Why won't my bunny come out?

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secretsinrain

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We have had Quill since November (5 months). We have:
  • Had her spayed
  • Given her her shots
  • Got her a huge cage and plenty of toys
  • Attached a HUGE pen to her cage

We also do the following:
  • Feed her fresh vegetables (usually a spring mix) twice a day
  • Give her 1 cup of kibbles a day
  • Give her unlimited hay
  • Sit in the pen until she comes out to sniff us, several times a week
  • Talk to her a little every day, trying never to sneak up on her
  • Pet her on occasion

We are having trouble with the hay as it turns out that I am very allergic to timothy hay. It is just plain timothy hay, though- the pellets don't seem to bother me. To rectify this problem we have tried feeding her orchard grass and alfalfa hay- along with timothy hay pellets. She will not touch the grass or alfalfa hay. They have just been sitting in her cage.

She, additionally, almost never comes out of her cage- or even hangs out in the open area. She stays in her hidey hole 75% of the time. We took it away for five minutes once, trying to get her more used to us, and she panicked so hard we were afraid she would have a heart attack. Obviously we returned it immediately, and she did not emerge for the rest of the night.

We made a very large pen by putting two pens together, and it spans almost the entire living room. We have lots of toys for her- chew blocks, chew tubes, alfalfa tunnel, teething ring. She almost never comes out to play with her toys,.

Most of the time when she sees us, she is frightened. We can't figure out why, as when she was a baby and first came home, she loved to cuddle us. Please help! We really love our bunny and can't figure out why she is behaving this way.
 
How big is she? 1 cup of pellets is a lot. Typically 1/4cup of pellets per day for every 5lbs of body weight.
Does she like her pellets a lot? Try not putting them in a bowl, put some in your hand and in front of her. Get her eating them from you like a treat then after a few put the rest in a bowl and offer her other foods.

Id nix the alfalfa. Shes too old and doesnt need it.
You can try any other type of grass hay. Timothy orchard bermuda meadow oat botanicle etc.... You can always put a mask on. Take the timothy hay outside and shake it out on a sheet or something to get rid of any extra dusty bits and only collect the long strands on top before bringing it into the house.

It does sound like somethings scaring her. Not sure what though.
 
Quill is less than a year old- probably about 8 months- is she still too old for alfalfa hay?

I am very allergic to timothy hay and unfortunately, we live in a small apartment and there is no way for me to be away from it. Having in the apartment felt like I was constantly having a cold. I did not touch the bunny box nor the hay nor anything, but I was still miserable. It's hard for me even to be in the bunny aisle.

I try feeding her by hand and she won't take it. The closest I've come is offering her a treat stick- she'll eat that because it extends from my hand.
 
I'm going to be of no legitimate help, however I've heard some buns take up to a year and a half to "bond" with their person, so don't give up!!!
 
This is really puzzling since you mentioned she used to be fine when she was younger.

She can't smell another animal or something can she? Anyone near your flat got a dog or cat? My bun becomes very withdrawn if he smells something he doesn't like. Usually meat or fish cooking. Or if you're using cleaning product that smell might be lingering around...

Have you tried a tiny bit of banana holding it out to her and waiting till she takes it? Something like banana might be too delicious to resist. You could try tiny bits on the end of a fork and each time she takes it when you replace the banana move your hand down the fork so she's getting closer and closer to your hand.

I know what you mean about hay, it makes me sneeze endlessly haha. Have you tried just normal meadow hay?

As for coming out into the open area if she's already terrified when she's in a hidey hole, it might be worth covering the tops of the pens with a sheet or something so she's not out in the open?
 
I'm no bunny expert and my two year old rabbit that I have had since November also is quite a sass. He just isn't the cuddly type nor does he like being pet or handled which I've grown to accept! He will climb onto my lap when I've got treats in hand though!! He has free range of my room but he used to sit only on the one side mainly and spend a lot of time under my desk. I wanted him to explore the closet since I knew he'd love it as a hidey place. So what I did was one night I moved all his stuff (food, water bowls, litter) over there and penned him on that side of the room. Once he was "forced" to explore there, he loves it and he loves laying in the closet. Overall now, he is a much braver bunny and now even waits until I open the door so he can escape into the hall and explore out there though he is still quite timid scooting around the hall. Your bunny seems a lot more nervous than mine so what I would probably do is may if she loves her pellets start giving her those outside of her cage, in the penned area to force her to come out to get the good stuff. Also expect her to come out at in the evening when it's getting darkish when there are no people around. Other than that I don't know what to say.
 
I've learnt that some rabbits don't always know what they want or like. Some times they just need extra reassurance. I've also found that lots of attention and handling(gentle though)can show them that "hey, this isn't so bad after all". But that has been my experience anyway. My bunny likes it when he is is held close to my face when sitting down and stroked over the face and ears. He'll usually chill out and fall asleep right then and there.
 
Thank you for the advice. As far as I'm hearing, Bunny just needs some extra love and patience...
 
Don't give up! Once she realises how good head rubs are she'll want them all the time!

You mentioned the toys in her run, is there also a hiding box or tunnel in there? Perhaps even covering half of it with a blanket or something also might help make her feel more secure and safe to come out. Sometimes something simple can scare a bunny.
 
Thanks all. We got her a different type of hay, and left her cage open 24/7 after making sure there was nothing near her pen that would hurt her. We have noticed that she comes out more in the morning- she is 100% a morning bun. Which is bad, because both of us are big night people, but as long as she is happy that's fine!

My boyfriend took a nap on the couch the other night, and when he woke up, Bunny was curled right underneath him, sleeping, too!:heartbeat: So I think we are doing something right!!

Thanks again for all of your lovely advice. <3
 
That's good to hear. Bandit is playful morning and late evening, but he's certainly much more active (read naughty) in the morning. It's pretty normal rabbit behaviour since rabbits in the wild are crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk). :)
 

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