Why do I care what my bunny thinks of me?

[Elrohwen]

So I’m coming up on 2 weeks of having little Otto at home and wanted to do a quick update! Bonding with him has been harder than I thought it would be, but I’m being patient and I’m sure he’ll come around. He’s not skittish at all, he just seems to be totally uninterested in us most of the time  I try not to be offended by his evil eye, but it’s hard. I just never thought I would care so much about what my bunny thinks of me!  My new tactic is to gain love through his stomach; I pull his pellets out in the evening, and sit on the floor and hand feed them whenever he comes near me. This seems to be his favorite type of interaction (for obvious reasons) though he does seem to enjoy some petting. I do wish he would spend more time running around and less time lounging … I thought baby bunnies were supposed to be hyperactive! Mine is lazy  He loves lying in the top level of his maze so much that we can’t get him out again (he was in there for 10 hours on Sunday with no bathroom breaks). Silly bunny

[TARM]

Enjoy this quiet time while you can. He WILL eventually become hyper. Trust me. :0)

[Elrohwen]

Good to know TARM! I like when he runs around like a crazy man 🙂

[riibu]

It can take 3+ months for a rabbit to get used to his new home and new human(s).  Plus, since he’s just a baby, he’s got to go through all the growing up phases (and get neutered).  Stay patient and spend time with him everyday and it’ll all work out.

[Elrohwen]

Thanks riibu, I’m sure it will work out. I’m fairly experienced with “prey type” animals and I think I’m pretty patient. I’m very happy that he’s not at all afraid of us and I think that’s a great start to our bunny-human relationship.

[KitD]

It might not hurt to put a t-shirt (that you’ve worn) in his condo; I do this whenever I have to put them in a carrier too to help de-stress the situation. Beware…you will probably get your article of clothing back with “air conditioning”. OR I guess you could sleep with a piece of fleece or a wash cloth for a few days then put that in there too. Just a thought ;]

[Elrohwen]

KitD, thanks for the suggestions! I will absolutely try that. I have some old tshirts I was looking to get rid of anyway 😉

[rabbitsmba]

Another great thing to do is to lay on the floor on your stomach and stay perfectly still. Otto will come up to you to investigate – this allows him to get to know you on his level and on his own terms. Have treat or two ready in your hand and let him sniff it out, talk sweetly and praise him. Before long he will bound over to you,jump on your back and demand treats – at least that’s what my little Ella now does!

[Beka27]

It sounds like you’re doing everything right! Buns are very different than dogs and some cats, they tend to do their own thing and you might always get daily stink-eye. It’s one of the joys of bunny slavery… you do whatever they want, when they want it, and they disapprove.

[Elrohwen]

Rabbitsmba, I’ve tried doing that, though most of the time he acts uninterested. His best moments are when he’s wound up at night (around 9:00) and I sit and feed him treats. He is fairly demanding about those! He jumps up on my legs to find where I’ve put the pellets and will push me with his nose until I feed him again. As I said, he doesn’t seem afraid at all, which is great, and when he is interested in food he’s all over me. I’m hoping the food will pique his interest in me and make him enjoy being around me (instead of just ignoring me and doing his own thing all of the time).

Beka, good to know. Lol I think I’m getting the hang of being disapproved of already 😛 Before having a bunny I didn’t quite get the Disapproving Rabbits website (though I did think it was adorable). Now I *totally* understand. I must get disapproving looks 5 times a day.

[Beka27]

Rabbits are crepuscular… which means they are most active in the early morning (for house rabbits about 6 or 7am and sometimes up until about 11 am…) and in the evening (usually about 8pm to midnight). So the fact that he is more interested in playing at 9pm is normal. This is another reason why they make good house pets. When people are traditionally at work during the daytime hours, the buns are chilling out and sleeping at home. When you get home and have a few free hours at night, that’s when they want to play. If you make it part of the schedule to have playtime in the evening, you will get more interaction than if you wanted to play with him at 3 or 4 in the afternoon.

So much of the bunny slavery again is NOT fitting them into YOUR schedule but working around theirs. ;o)

[Elrohwen]

The timing is only an issue because we usually go to bed around 9:30/10:00. I hope he’ll adjust his schedule a little earlier when he gets more used to things to maximize his play time in the evenings. Even waking up an hour earlier would give him so much more interaction time. Though his good litter habits have allowed him to graduate to having his cage and pen all night (instead of just the cage) so at least he can exercise himself.

[Beka27]

Yeah! Just make it part of his schedule… maybe if every night at about 7pm or so he got let out for some playtime… Some people wait to feed until after playtime, that is when he could get his evening meal as part of being put in his pen for the night.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

You know-I thought when I got my first bunny (Kokanee) that she could care less about me. And probably she did. But we bonded big time, I spent a lot of time with her, letting her out and doing her own thing, interacting with her, sitting on the floor. I think the big breakthrough came when I read language of lagomorphs (That’s a must read) and began to understand her more.

It takes time but it’s soooo worth it when they love you!

I love dogs-but heres something to consider. I find strays everywhere I go (I am the butt of a family joke, stating that I kidnap dogs LOL) -and they are always perfectly happy to come to me, get in a strange car, and hang out with me until we find their family. Dogs love anyone. They’re great-but it’s really cool when you earn an animals trust (ie. with a rabbit).

[Elrohwen]

Kokanee, you’re so right about how rewarding it is to gain an animal’s trust. I have a gerbil who I have bonded with and it’s to the point where I can bring him out on the couch and he’ll eventually snuggle down against my body and take a 30min nap. Now that’s trust from an animal that is usually skittish! It’s so rewarding to have that relationship with him even though a dog would snuggle next to me in a second. I can’t wait to have that type of relationship with my bunny some day 🙂

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

You will!!! *hugs*

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