Could our rabbit have been abused?

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Libby

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Texas, , USA
Hi,
We adopted a rabbit about 3 weeks ago. We got her off of CraigsList as a companion to our dutch rabbit.
We arrived to pick her up and saw her horrible living conditions. They had multiple rabbits in extremely small wire cages. I felt horrible for her and we took her home. She wasn't visibly abused and her feet had no sores on them and she seemed very clean.
The lady we got her from first told us she was a "HE". She even went as far to say that "he" had BRED with other rabbits, but even the vet said "he" was a she.
We were also told that she was "6 months", which I didn't really believe considering that she was very large and heavy already. The vet told us she was about a year.
Thankfully, she has a very good home here with a big pen and will get spayed soon.

She is sweet but extremely scared of everything and everything. We let her run around but she is so scared of us approaching her and will bolt off.
Even putting our hands in her pen gets us a bunch of scared grunts. Sometimes she will let me take her out and she will snuggle on the bed with me and fall asleep.
She also seems much more frightened of my boyfriend than she is of me.

To be honest, these people took such horrible care of their pets and had them in such small pens outside in the cold weather that I am going to report them to SPCA.

Is there any way that we can help our bunny? Are there any signs of abuse that I'm not aware of?
 
Its really hard to say. More likely, she just hasn't been socialized, to her humans are unknown factors more than sources of pain and suffering.

You can probably build her confidence by relating to her like you're another rabbit and not a predator.

Make sure she's in a cage or pen where she can come and go on her own and you don't have to reach into her space. And stay on ground level with her. Most rabbits love to get pets, but they hate having their feet off the ground, and they hate being confined by hands. Instinct. To them that's what they expect from a fox or a hawk. (And some are just plain afraid of heights). I usually pick them up to put them on my lap and give them tiny treats (like a single oat flake or a bit of apple peel), but I don't hold them there, I let go as soon as they struggle.

Also gently pet her head and the corners of her eyes, like another rabbit grooming her.

It may take awhile, but she'll not only get used to you, she'll love you.

My rabbit Mister I think is a retired show bunny, he's very well behaved when I'm handling him, but he still tenses up and shivers and shakes when my hand is near his neck, so I think the poor little guy was picked up by the 'scruff' -- and rabbits don't actually have loose skin there, so it's painful. I think she'll tell you what makes her nervous.


sas :clover:
 
Aw, poor bunny. Some of the conditions they are kept in are terrible, but maybe they weren't doing anything illegal? Well I know here it wouldn't be illegal. At least she has a loving home now and I'm sure she will become less scared in time, good luck :)
 
Not all rabbits are big fans of human interaction. I've had my Petunia for about a year now, and she still isn't a big fan of me, unless I have treats. She will let me rub the top of her head, but not anywhere else-but only if I apporach her the 'right way.' If I just bend over or reach in her cage, she gets very scared. However, if I lie down on the floor and move slowly towards her and don't surprise her, she will let me pet her from a distance, with my arm streched out.

Rabbits are prey animals and are built to be afraid of really big things reaching out to grab them.

Every rabbit is different. That being said, most rabbits don't like being picked up off the floor.
 

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