tips for a rescue?

[hina]

hello i’m new here looking for help with my bunny dusty. iv had pet rabbits before but was wondering if anyone has any tips for bunnies with rough starts. before me he was in a little barn stall always in the dark with no attention. hes nice enough. likes snuggles but hes scared of everything. when hes out of his cage he dosnt leave the spot that i sat him . any ideas on building his confidence? 

[Whobott]

My bunny was like this too, honestly part of it is just personality, but my advice is just be patient, my bunny took 1 year before he would be confident enough to come out and play etc. and he still doesn’t come out all the time and being scared is natural just make sure you protect him from anything scary, remember rabbits are prey animals. And I saw you mentioned that he doesn’t move from a spot, my rabbit does that too, just give him time, and if you want put a camera in there so when your gone you can see how he behaves. Good luck!

[Oppa1995]

Hey there!

I adopted little Shazzy my Lion Head rabbit from the shelter, he had previously been neglected and abused among many other animals and the woman who owned him was even said to have tested her home made makeup products on her! But alas, after only 9 months of being with the little guy, he is crawling all over me (even as I write this).

I was sure that the first week with Shazy I gave him his space in his cage, I rarely pet him, poked at him or tried to pet him even when he was in his cage. His cage is his home and I do not ever go into his home unannounced just as I hope no one does to me! I found though that as time went on he became a little less timid, he’d peek out from under his shelf to see what I was doing and at that point I opened up his cage door and just sat there, now this process went on for a while but eventually he came out and came to sniff me. I did this multiple times and although it may sound silly, I would always make sure I was lying down. I find that when you lie down, especially with a prey animal laying down will really help them feel safe. They will crawl all over you once they get use to it and come to recognize your scent!

I also am a student and lived with a few other people, so he became use to loud noises or sporadic bangs of dishes dropping in the kitchen, or some louder conversations at…social gatherings. My point being, I made sure to put him in a highly trafficked area and eventually, only after about 6 months of having him he began to paw at his cage door when people were over as if to say, “Hey guys, look how cute I am, come pet me!” as he knew he would get LOTS of treats from a lot of my friends who found him to be adorable!

Now, whenever I have him out of his cage I get many bunny kisses and we both pretend to dig around on my bed or couch, although he gets mad when I do it wrong…

[hina]

thanks for the tips i wont rush him. i made him a run out or cube shelves and he walked around in there. take the cage away though and he just stayed in place.

[Megabunny]

It sounds like you’re taking him out without the option of going into his cage. If so, seems like he should have the option to retreat to his sanctuary. Maybe I’m reading it wrong

[Author]

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