My bunny doesn’t like me?

[Alice]

I have an 8 months old female rabbit (Misha). We got her and another (female) littermate when they were one month old and kept them together. They got along really well even after the hormones kicked in. They would take turns humping each other, but I never saw them fighting. They spent a lot of time grooming each other and just generally being affectionate.

Ever since we got her we noticed she got frightened easily. Her eyes got really big and her breathing got fast whenever she saw us reaching for her. So at a certain point we mostly let her be, figuring that since she had her sister (who by the way was very affectionate and cuddly towards us) she won’t be lonely, and she would eventually get used to us and all will be well.

Unfortunately, her sister died a month and a half ago.

Misha took it pretty well, I didn’t see any major depressive episode. She was sick together with her sister but she managed to pull through, so maybe she was just too happy to be alive to get all sad.

But now she had only us so we tried to get closer to her.

She won’t let us.

If I try to pet her she runs away. If I try to hold her so she can’t run away she starts biting me. Once I held her even though she was biting and she got really really scared because I wasn’t letting her go, and after I put her hown she hissed like a snake at me and then ran away.
Sometimes she thumps when she sees me.
If I offer her treats she comes, takes them from my hand, then goes somewhere farther to eat them.

The biting started after we gave her the treatments when she was sick. She hated being force fed and eventually got frustrated enough to bite, amd never stopped since. But even before that, she never was affectionate with us.

It’s really difficult having a bunny who wants nothing to do with you ☹

She is unspayed, but it’s not like she got aggressive because of the hormones, she was always cold towards us.

Do you have any idea what I can try to make friends with her? Thanks!

[BB8]

Hi Alice, I’m so sorry to hear about your bunny passing away.
For Misha I would recommend spaying her even if you don’t think it’s hormonal, unspayed female rabbits unfortunately have a high chance of getting uterine cancer.
I would also highly recommend not holding her anymore, most rabbits hate being held. I would take things slow and sit or lay down on the floor with her. She can investigate you and spend time with you on her own terms. Misha will start to trust you once she realizes you’re not a threat. I think it’s great she’s taking treats from your hand and maybe you can hand feed her pellets and salad.
It’s important to be patient which I know can be difficult. Best of luck Alice!!

[sarahthegemini]

Well for a start, stop trying to pet her when she clearly doesn’t like it. Stop picking her up and refusing to put her down. You are literally terrifying her. You are not respecting her boundaries at all.

If you want her to trust you, you need to prove to her that you are trustworthy. Which means stop doing things that scare her. Once she’s learnt that you are not a threat, she’ll start to feel comfortable around you.

[Bam]

I agree you should let her come to you instead of you to her. It can take a good long time, especially since she hasn’t really gotten over the force feeding experience.

Karen S Pryor, who has written a good book on animal training called Don’t Shoot The Dog, says you can reward shy animals by increasing the distance between yourself and the animal. She gave an example with llamas. A lot of the book can be found here in PDF format: http://clawbiespups.yolasite.com/resources/Don’t%20shoot%20the%20dog.pdf

It’s a very good book.

[Poppyhani]

When I brought my second bunny home, I knew right away he was sheepish. All bunnies are when they first get into a new home, but some are just like that. It’s their personalities, you get warm and cold bunnies, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll hate you forever! The best thing to do is just get on the floor and sit there for ages with them. Sometimes I’d get in my bunny’s cage with him (with the door open, so he could run out if he felt threatened by my presence) and uhhh fell asleep– don’t recommend that part.

Talk to her, read to her, let her associate your voice with good things – I praised my bun whenever he came close, chanting ‘good boy’ and the likes. The important part is to not pet her, just put your hand out and let her sniff, and after that, do nothing. When she starts to come to you on her own, you can try to pet her but do so from the side, and never from above! Bunnies are prey animals, hence their eyes are on the side of their head, so a good little warning is to let them see you coming. If she backs way, laugh it off! Say ‘okay, fine, you win’, and take it like making a new friend. She may have been with you for months, but like bam said, it can take a while after the force feeding. A good rule of thumb is to hold off on the petting until they ‘claim’ you. Y’know when they nudge things with the bottom of their chin, like ‘this is mine’? When she does that to you, it really is the best feeling in the world. That’s the point where Sorrel started to let me pet him too!

Patience is the key. Your bunny lost their friend, had a tough illness, and the picking up probably didn’t help, but all relationships can be mended! With time and love, your bunny will learn you only mean well!

[Author]

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