Why Doesn't My Bunny Like Me? - A Guide To The Bunny
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What many people don't realize when they are contemplating getting a rabbit is the sheer amount of time it can take to bond with a bunny. Unlike dogs, who will be licking your face within a day or two, or cats that soon warm up, a rabbit can take, quite literally months to even be on 'speaking' terms with its new owner.
For this reason, rabbits, especially young ones, are generally not suitable pets for children, unless your child happens to have a particularly patient and understanding temperament.
Rabbits will also often strongly object to being handled. Initially you will probably have the most success scratching around the head, between the ears, and on the nose. This simulates the grooming act of a submissive bunny, and even the grumpiest bunny will sometimes allow, nay demand, that their owner pet them there for extended periods of time. Don't be surprised if you get a little warning nip because you stopped too soon, many bunnies are huge fans of this kind of touch, and it can be an excellent way to bond with your little fuzzy bundle of furry joy.
You may even be rewarded for all your hard efforts with a little bunny lick or two. If your bunny considers itself to be dominant or in charge, it may simply groom the areas near you. This is his or her way of saying that you have done well, they quite like you, but you will of course understand that to go any further with this mutual grooming would be to break all bounds of propriety.
The bright side of all this is that when a rabbit does bond with you, it bonds strongly. Depending on the rabbit's temperament it may become a snuggler, or it may always remain slightly aloof. Aloofness does not mean that the rabbit is not happy however. A happy rabbit will often run and jump, and perform little rabbit dances known as 'binkies', where they leap and twist in the air, shake their ears and generally seem quite pleased with life.
There is an strange quiet companionship that comes with owning a bunny. If you wish to have a tounge lolling excited companion, pick a dog. If you wish to have a wheedling purring mass on your lap by the fire, pick a cat (not that bunnies are above begging when they want something, oh no, the soulful stare of a bunny who wishes to have that which you have can be quite hard to refuse.)
A rabbit is a quiet, sometimes playful creature that will take time to get to know. The rewards are great however, and the relative few who discover the delights of the bunny world are generally entranced forever.
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Hi LyndseyLou,
I've written a hub on this subject for you, because I think this is a VERY common problem for many rabbit owners.
Have a look here: http://hubpages.com/hub/Bunny-Care-Guide-How-To-Ge
My bunny has screamed four times since i adopted him. that scared me so much i didn't know what to do 'cept pet him. But he is still not so friendly with me. :(
do you think an 11 year old should get a bunny???
"do you think an 11 year old should get a bunny???"
No, rabbits are delicate and shy creatures. They get scared easily by fast movement and loud noises. I would not suggest a rabbit as a suitable pet for young children, also because children enjoy picking animals up and rabbits, as prey animals, are afraid of being picked up. When picked up poorly a rabbit will thrash and kick and can break it's own spine in the process.
"My bunny has screamed four times since i adopted him. that scared me so much i didn't know what to do 'cept pet him. But he is still not so friendly with me. :("
I have been Elfi's care taker for 9 months now...the first two were spent just getting her to tollerate my exsistance, but perserverence pays off...learning how she expresses herself was more rewarding than instant affection
OK Thats to long for me to read, can u tell me it not so long??????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i hate reading but i love my rabbit and i want it to b happy!!!!!!!!
Its only a little bit of reading, don't be lazy! :)
I have had my bunny for a month now and she appears to be getting worse with me. When I first brought her home I let her get used to her new house before even attempting to touch her but after a few days, I was able to scratch the top of her head and cheeks. In the second week, I had to try and pick her up as there were ants in her hutch and I had to clean it out which was a little struggle but ok. Ever since then I was able to get her out to put her in her run and then to put her back without much of a struggle but now she appears to be getting worse as she is sensing what I want to do and now runs from me and there is even the odd growl and pounce if she is feeling scared but I feel that I need to put her in her run everyday so that she doesnt get lonely or bored in her hutch. On average it takes me up to an hour to get her out of her hutch and the same to get her back into it and I have tried ramps and grabbing and enticing her out. She is now 4 months old and I have done a little reading and am thinking of having her spayed as this may help with her mood, what do you think? Are there any other techniques to get her to get used to me?
My bf and I just bought a mini rex for 3 days.Its our first time having a bunny and me having a pet.
On the first night, she was very very quiet and abit scared to let us get near her or touch her.But on the second day, she will start sniffing our fingers and gradually allowing us to touch her.
She became very friendly and she will run around and do a little hop or standing on two feet in her cage.What makes us excited was that its was only her second day and she already will start to approach us and do some sniffiing. =)
On the 3rd day, we let her out of her cage and I can feel that she is a happy bunny. She will run and hop around, sniff every corner and even ran towards us and sniff. But she 's a bit reluctant to let us carry her back to her cage.
We bought some toys and a toilet bowl for her to pee n poo as we decided to give her some toilet training. Amazingly, just two hours after we placed the toilet bowl in her cage with some of her poo in it, she seems to know that she is supposed to pee n poo there. She was lying lazily at the opposite end of her toilet and suddenly she started running towards the toilet bowl, sat on it, and did her business there.
She's playful, friendly, very active and intelligent!! Everyone in the family loves her. Even my bf's mum who dislikes pets started to play with her.
My bf and I want to give our bunny the best we can afford to give as bunnies lifespan are very short and we want our bunny to be a happy bunny.
Play with your bunny as often as you can. Look at how your bunny behaves to understand its character. Just sitting infront of your bunny looking at it or talking to it will let her know your presence and that you are giving it your attention. I think thats consider as ''bonding'' too. =]
I Have a rabbit she is evil. I have tried bonding with her but she likes scratching, biting a nd just generally goes for me when I feed her or clean out her hutch. She is olny 10 months old and I can go nowhere near her. I have to wear gardening gloves to pick her up otherwise I will be scratched and bitten badley. Can you help?
I adopted to Mini Lops, mother and son named Andrei and Sasha, about 2 years ago. They still haven't warmed up to me. If I lay still in the middle of the floor, they have no problem licking me and hopping all over me, but the minute I try to pet them, they make a bee line back to their cage. They treat me like the hired help, only good for feeding and cleaning. It makes me kind of sad, my last bunny, Freckles, was a mini rex with big personality and liked nothing better than laying on my lap while I stroked her ears and tummy. The furballs I have now seem to just tolerate me. What can I do to get them to warm up to me?
What can i use to cover exposed cables that my Simba has already gotten to?
I have two 4 year old rabbits; that i have always thought were very happy apart from the female one who satrted being agressive and still is after a couple of months when i first got them but we learned to live with that. i have read aout there body language recently and discovered they are quite angry little rabbits! they are regular cleaned out, fed every day. and given lots of love. i feel awful that they have felt this way all this time, and i dont know what to do becuase i love them to bits and they are practically my life!
I'm sorry to hear about those whose bunnies aren't too friendly. I bought my ex-girlfriend a netherlands dwarf bunny and she named him Gustav (and made me take care of it). He used to be a timid little bunny but by letting him be as a house bunny he grew to be very sociable. The problem is, he's so secure in his environment that NOTHING SCARES HIM! He gets on the couch and poos and pees there (his potty training got messed up because my ex-girlfriend borrowed him for two days last month and he probably got confused with his home setup) and we tried to scream at him or throw some things beside him to scare him but he just stares at that thing and doesn't care about anything (Don't worry, we've never hit him, we love him!).
That he's not afraid of anything however lets me play with him! I get to play tag in the livingroom with him, and he always binkies when he's running after me. I also sit on the floor and we sniff each other's noses out and I guess that's how we bond. I guess that bond manifested with the fact that he always lies flat forward with feet out on the floor beside my computer chair (sometimes I almost step on him but I'm now very careful) to keep me company. Right now he's running all around the room probably looking for something to chew on (he likes soaps and candles).
Gustav has been a really good pet for me (I got to keep him after breaking-up with my ex), and he's my first rabbit. I guess we were lucky in choosing him from the store (the alternative bunny was a beautiful jet black rabbit but kept shivering when touched, Gustav was just calm and nice). It is true that the rewards are great and I'm probably going to be entranced forever with rabbits. :)
I got my bunny in April and things started out great. she let me pick her up and everything, but now she is very agressive. She bites me and whenever i put my hand in her cage to pick her up or pat her, she runs the other way and starts grunting and snorting. What does this mean? what am i doing wrong? I want to have a strong relationship with my bunny, and i want her to like me. Please ,if you have any insight to make my bunny happier ,please let me know!
my new rabbit hates me! i pick her up but she jumps out of my arm and lands on her neck. i hate it because im scared she will kill her self. what can i do.
why do rabbits make weird squeky noises and thump with their feet?
i have a bunny and im 11 and he really doesnt like me
i got my bunny a few months ago and he was really finiky at first but a month after he got nice and licked me a lot but he stopped and he doesn't do binkys anymore, why is that?
he's adorable but in the store they said he was a dwarf but he grew to be the size of a big rabbit i don't feed him any special food but im afraid he's gonna get TOO big, what should i do?
i got my bunny a few months ago and he was really finiky at first but a month after he got nice and licked me a lot but he stopped and he doesn't do binkys anymore, why is that?
he's adorable but in the store they said he was a dwarf but he grew to be the size of a big rabbit i don't feed him any special food but im afraid he's gonna get TOO big, what should i do?
don't mess with ur rabbit it i'll make him really mad
I got my bunny a week ago and it loves me!
I just got two bunnies, a full grown rabbit and a baby. The rabbit is fine and lets me pet her but the baby bunny won't let me pick it up and even gave my friend a scar on her face. I've been nice to the bunny, letting it run around my room and I pet it but still doesn't like me.
I have an angora rabbit who is about 4 months old and she is ALWAYS shaking. Is this common? Also, my sister owns a netherland dwarf rabbit who is about the same age as my angora and whenever they are put in the same room, the dwarf attacks my rabbit. Is there any way for them to get along? People have told me to just let them get used to each other, but that doesn't work. They are not spayed.
I have a bunny and I'm only 14. He loves me and likes being held and always licks me and runs to me when I open his cage. I don't understand why a bunny wouldn't like its owner.
hi i have a bunny too, its a girl and very crazy! i want her to be like normal. When she is mad she is like evil and wants to attck and bite and when she is happy she gets all crazy and she is a huge dare devil she would do anything to get away from me hands like when i out her on my desk she was like scared at first she started to look alot at the ground and going and then going back and then she jumped like 4 ft. down! and i saw her flip and stuff( trying to catch her) and then she shoke her head and then started running liike nothing had happend to her and i checking like every where if she had broken bones (found out when she bet me and ran away) so yea is that normal and want her to be normal? like calm like a normal girl bunny?
To everyone who has aggression problems with their bunnies: GET THEM SPAYED!! Unspayed female bunnies are very territorial and crabby, and will bite you if you try to move them or take them out of their cage. For the people with new, frightened little bunnies, here's what to do: bunny proof an area around their cage (a room with a couch or chair is best). Make sure that both in the cage and in the room are little hiding houses (buy them or make them out of cardboard boxes). Then, open your bunnies cage, sit on the couch, and ignore him-EXCEPT talk constantly. Bunnies are very voice oriented and will get to know your voice and feel comforted by it. Do this every hour you can every day. Eventually, he'll come out and explore a little. Wait until he approaches you (this can take a while, be patient!) and then gently pet his forhead. This imitates natural bunny grooming, and is very calming.
I suppose my rabbit is normal. I read up on bunnies alot when I first got her. She is so cute she is almost never in he cage other than to take little "cat-naps" she is always on the couches in the living room instead. She is litterbox "trained" (mostly but sometimes, like last night, she will poop on the couch, gross) i gave her several cardboard box houses, toilet paper rolls, cat balls with bells, all she cares about are the boxes though she never plays with the other things i give her. she will let me pet her (requests it is more like it) and will let me pick her up though she does not like it and i only do it when i feel that i have to b/c i don't want her to be afraid of me i have only had her for about a month now and she seems happy she does "binky sometimes" I didn't know if I would notice what it was until I saw it and then yeah I could definately tell what it was. She did kick her feet at me once (I put cilantro in her bowl and that has a strong aroma, I guess she does not like cilantro! lol) The only thing is that she doesn't run around and play she hops semi-slowly around and in and out of everything she loves me and the kids she comes right over when we get home and waits to be pet and she is always sneaking in with the kids when they are asleep. I had always thought she was a very happy rabbit but I am now noticing that she never runs unless the kids are trying to pet her and she is not in the mood. (she's not mean about it and they know not to pick her up and chase her). Is it weird that she doesn't feel the need to run around the house when she can just hop around instead? I think I am just overprotective and worry too much about her but I am the type of person who would never get a pet that I can't take care of so i research what they need and like and every site is diferent in what they say a happy bunny acts like. I'm guessing she is comfortable but not excited just like the rest of us (I would call myself a happy person but i don't run around doing carwheels all day, well only on fridays, jk)Any advise?
NO IT DUSEENT
Our pet bunny is mellow and enjoys being around the family most of the time when he has not had pellets in his diet. He is agressive(charges at us and grunts) when we introduce pellets back into his diet again. Is this a coincidence or is their another type of pellet we should try? Currently he eats alfalfa pellets.
Cookies Owner-If your rabbit is not a baby then he/she should be getting timothy hay pellets not alfalfa (due to the fact that alfafa has too much calcium and can give your rabbit a UTI) as for the aggressive part of it I don't know that it would help any to switch him/her but it couldn't hurt to try since timothy hay is better for them anyways. Is you rabbit like that with fresh veggies too maybe it's kind of like goin near a dog when they are eating a bone. I hope that every thing works out, maybe the alfalfa pellets is giving her urinary issues and that is why she gets so cranky but chances are that's not it. Hope all goes well for you let me know how it works out. Also make sure that he/she has timothy hay available all the time for digestion
Thank you Jenny-rabbit for your information! Our bunny is six months old. I will have to look up at what age they are considered an 'adult' rabbit and if appropriate we will switch to hay pellets. We had run out of pellets for about two weeks, since he wasnt having the pellets we made sure he had plenty of hay and plenty of fresh veggies and fruits. This happened once before, and once we get him back on the grains, he is aggressive. Thanks again!
This info is from the House of Rabbit Society (if you need any more info on rabbits i would go here it is more accurate then blog sites are:
What quantities of food should I feed babies and "teenagers"?
Birth to 3 weeks--mother's milk
3 to 4 weeks--mother's milk, nibbles of alfalfa and pellets
4 to 7 weeks--mother's milk, access to alfalfa and pellets
7 weeks to 7 months--unlimited pellets, unlimited hay (plus see 12 weeks below)
12 weeks--introduce vegetables (one at a time, quantities under 1/2 oz.)
What quantities of food should I feed young adults? (7 months to 1 year)
introduce timothy hay, grass hay, and oat hays, decrease alfalfa
decrease pellets to 1/2 cup per 6 lbs. body weight
increase daily vegetables gradually
fruit daily ration no more than 1 oz. to 2 oz. per 6 lbs. body weight (because of calories)
What quantities of food should I feed mature adults? (1 to 5 years)
Unlimited timothy, grass hay, oat hay, straw
1/4 to 1/2 cup pellets per 6 lbs. body weight (depending on metabolism and/or proportionate to veggies)
Minimum 2 cups chopped vegetables per 6 lbs. body weight
fruit daily ration no more than 2 oz. (2 TBL) per 6 lbs. body weight.
What quantities of food should I feed senior rabbits? (Over 6 years)
If sufficient weight is maintained, continue adult diet
Frail, older rabbits may need unrestricted pellets to keep weight up. Alfalfa can be given to underweight rabbits, only if calcium levels are normal. Annual blood workups are highly recommended for geriatric rabbits.
Thank you so much Jenny-rabbit, you're the best. That is a great guide. I will check out House of Rabbit Society too!
Thanks, I have only had a rabbit for about 2 months so I have been doing as much research as I can so that I will know how to properly take care of her. She is such a great rabbit that I know I lucked out big time with her. I think she is a Himalayan and she is so much like a cat we call her kitty rabbit. She has a cage on the floor with the door always open (unless my 2 yr old neice comes over, it's for the bunny's protection to put her in her cage) she is very friendly smart and just an all around awesome rabbit! The only "problems" I have had is that she won't let me cut her nails yet we are still working on the trust issue of that she will let me hold her, hold her paw but after 2 seconds she wants me to let go of her paw and get squirmy on me so i just let her go when she calms down. Next time I'll ask my husband to help me and maybe cover her eyes. The only other problems is more my kids than the rabbit. They tend to leave papers on the floor and she is always nibbling the edges of their papers, but I know that is what rabbit do so I tell her know give her a stick and show the kids that this is what happens when they don't pick up after themselves. After reading about rabbits not being affectionate, even biting and getting into everything I consider myself very lucky to have such a well behaved house rabbit. She's happy to see me when i come home (well that is also when she get's her dinner but I like to pretend part of it is just b/c she loves me) she cuddles the kids at night when they lay on the couch for movie time and she goes in her litter box 99% of the time. If anyone is reading this b/c they are thinking of getting a rabbit I would strongly suggest getting a Himalayan. They may not be the cutest breed but they are know for being very good starter rabbits and most are very freindly and well behaved they are medium size I guess very slender though the size of a small cat.
Jenny-rabbit - we are able to cuddle our bunny in our arms on his back, he falls into a deep transe (sp?) as if he is sound asleep, he is so relaxed, at that point we are able to cut his nails. good luck :)
Thanks Cookies Owner. I'll have to try then when she's not mad at me anymore. She still runs over to me and wants to be pet but she kicks her feet at me every now and then to let me know she hasn't forgetten the last time i tried to cut her nails. She is also a little mad at me for putting up a baby gate so she can't get in the kid's room. She was never allowed in there but would manage to sneak in every now and then so now when I tell her to get out she kicks her feet at me, but then wants me to pet her. Guess it's like "just so you know I'm mad at you right now but I still love you" thanks for the advise I'll let you know if it works.
I've had my dwarf rabbit for 7 months and I'm sure he hates me. Normally he binky's when he's out of his cage and lets me stroke his head through the bars but that's it. He won't let me stroke him any other time.
He was neutered yesterday and is now even worse than usual. He's started using my sofa as his toilet for the past week and this morning he sat next to me on the couch and stared at me as he went toilet!!
He doesn't let me stroke him or pick him up so I can't check his wound from the neutering. He's hardly come near me since yesterday, and just keeps staring at me.
It makes me really upset cos I'm sure he doesn't like me, I'm starting to wonder if I should find him a home with someone he likes.
LyndseyLou says:
2 years ago
A week ago I was joyed by adding a Netherland Dwarf to my family. I am getting a little frustrated. I have spent hours each afternoon since I got her, yet she still will not come close enough so that i can even touch her. If i even move, she freaks out and has to run as far away from me as possible! I have even tried having a handful of yogurt drops, but she still is very hesitant to come near me. Is this typical and is there anything I can do that will help her trust me? Any tips would be so helpful!