Help on my rabbit pls?

[Glamorris]

I have adopted a female cross breed rabbit. The past owner said that she's about a year old. She looks quite like a full grown rabbit already. I know that the rabbits will be scared for about a week or two as I have a male rabbit and i've had it since it was about 6 months old. However, she seems to be always afraid of me. She's always backing away and hiding from me even though i've had her for about 4 months now. It took me 6 months to fully bond with my male rabbit but even though it was that long, he was not that afraid of me after two months and comes to me sometimes when i call his name. What do you all think I can do to make her less frightened of me?

[ruu]

maybe food might help. use food to make her come to you?

[Salty]

Rabbits are prey animals. don't blame yourself if they don't trust you so easily. Each has its personality, so they will have different behaviors.. Give space and it will be happy as well. :)

[Glamorris]

I have tried using treats before. She just takes them and runs off~ I'm just afraid that she won't bond with me coz its been four months.

[FaiRyn]

I also adopt a male angora, he was only 6 month. First two months was a rather tough month for me. Because he ain't familiar with the change of environment, he will only sit in the cage and not respond to anyone. If I open the cage to either feed or bring him out, he will either bite or make a growling sound. I really scares me cause I got bitten till bleed on my hand. Soon after I was extreme clueless and not knowing what to do, I become crazy for days talking to my rabbit. It maybe weird to people cause knowing that animals won't respond, I believe they do understand. After a few days, he begin not to bite and stop the growling noise. So I decided to give him a wonderful treat. I bring him out daily for him to play. But using a thick glove (in any case he choose to bite me again). Now, RESULTS..!! He even shocking lick me on my hand and even face.

If your rabbit were to get angry or ignore you, give it time. And for your info, you have a wonderful and clever rabbit. It means she is doing so for her own safety as she is scared she might be harm. So remember not to scold or beat your rabbit (as many do it to teach the rabbit a lesson) cause by doing so, you are only making it worst. Give it time and don't forget to give treats once in a while. :)

[laebitbit]

Hi Glamorris,

i had a bunny that i had adopted two years ago, she was then a year old and had passed on recently due to cancer. She too was a female cross breed too and was abandoned by her previous owner. Female rabbits are more temperamental and it will be better if you sterilize the bunny.

Similar to your case she was always hiding and will run whenever i go near her. She refuse to come out of the cage if we are within her sight (She jumps out of the cage herself.) It took her more than a year to be not afraid of me and bond with me (esp for the last six months i had with her).

You can try to slow down your body movement when you go near her or pat her as sudden movement scares them. I will always pat her before i feed her be it treats or daily meals (its like a positive action). Let her get use to human touch.

When you let her out, you can try lying near her on the ground and don't make any movement. Give her time to come near you, sniff you or even lick you. Not all bunnies are sociable, give her space if she is really grumpy. They can sense your fear and emotions. Its like humans, some ppl take a short time to warm up with you some take a longer time to trust you and for animals its harder cause they don't speak.

I hope this is helpful :).

[Glamorris]

Thanks a bunch people! I tried the talking method to my rabbit and like, she's really better now. She's still scared but she lets me pat and caress her sometimes. Also, sometimes while talking to her, I would give her treats. These really helped made the relationship between me and my rabbit better. Thanks a bunch!