Skittish Baby Bunny. Help Thanks!

[Tea]

Hi,

I recently got another baby holland lop as I thought my other one, Teddy, would be lonely since her bonded friend recently past away from bloats [Tinker (M)] – I was unable to recognize and bring him to the Vet on time since it was a Sunday :C.

When I received the baby bunny, I believe she was weaned a little too early (7 weeks, eating hay cubes and pellets, but still with mother and siblings) Stupidly i still decided to pick her up at that time. She is fine when I pick her up sinces shes been handled from birth.However, she is super skittish, for example, if I move close to her, put my hand near her, etc (its been ~2.5weeks since shes been at home with us) which results in quick dashes away, flinching, etc. 

My 1 year old widow? holland is completely fine with her: laying together and the occasional grooming. However, the baby always follows her around and loves? to stick her head below Teddy’s body/ head, or sticks her face into teddy’s butt. I’m not sure if she possibly thinks Teddy is her mom or rather enjoys the bunny company because of the possible sudden abandonment.

To clarify : they are both females Teddy (f): 1 year old holland (spayed) ,                   ___ : 8weeks~ (f) holland. They separated in a large custom grids pen, but are let out during the night for 3~hrs together.

How can I bond with this baby bunny safely (because she seems really skittish around me) and help her with the supposed abandonment issue. Should I also refrain from handling her (to continue making picking up easier – since Teddy lacked the early exposure to human touch and now squirms whenever I try to pick her up to trim nails, etc.)

Thank you,

Jon

[Tea]

Any advice would be helpful. thanks!

[Bam]

First I want to say I’m sorry about the rabbit you lost. Bloat is extremely difficult to treat even if you get to a vet very early on.
Secondly, to me it seems like your new bunny is doing excellently. It’s natural for her and most likely very good that she has become so attached to your adult bunny., so long as your adult bunny accepts it. Having bonded with your other bunny may make it less interesting for the new bunny to bond with a human – which may be a bit disappointing from a human perspective, but not at all a problem from a bunny perspective.

[Bam]

Want to add (can’t edit posts from phone) that the abandonment-issue probably already is being dealt with via the bonding between those two girls. When the time comes to spay new bunny you must of course separate them temporarily, but that is
Still in the future.

[Eepster]

It really just sounds like she needs some patience. Go slow, give treats, it’ll work out.

[Tea]

Thank you guys a lot. I can’t give her treats yet because too young haha and I am trying to just sit next to her patiently since she is easily startled.

[Author]

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