She hates me

[BrittanyA]

Hey guys. I have two rabbits; a “mutt” who is 11 months old, and a mini rex/lion head mix who is 8 months old. The 8 month old girl seriously HATES being touched. She jerks, she thumps, she grunts, she runs and hides- if I even put my hand out towards her. I got her when she was around 5 weeks old, so it’s not like I’m a new owner of her, and she’s been like this since I got her. I’ve heard about trust exercises for rabbits, so I’m wondering what they are. Anything to get her even a little bit friendly would be amazing!! I know some rabbits just don’t like to be handled, and that is fine. But to be able to open her cage and feed her (or even be in the same room as her), without her throwing a tantrum is all I’m looking for. 

((Added info. just in case! – The other rabbit I have is a fixed female. They have separate cages, because they also don’t get along, but they’re close enough to touch noses and see each other. The smaller one is not fixed yet- her appointment is one week from today. We moved into a new house right when she fell old enough, and I didn’t want to add a spay onto the stress of a new environment.))

[Deleted User]

5 weeks is way too young to be going home. She probably wasn’t properly weaned. Just because you’ve had her so long doesn’t necessarily mean a thing. There are some people on this form whose buns didn’t truly open up to them for a year or two later. Buns require a great amount of patience. Right now a lot of her issue is probably that she needs to be spayed. Aside from that you can do things like sit or lay on the floor with her and let her come to you. Let her walk on you and sniff you, but don’t touch her. She needs to know that you aren’t going to always touch her when she’s around. You can try to feed her from your hand too.

As for your buns together, they don’t get along because your younger one is not spayed. You can’t bond bunnies that aren’t spayed. Especially for your older one being introduced to the younger one. An altered bun may act hormonally when introduced to an unaltered bun. So no, they weren’t going to get along. You need to wait 1-2 months post spay with your younger girl until you can bond them .

[BrittanyA]

I’m not sure if you meant for your reply to come off as rude, but it does. I can’t control when the people were getting rid of their rabbits- I got her so save her from being let into the woods by herself.. You literally did nothing to help answer my question, aside from seem cynical about stuff I already know. I have her scheduled to be spayed, like I said. I don’t have the two rabbits together, like I said. I am looking for trust exercises for after she is spayed.. Thanks.

[Deleted User]

I was just shocked at the young age. It wasn’t meant to be rude. I was just saying in general some buns take a while to feel trust in their owner. It doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with what age you brought her home at. So yes, I did answer your question by saying spaying (which I had already read above you were doing, which is why I pointed it out) will help and patience ultimately is the best thing. I said several things you could do to help build a bond. And as for putting them together I was just letting you know why they weren’t going to get along and when you could start trying to bond them, if you had wanted to do that. I’m a blunt person, no offense was intended. I’m sorry if you felt that way.

[Mikey]

Seconding that being too young when you first got her, and her not being spayed yet are likely reasons shes not comfortable around you. Neither of which is your fault, but might set bonding with her back some compared to other buns.

My Bombur was 2 months when we first got him (the breeder lied; the breeder did get in trouble) so I had to hand feed him until I could wean him. It didnt help he also had genetic tummy problems we didnt know about until later. It took over a year to build his trust. Even now, two years later, his trust still varies. I think some bunnies are also just less likely to trust people, even if you do everything right.

After she is spayed, you can try to build trust by showing her you are completely nonthreatening. Lay on the floor while she is out running around. Dont reach for her. Just talk to her. If youre a solid sleeper (dont move around while asleep), take a little nap on the floor with her. This will show her that you are not a threat to her. As she gets used to having you around, you can start hand feeding her pellets and greens while you lay around the floor. This will show her that you provide treats. As she gets more comfortable around you and your hands, you can start trying to pet her when she comes near you. Dont reach for her every time, maybe only reach for her 1/4th of the times she comes near you. If she runs away and thumps, stop reaching for her for an hour or few. When you are able to pet her, only pet her two or three times, then set your hand down. While youre on the floor on any of these steps, allow her to climb on you and sniff you. With patience, she will learn to trust you

Just to note, it can take anywhere from two to six months for a female bun to drain her hormones fully after shes been spayed. She might still act out hormonally once in a while as her hormone levels shift in her body.

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