there. I know he came from a home with younger children and the previous family gave him up because he was too aggressive. My main concern here is that hes not getting enough socialization. When I go into his room he runs into his hideyhouse. He has access to the full upstairs when im home and he can see everything thats going on downstairs. I thought that would be the best way to let him get used to us without overwhelming him. As soon as someone goes upstairs, he runs back into his cage. Sometimes i will pick him up and bring him downstairs and let him sit on my lap while i pet him but i dont really think hes actually enjoying it. He just kind of site there without moving and doesnt seem to relax much. Should i keep on doing this or is it just making the situation worse? Im hoping that someone here will have some advice about getting him to trust us. I’ve heard that rabbits are very social but since he wont allow us to socialize with him, should I maybe get him another rabbit as a companion? Any advice is appreciated. Oh and he has no problems taking food from my hand or anything if that helps at all. Sorry this was so long. I hope I put it in the right category.

[Little Lion Head]

It took a little bit for Pumpkin to warm up to us as well. We think she came from a loud home with other pets and kids. My best advice is to sit hear Calvin’s space and completely ignore him. Do your thing, read a book, play on your phone and just be there. It might take awhile but I think he’ll eventually start coming over to you and when he does, still ignore him. Let him do his thing, sniff you out etc. Continue this ritual every day for as long as it takes. Bring something comfy to sit on cuz you might be on the floor a lot!

We also started feeding Pumpkin out of our hands (pellets and some veggies). This got her to come to us, but now she thinks our hands are food and has gotten aggressive with it so we stopped.

Wishing you lots of luck and patience!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Good job adopting!

Best way to bond is to limit the ‘out’ time to one room (rabbits are pretty territorial and all that territory to worry about might not be helping!) it limits how much room they have to get away from you too. If you sit in one room on the floor and read or play on the computer that’s best. He’ll start approaching you (you’ll be the most interesting thing if he has the run of one room instead of the whole house) and you’ll start to bond.

They say dogs have masters, cats have staff; and rabbits have slaves -they are harder to get to know but once they decide they approve of you, it’s very rewarding. It will come

[Ashley Rose]

Thanks so much for the advice it seems to be helping! The limiting his space to 1 room is especially helpful as hes a very territorial rabbit already. He hates when I go into his pen and usually growls and thumps when im refilling his hay or water. And I definitely agree about needing something comfy, ive been just bringing a pillow and blanket to lay on but its killing my back haha. He comes and climbs all over me which is adorable! Im like his personal gym. Still has no patience for pets but hopefully he’ll come around. Thanks again for the great advice! Hes trying to squeeze between the wall and my back as im writing this

[Ashley Rose]

I guess its kind of cheating but ive been putting lettuce down all around me to lure him, works like a charm

[Little Lion Head]

Haha I like the lettuce idea!! And the whole climbing between your back and wall is something Pumpkin does. She always takes the most complicated route to get places!

[Ashley Rose]

Pumpkin is adorable! She looks like a very spoiled bunny

[alicia grace]

My bunny was the exact same way when I adopted her. When I first got her if I opened her cage she would either run out and hide from me or not come out at all because she was too afraid. The first few weeks while she was in her cage I would read to her in a soft voice (it could be anything like reading your emails out loud or magazines). I did it about 15-20 minutes a day for a week, the second week I read just in my regular voice with the cage door open. This way she got used to my voice, she doesn’t get a afraid, & she comes to me when I call her now.

Also when I first brought her home when I went to give her food she would jump up in the air & bite my hand & i’d drop the pellets everywhere lol. It was mostly because she’s a beotch but also she was cage territorial and didn’t want anyone invading her space. So I would place the food in her bowl on the ground in front of her cage & she’d hop out & pick the bowl up with her teeth and bring it into her cage herself.

With petting, every time I would pet her she’d either run away or bite me. Every other day I would sit in front of her cage & open the door & slowly pet her. Like i moved my hand extremely slowly down to her & petted the top of her head & back. She bite me like a million times & growled at me but after a about a month. She allowed me to pet her & even sometimes come up to me and lay there with her ears back because she wanted me to pet her.

As for the food thing, my bun at first would bite the $*&! out of my hand if I tried to hand her food. Later on she would take the food and run away with it & eat it in the corner, but eventually maybe the second month of having her she let me feed her, like i’d hold the leaf of lettuce out (tightly because she would try to run away with it sometimes) then she would stop trying to pull the food away & allowed me to feed her

I know it’s a lot but I do hope this helps Calvin sounds exactly like Leona. It took a lot of effort and time but in the end it was worth it

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