New rabbit in the household- kind of lost

Hello. So last night I brought home my long awaited second bunny, a beautiful blue eyed lop mix that I named Jolie. She's an extremely scared little girl, and I attribute it to the fact that she wasn't raised with very bunny savvy people.

I've read around a bit about working with scared rabbits, but all the blogs really say is just "Leave them alone until they're ready". Is that correct? I feel like I should be doing more, having her huddle in a corner whenever I come near her cage just breaks my heart.

Secondly, once she's spayed (in a few weeks from now, hopefully) I very much want to bond her with my first rabbit, a neutered male named Jinglebell. I read that putting their cages close together before the bonding begins could help, so I did that. However when I let Jingle out for his play time, he immidiately went up to her cage and started sniffing around. Jolie didn't like that one bit, and started acting aggressive.

Did I just mess up any hope I have of bonding them in the future? :sad:

If you've only had her a day I'd leave her alone for now. Once she figures out that you're where the food comes from things should be looking up for the both of you. Then I recommend just sitting on the floor and letting her come up to you. Bribing her with food (my buns think their pellets are treats) doesn't hurt either. If you're not planning on bonding them right away, I would keep them separate as a sort of quarantine until you know she's healthy.

Hello,

I think it's best to try things and to see how the rabbit react. If Jolie is timid maybe provide her with a cardboard box or a little house where she can hide when she feels like it so that she will be comfortable. Try sitting down quietly with her cage open so that she doesn't feel cornered and offer her nice treats, like small pieces of carrot or a pellet. You can put them on the floor in front of her first and then try to offer her some to see if she'll take them from your fingers. Afterwards you can try to call her (I make kissing sounds and my rabbits come running everytime ^^) without moving to see if she'll come to you to get a treat.
Bonding with a skittish rabbit is a long but rewarding process.

For the bonding, it's normal for the doe to act up. Unspayed does can be a real pain and they tend to be very territorial. Don't worry, none of the rabbit will hold it against the other if they growl or lunge a bit. You can let them see each other the way you did it, as they can't hurt each other, but if it seems to upset Jolie too much maybe forget about it until she is healed from her spay and ready for bonding sessions. You'll find a lot of good articles about bonding. Doing it in a neutral space and thoroughly cleaning the space in which the rabbits will live together to remove the smell before putting them back is the most important thing. Except when the rabbits hate each other on sight (pretty rare for male / female) the territory is the main issue. When the rabbits seem ready to live together, I always put them back on the cleaned territory at the same time (from a pet carrier) so that it's THEIR territory and not the territory of X who has to share with Y. It always worked fine for me.

Thank you both! I tried leaving the cage door open today and gave her some nice veggies to munch on, but she wasn't interested in coming out. I'll try again later, or maybe tomorrow.

I've moved Jolie's cage farther away from Jingle's. He can still see her, but there's more space between them now so hopefully he won't be so obsessed. I'm definitely going to have to get her fixed ASAP.

Congrats on bringing home your new girlie, post some pics!

And everyone else covered the other questions you had.

Blue eyed bunnies are love.

Okay! I don't have many good ones yet because she has yet to leave her cage, but she's just the cutest little thing.

Awww...she is very cute. Making sure that a rabbit is comfortable around you can sometimes be a long process. Just make sure that you pay attention to her everyday and don't over do it. If she is getting upset, leave her be for a bit. Good luck!

She may surprise you! It took three days for my sons new girl to realize that she was safe and in a happy home. Some take longer. Don't press her, give her treats and pets through the bars and speak soft. Baby steps. She'll soon realize that she's got it good and before you know it, she'll be the diva of your house.

such a pretty girl. I am sure in time with lots of love and patience she'll warm up to you.

I agree with giving her a box to hide in, it will help make her more secure and feel more safe in there.

Thanks a lot, everyone. It's been a few days and I'm starting to learn more about her personality. It only took a day for her to be comfortable coming out of her cage. She's a completely fearless little girl, apart from still being terrified of humans. My other rabbit, vacuum cleaner, and even the dogs and cats don't phase her. It's just when I try and pet her that she gets afraid!

I'm just trying to slowly get her used to being around people. I'm just kind of afraid that she'll never want anything to do with me, because her treatment was so bad before and she's not showing much sign of improvement as far as human interaction is concerned. I've never had issues with my other rabbit like this, and I'm worrying that I'm not an experienced enough rabbit owner to work with her. Any other tips?

I should also add that she's not aggressive at all. No grunting, boxing, any of that. She just freaks out if she's touched by a person.

It is good that she is not aggressive. My sister's rabbit can be very aggressive and it is very challenging to care for her. It sounds like you are doing an awesome job. The more quite time you spend with your bun the better. Try sitting on the floor and reading a book or playing on your computer. Let her come to you when she is ready. I am sure that over time she will warm up to you. The most important thing to remember is that bonds take time, and if she was with a family that was not very nice or at least didn't spend time with her, it will take her time to trust you. All rabbits have a different personality, but if you put in the time and are nice to her, I am sure that she will love you in no time!!!

miyumiyu said:

It's just when I try and pet her that she gets afraid!

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I'd try bringing the back of your hand down toward her head from above and slightly to one side - rabbits don't see as well straight ahead as they do to the side, and they learn quickly that the palm of the hand means it can grab them. If she'll let you lower the back of your hand slowly to her head, stroke the backs of your fingers lightly from her nose up to the top of her head. I've yet to find a rabbit who didn't melt into a puddle at that point.



Watch out for the ears - some rabbits are ticklish on their ears, others just love having their ears stroked.

:yeahthat: Time, patience, and bribery work very well too. We've had a couple that were shy and a couple that were very aggressive. With patience the shy ones have come to be really pesty and want attention all the time. With the aggressive ones, I let them know I'm the alpha--don't ever let the bunny train you--and now they both come when called and want to get their heads rubbed. We keep ours up on tables with the hutches close so they can see each other, but when they are out they are on the floor so they can't be aggressive with each other and no trips to the vets to get bites fixed.

Thanks everyone for your replies. Bit of an update- Jolie still mostly wants nothing to do with me when she's outside of her cage, but when she's inside I can sometimes pet her without her twitching away. I think she's just trying to get me to let her out, but I'll take what I can get.

Even better, the pre-bonding seems to be going really well. I let them both out in my room at separate times, and Jinglebell's mostly stopped trying to bite at her when she goes near his cage. And when I let him out while she's in her cage, he'll flop out about a foot away where he can see her. I can't wait until she's spayed and I can start bonding them for real.