Netherland dwarf advice, possibly a BUD?

[tskelly93]

We adopted Lady Nachos about 2 months ago as a companion for our rabbit after his mate died. We were told she was a Netherland Dwarf, however I think she might be a ‘big ugly doe’ as refered to by breeders. I’m not sure if they have a different behaviour to a standard Netherland or not? We have found with Nachos she is still very startled by everything, despite being in the same room for most of the time we have had her. She likes to hide and rarely explores when she’s allowed out of her cage (we have to do it in turns as shes in the same room as our other bun, they still haven’t bonded and she gets scared if she can’t see her cage) she sometimes eats out of my hands but it is rare, and she doesn’t like being petted or handled. She appears to get stressed/shocked quite easily, making it difficult to do bonding sessions in a neutral territory as she won’t go into another room on her own and doesn’t like being lifted in there. The place we adopted her from said she responded well to Pet Remedy, however we have found that it seems to stress her out more

[Deleted User]

Personality isn’t really dependent on breed. Even though they say there is a breed standard personality, there really isn’t. It really differs depending on the bunny. I have two holland lops, both as you would call them BUBs. One is extremely outgoing and will be around my hubs and I for hours and the other one is much more independent and would rather explore and keep busy. Hollands are described to be “calm and sweet” which is sorta the case but they’re more active and destructive than calm.

A lot of her timidness and fear can be the fact that she’s still not settled in. I had my boys for almost 8 months before Asriel even started becoming okay for pets, and before that it took him 3 months to even want to come out of his cage. I think a lot of it is just having patience and letting her come around on her terms.

[Melissa]

Hi! Not sure how old she is but my Netherland Dwarf was the same way, super skittish, until she was about 1 year old. She is still pretty afraid to be held, but she sits for pets now, comes when I call her, and will eat treats out of my hand. She still loves to hide, but I think that’s something all buns do. I would just suggest being patient.

[Wick & Fable]

I wouldn’t pin the personality on breed. A big part of that is it’s validation to not assign behavior problems or actions to what you’re doing or what the environment is like.

For example, a rabbit likes to bite an owner’s ankles, despite the owner is nice to the rabbit, feeds it, and the rabbit doesn’t bite the owners hands or arms. You can chalk it up as “that’s just how the rabbit is”, but you can be overlooking other reasons. Make the rabbit is afraid of legs moving around because it doesn’t see a face. Maybe the owner uses scented foot cream or something that makes the ankles unidentifiable.

… In the same vein, examine your rabbit in context of your relationship and the environment, not the breed or what others may say about Netherland dwarves.

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.

[Wick & Fable]

Also, unsure what you read about Netherlands, but for me it makes sense that the smallest breed of rabbit would be the most frightful. Not a good survival tactic.

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.

[tskelly93]

We only have an estimate on her age as being 1 and a half to 2 and a half years old. I haven’t really ever had trouble with rabbits settling in, I knew it would take time but I thought there would be more signs of progress. We’ve tried to figure out her triggers for being skiddish but it seems like most things set her off. So not sure if I need to retry step 1 as it were and put her back into a silent seperate room from everything

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