She runs away from me…

[Mandyaqui]

I’ve had Luna for a few weeks now. She will sometimes let me pet her, but only when I’m laying down or sitting and she comes to me. If I’m standing and I need to pick her up for whatever reason (usually to put her back in her cage) she runs away from me. It’s frustrating because when I need to go somewhere I have to spend 15 min’s chasing her around the apartment before I finially catch her. I’ve been trying to train her to come when I call her and have given her treats when she does, but I’m not having much success. I’m worried about ruining what little progress I’ve been able to make with reguards to her and my bond. When I first got her she was very shy and afraid. Now she gets close to me sometimes when I’m on the floor and lets me pet her.

[LoveChaCha]

How old is your bunny? If she is a young rabbit, she is probably still scared. You are, after all, a big scary human to her.

I wouldn’t chase her into her cage, I would get her favorite treat and lure her in. Have you heard of clicker training?

[Monkeybun]

Some people have had success with waiting to give them dinner til its time for them to go back to their cage. When its that time, put her plate of greens or bowl of pellets out for her, I know my buns come running for pellets

[MirBear]

i have tis problem with my bunny twix.. And so far my only solution is you have to build up her trust. My bunnies run loose in my back yard from the time i get home till it starts to get dark.. Hershey is easy to catch as she runs up to visit me and i just pick her up but twixs runs away. i usually grab a handful of seeds or pellets or whatever treats i have laying around (my handful is probably half of the average persons so im not overfeeding her ) and go and sit in the grass. My bunny is very food motivated and smart so she knows to come when called, but she also knows when its time to come inside. she will come and take a few treats thn when i move towards her she runs. i keep calling her untill she starts to let me pet her for short periods of time, after that i can pick her up. This usually takes about 10 minutes, but its worth it. When i first got her it wold take almost 30 minutes to catch her. for me its a great improvement and worth every minute eventually she’ll just let me pick her up.

Hope this helps.

[Michelle&Lolli]

Rabbits are prey animals. So when you are standing and bend over to pick her up, it induces a fear response because it’s similar to a bird swooping or another animal coming down to grab them. Try squatting or sitting on the floor and then trying to get her to come over to you so you can get her.

Another option is to try the herding technique. Where you herd her back into her cage without picking her up. I think you have to have a lot of time and patience and teach them what this herding business is though.  But it’s an option too. Rabbit.org has some info on it. You just clap your hands or use a broom to guide them towards their cage and they are supposed to go back into their cage.   I did try this with Eddie but I don’t think he knew what I was doing so it didn’t work.  Which is why I think this needs to be trained.  

What I ended up doing with Eddie when I first got him was attaching a pen to his cage. I’d let him out when I was home but when it was time for him to go back in his pen, I’d rattle the treat bag, he’d come running and I’d throw some treats into the pen and he’d go get them. Then I was able to close the pen up with him inside.

Eddie was the easy one for this. Lolli was a bit smarter and she knew what was up, so she’d snatch a treat, then run out before I was able to close the pen. I learned to allow for an extra 10 minutes to try getting her back in there. It usually didn’t take that long and on the rare occasion, it took longer, but sometimes we “stoopid hoomins” have to adjust OUR behaviors for THEM. It’s just easier that way. LOL

[Elrohwen]

That’s very typical behavior – neither of my bunnies like it if I’m walking towards them with my hands outstretched – bunnies are just programmed to run from that.

I would try to train her to go back to her cage on her own by offering a treat or dinner. With many bunnies, the worst way to get them back to their cage is to chase after them – they just get afraid and confused. Both of mine are much better when they come to me, though if I tried to train them to come to me so I could pick them up, they’d quickly stop coming when called! You have to make the “come” command and enjoyable one, not one that results in being picked up.

[Kate Monster]

I give mine a bit of dried papaya every night at bedtime to get them back in their pen. Now they start to head binky and chase me around starting about 9pm looking for their treat. lol. And I’ve accidentally clicker trained them with the click sound that the sound system makes being turned off, they just go nuts and binky around and into their pen. But it gets them inside pretty easily now, they are very much creatures of habit. And in the pen is the only place I can pick up Kate. As I discovered during a recent tornado scare, if she’s out and there’s ever an emergency, she will likely be the death of me.

[Elrohwen]

KateMonster, mine are the same with being picked up – I could never catch Otto if he was on the run. I have to either catch him by surprise, or do it in a small space like his pen where he doesn’t have anywhere to run. And I still have yet to pick Hannah up. Lol. It’s easier to just put the carrier on the floor and wait for her to get curious about it.

[bella0716]

I have the same problem from my bunny Bella . she runs away from me in her outdoor cage when I try to get her out . what is wrong ?

[Ssnickerdoodles]

Lol we have Hershey, twix, and my rabbits name is Snickers… I feel like all of our rabbits have a connection somehow… Lol their all candy

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