My relationship with my rabbit

[Lemony]

Hellooooo. I’m looking for some advice on this. My rabbit is incredibly skiddish. I adopted him 2 years ago, his bonded lady passed away about 6 months ago and he took it really well. Like zooming and binkying the next day. He’s generally very happy, free roam and does lots of flops and zooms, unfortunately he’s always just terrified of being touched and we’ve been unable to breach that point in the relationship.

Right now he’s shedding really heavily and I have to pick him up to brush him. It takes him days to forgive me for that and by then I have to brush him again. I do everything I think I’m supposed to. I don’t force my hands near him. I give him space when he runs away. I don’t chase. I lay on the floor by him and wait for him to come up to me. I try to get him to associate me with treats. But because I keep breaking his trust by brushing him, he gets visibly scared when I offer him a treat at times. I should note that he does follow me around the house and is otherwise very outgoing, he just has a big issue with being touched.

I guess what I have trouble with is how do you maintain your rabbit’s trust if you have to pick them up for nail clipping, brushing, vet appointments? I haven’t figured out a soothing way to pick him up either since he doesn’t like pets, which contributes to the problem. I have to do it very quickly and he hates it (obviously). He’s too smart to go in a carrier willingly.

I’ve received advice before to just “give head pats and gently pick up” and then reward with a treat afterwards but this makes me feel like I’m the only one in the world with a rabbit that hates being touched, hates head pats, hates it all. I literally don’t know where to start when everything puts us 1 step forward and 10 steps back.

I just feel so sorry for him and I want to be more in his life but not if it makes him unhappy 🙁

Sorry for the long post but thank you if you read this!

[NoodletheRabbit]

Hello! That sounds quite frustrating. One question: have you tried doing the whole head pat and pick up then treat thing? Because I know that that’s troubling, making you feel like your the only one in the world who has this issue, but your probably not, and also if it works, then it’s worth it! 🙂 Sorry, if I can’t be of much help! But wish you luck! 🙂

[Lemony]

Thank you for the reply! It is quite frustrating. Unfortunately if I do give him a head pat he’ll usually sprint away and not find it very soothing. I do give him a treat each time afterwards which he knows to expect now. Every once in a while if he’s relaxed enough I can give him a scritch for a second or two so maybe I’ll try scheduling his brushes around that rare occurrence lol

[Suzeliza]

Hi, when I got Herman he wouldn’t let me touch him either, he would grunt and lunge if I even tried! I started lying down on the floor, no attempt to touch him but let him come and sniff me, check me out and eventually climb on me. After a while I could pet him when he climbed on me and when he approached me. Now I can pet him, syringe feed him (with help) and even plop him in the carrier as long as I keep him very low to the ground. He still grunts at me from time to time, but he’s much better. let’s just say it’s a work in progress!

[Lemony]

Okay thanks! We’re good with taking it slow, do you have any ideas on how to better handle shedding season when I have to grab him weekly? That’s when our bond really suffers

[pinkiemarie]

I have similar issues with Wally and let me he’s an ugly shedder too. He gets those nasty clumps of hair all over and it HAS to be dealt with. I don’t brush him. I pet his head and remove clumps with my other hand and gently pet all over him while he gets comfortable then start kind of rubbing my hand all over his fur to remove as much hair as possible by hand. This will be hard if he doesn’t want to be touched but might cause less damage to your relationship if you can train him to be hand groomed rather than picked up and brushed. On nail trims I’m lucky that I can afford to have my vet be the one to manhandle him…

[Lemony]

That does give me an idea, he usually doesn’t put up a fuss while he’s eating when I pull out his tufts of fur. So while I can’t pet him and hand groom him maybe I can get away with slyly pulling fur out while food is distracting him. Maybe I’ll try that a few times!

[MelM]

I just adopted a bunny who is 2.5 yrs old and although he loves being pet, he absolutely hates being picked up too. Before grooming, I show him the brush and let him give it a sniff. I don’t pick him up or handle him very much, I just brush him while he sits near me on the carpet. I think he usually likes it as he’ll stay for 20 seconds before hopping off and once he returns I’ll try again and by doing it this way I get a good amount off.

I’ve read that starting with gentle nose rubs with your finger once bunny approaches you is a good way to start when they are unsure about being pet.  Good luck!

 

[Lemony]

I’ll try starting with the little nose rubs before the full on head pets, thanks for the tip! I usually let him inspect the brush and he throws it with his mouth lol 🙂 I used to let him be brushed on his own terms sort of like what you’re saying but then he’d get upset and not come back and I just couldn’t get enough fur haha

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