How can I bond better with my rabbit?

[SweetCaroline]

Hello everyone! My rabbit’s name is Sooty, he’s a black rabbit (not sure what breed, possibly Havana) and 3 years old iirc. I love him very much, but even though I’ve had him for about 2 years now he still doesn’t seem very comfortable around me or sociable. I wouldn’t say he’s afraid of me, but he does sometimes get nervous around me and dislikes being picked up. When I take him out to run, he hops away whenever I try to pet him. I know rabbits are prey animals and so some of this is normal behavior for them, but I’ve seen videos of people with super cuddly rabbits that will sit there and that enjoy being petted. My last pet rabbits used to give me bunny kisses when I pet her (although she would also sometimes nip if she wasn’t in a petting mood lol). I know rabbits are individuals with their own personalities and preferences, but I was wondering if there is any way I can better bond with my rabbit and get him to let me pet him more. I would be overjoyed if I could get him to lick me too lol, but I understand that’s not likely to happen and that’s okay.

I fear he may have been neglected/abused or at least not properly socialized, because when I first adopted him his fur was all scruffy and my mother and I had to comb him regularly to try and help get rid of the old, matted fur. The shelter we adopted him from said he was brought in with this gunk on his fur coat (as were his siblings) and they did their best to clean it up but couldn’t get all of it off of him I suppose. The man who brought Sooty and his siblings into the shelter claimed that they belonged to his late grandmother. Supposedly she kept rabbits and when she passed her family didn’t realize until a little while after that she had rabbits in her house. So they got out of their cage and got into some sort of gunk that got on their fur (and probably went without food for a little while too sadly). When the grandson and his family found the rabbits, they gave them to the shelter. That’s the official story, at least. But who can say for sure what really happened, you know? It could be the man who brought Sooty and his siblings in was lying about the whole thing because he didn’t want to be turned into the police for animal abuse/neglect, who knows? In any case, my poor Sooty did have a somewhat rough start, and I fear that might be partly why even now, he shies away from me. Also, I should mention that the shelter said he was 1 year old when we adopted him, but again it’s difficult to say for certain. It can be difficult to ascertain a rabbit’s age, and after I adopted him he did seem to grow a bit. I don’t know if perhaps he wasn’t done growing, or if he just was underfed and plumped up a bit after adoption. Or maybe as the old fur grew out he simply got fluffier lol. Either way, can some of you kind people give me any advice to better bond with my rabbit? Is it a lost cause? Will I ever be able to pet and stroke him like the people in those videos do?

[DanaNM]

When you say you take him out to run, do you mean you have to pick him up each time? If so, that could be why he’s skittish. Rabbits as a rule don’t like being picked up, so being picked up daily can make them nervous and learn to fear you every time you reach for him.

So if that’s the case, the first thing to do would be to modify his set-up so he can hop in and out to exercise on his own.

Other things to do would be to spend lots of time on the floor with him ignoring him, play hard to get. Read a book, watch tv, do things on your phone, etc. It sounds counter-intuitive, but as prey animals rabbits trust you more when you don’t focus on them. You can also do some hand feeding of veggies, pellets, or treats. Don’t try to pet him just yet. When he gets to the point where he will relax on the ground near you, you have made progress! Still don’t try to pet immediately. When he regularly relaxes near you, then you can “ask” to pet him by placing your hand on the ground near his face with the back of your hand facing him. If he puts his head down, he wants some pets. 🙂 If he flinches or backs up, don’t pet and go back to just relaxing near him.

. . . 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.  

[SweetCaroline]

Hmm, I see, thank you for your advice. Yes, I have to pick him up because his cage is a little bit off the ground. I’m not sure I could have it on the ground, that might be a problem, but I guess we’ll see. Eventually we hope to put on another room to our house and move him in there, so maybe then he will be able to have his cage on the ground. My only concern with leaving him out for long periods of time is, won’t he go poo/pee on the floor? He’s pretty well litter-trained, but even the best litter-trained rabbits can only hold it in for so long lol. I also have to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t chew on any wires or furniture. Still, I might try your advice, thank you! P.S. He does relax on the ground by me sometimes, usually after running around a bit and tuckering himself out lol.

[LBJ10]

What about using an exercise pen instead? You can get something to protect the floor with and then put fleece or a low pile rug over that.

[DanaNM]

Yes, I think that is probably the main issue here. Ideally he should have a bunny-proofed exercise space that he can access without you carrying him. He doesn’t need access to it 24/7, but ideally should have several hours a day to exercise during the times when he’s most active (longer if his cage is small). Some people will use a ramp or make steps for the bun to hop out of raised cages if the cage isn’t up too high. If needed, you can add an extra litter box in the exercise space, but most rabbits will just hop back to their main box when they need to as long as the room isn’t too big.

Also not to pry, but most cages that are sold for rabbits are too small. A lot of folks like using an exercise pen, as LBJ10 mentioned, as the main “cage” or home base for the bun, then they can open it can give them access to the room they are in for exercise for part of the day. You can also use storage cube grids to make custom housing or fencing to bunny-proof.

. . . 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.  

[SweetCaroline]

Thanks again for the advice. We used to have an exercise pen that we would put Sooty (and my previous pet rabbit) in regularly but since we moved we haven’t had a chance to set it up again yet (plus we need to find a space in our new house to put it, possibly the basement). Unfortunately we don’t really have any rooms that are bunny-proof or totally without wires, every room has at least some wires, but I will think on it and see what I can do. I’m not sure on how big his cage is, it’s the same cage that we housed our last rabbit in and that cage came from the shelter we adopted her from. The people at the shelter were super nice and let us take the cage as well! So yeah, sorry I can’t give you exact measurements…

[LBJ10]

You can use the exercise pen by itself or with the cage. If you use it with the cage, the cage would be left open (with a ramp, if needed) and bunny can come and go as he pleases. Then you can open the exercise pen to let him run around the room while supervised. Same concept if you use the exercise pen by itself. The pen would essentially be his “cage”. You can set up a litter box and all his other necessities. You can open the exercise pen to let him have his “out time”.

I’m suggesting this because it would eliminate the need to pick him up every time. He can just come out on his own. Then you can work on building trust with him by sitting on the floor, etc. If he’s no longer wary of being picked up, he may decide it’s OK to be pet after awhile.

[pinkiemarie]

You can get some of the nic cubes for easy bunny proofing. It isn’t necessarily the most pretty decorating but it keeps both your electronics and your bunny safe 🙂

 

Edit: I couldn’t upload a picture of the mess under my tv so I’m linking to a photo on another site. Not pretty but it keeps the buns out so they can have their play time.

View post on imgur.com

 

 

[Moonlightbunny66]

Yeah, using an x-pen as the home base will totally help! I’m not sure if you mean he’s kept in one of the store bought cages with the plastic bottom and wire attachment for the top. But yeah those are definitely too small for bunnies and it probably makes him unhappy if that’s the case (pet stores really try to fool you though!).

I agree with Pinkiemarie, as long as you cover the wires you should be good to let him out! 🙂 If you do have the store bought cage, you could use the wire part to mimic the NIC grids if you could lock it to the wall somehow (lol creative) and cover the cords. Or clip it to something close to keep it in place

Also, your username has that song stuck in my head now. 😆

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