My bunny is fearful of me? Please help!

[Benji Bunnyman]

Hello! 

I wonder if anyone can help me, I adopted my bunny 10 days ago, and I brought him home and he is a house bunny who is only caged when we are out or in bed. At first, he was a little apprehensive but I expected that as he was being brought into a new home etc. 

I live with my boyfriend and best friend and we all take care of the rabbit (me, more than others as I do university from home most days) he got along with me really well in the first week, I would hand feed him some leafy greens and try him with small amounts of ‘treat’ food such as banana, sprouts, etc. and all was well. 

Over the last few days, my bunny has become fairly apprehensive about my presence and I have a feeling it may be down to him going back in his cage. I ALWAYS try to let bunny go in of his own accord, or coax him in using treats, etc. but sometimes this does not work and I have to actively go looking for him, pick him up and put him in his cage, This is usually the case when coaxing doesn’t work or when I have to be somewhere and we have been trying to get him in for a while. #

He runs behind the sofa we have in our kitchen area, and obviously I have to go and seek him out and pick him up (which he doesn’t like, of course) but I don’t see any other option. I always try not go grab him around his middle, I try to scoop him up from his bum and then rest him against me making sure I have full support of his underneath; this isn’t always possible as sometimes I have to reach from him as he is running away and it is a little bit of a struggle until I can get him on to my chest and support him properly. 

I just need some advice as I don’t really know where to go from here, so hopefully someone would be able to point me in the right direction, I want to be able to have my rabbit trust me, but I do fear that it could have something to do with what I have discussed but I don’t have a clue how to get him back in his cage when he is not cooperating. 

Just as a quick side note, I am going to make Benji a 100% free range house bunny when we move in to a house at the beginning of next year, but as we are living in a flat at the moment, is isn’t safe enough for him to be left unsupervised when no one is around. 

Thanks

[jerseygirl]

It sounds as if he’s settled in and had gotten a bit wiley. He might even pick up on your leaving routine and go put himself somewhere out of reach.

One of our members has had success training her rabbit to go into his night cage on cue. I think she only offered a certain treat if he hopped in.

Rabbits can be clicker trained, so it would be worth trying something like that. It would be very handy for when you need leave unexpectantly, when you need to coral him for vet visit, or if he’s been looked after by a pet sitter and they had let him out for exercise

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