missmaple101
New Member
I've never been involved in this site besides a similar post a year or two ago, but I'm about ready to give up on my sister's rabbit.
My sister is 12 and she has a mini rex rabbit named Velvet. Velvet is a female rabbit, probably 5+ years old. I could probably find out exactly because we have certificates for her. We bought her from a breeder, she's purebred, she used to be used as a breeder by the last family who owned her. The family ran a large rabbit breeding operation, but we were assured when we bought her that Velvet lived with the family and was a very well-behaved, loving rabbit who would be picked up by the children and cuddled. I don't know whether or not she's been spayed; I tend to doubt it, since she was a breeder. Her "hormones" shouldn't be acting up too much since I think she's quite a bit older than the younger, teenage bunnies that can be so much trouble. I'd urge my parents to get her spayed but my mom and dad don't want to spend the money on a surgery for a rabbit and I don't think they understand why she needs to be spayed.
Anyway, despite what we were told by Velvet's past owners, for the three years we've owned her she's almost never willingly let us hold her. Sometimes if she's in a good mood and she has a carrot in front of her she'll let me pet her in her cage, but that's really rare. In general, she seems to me like a quite intelligent rabbit, though very timid and not bonded to our family at all.
She's had three cages since we bought her. One was a small, cramped metal cage with barred floors and an old food bin. This was the cage she came in when we bought her. The second was an enormous C&C cage I built for her about two years ago and a couple months after my sister got Velvet as a Christmas present. The cage was basically everything a rabbit could want (I could actually crawl inside to hang out with her) but one day I came home from school and my mom had dismantled it and replaced Velvet into her old cage. I'm still not entirely sure why she did this, but my mom says the cage was taking up too much room. She also thought the cage was too big, and Velvet and my sister weren't connecting well because Velvet had more than enough room to be antisocial... This doesn't really make much sense to me, but I couldn't really argue. Then recently, my mom bought Velvet another cage. It's a pretty typical rabbit cage, larger than the old metal one and with safer floors, but still pretty cramped for a rabbit Velvet's size. I wish we could reconstruct the old C&C cage but my mom threw out the coroplast.
Anyway, the cage is in the "den" of our house, where we keep my mom's computer, a TV, some video games, an air hockey table, and a large shelf of books. Obviously, this isn't a very good setup for a rabbit, with so many wires for her to chew on, but my family doesn't seem willing to put her anywhere else. My sister won't have her in her room because she thinks Velvet will keep her awake at night, my mom refuses to put Velvet anywhere else on the main floor of the house because she doesn't like the mess, and my sister doesn't want Velvet in the basement because she'd be too far away from the family (I agree with her there, but we might have more space for free time, so I'm not sure). Worse still is that my dad wants to put Velvet outside, which would basically mean the family could safely ignore Velvet for long periods of time except for when we have to feed her.
Velvet gets floor time about once a week, which I know isn't nearly enough. I've tried rabbit-proofing the den for her, but obviously there are wires everywhere, and my parents don't want to buy covers for them. Usually, she's only getting a chance outside her cage because the thing has to be cleaned. When Velvet gets floor time, she spends it making long, repetitive runs around the room, interspersed with wire-chewings and knocking over random objects. I've tried to minimize the things she can damage, but I can't successfully distract her because she has very little interest in people, toys, or food. Even parsley or raisins or carrots can only hold her attention for a few seconds. I don't think she's getting excess food because my sister is pretty consistent about feeding (Velvet doesn't get nearly enough hay, but at least she's got the other basics).
My sister, Beth, isn't very interested in her rabbit. Beth has a very short attention span and high energy levels, so nothing really interests her for long. She spends a lot of time outside and playing sports, so taking care of Velvet has become a chore for her. I've tried to motivate her to take care of her pet, but usually this only winds up frustrating her. I don't typically take care of any of Velvet's day-to-day needs, but since I'm the resident expert on small animals (I have three very well-behaved guinea pigs sharing my lap at this moment) I'm expected to solve any problems Beth has. This means I focus on socializing Velvet, but it also means I'm usually playing the "bad cop." I force Velvet back into her cage when she doesn't want to go in, scold her for chewing on wires, and hold her down when it's time to trim her nails. Basically, the rabbit hates me, and with good reason.
The thing is, I'm an extremely patient person and I try to take care of Velvet in the most gentle way possible. When everyone else has given up on getting Velvet back into her cage after a cleaning session, I sit in the room for hours on end patiently waiting for Velvet to go back in of her own accord. I've tried every vegetable in our refrigerator to entice her back into there, and I've sang music, read books, and showed her videos of other rabbits just to see if there's something that might calm her down. She still dislikes me, though.
I think part of it is Velvet's personality, as I could never imagine her as the cuddly type, but I know there's a lot we're doing wrong. I just want to know how I can remedy these things while navigating the tensions in my family. I would focus all my time on properly bonding to Velvet, but I know I'm not the good guy here. I already spend a lot of my free time with my cavies, and I'm a junior in high school, so I already have almost no free time as it is. My sister has much more time to take care of Velvet but almost no motivation. My parents do not view animals the same why I do, and to a certain extent neither does my sister.
Should we move Velvet into the basement? Is it worth it to spay her, and how could I convince my parents to do this? Even if I've spent a lot of time socializing her, is there anything more I can do to make her feel comfortable around me? To what extent is her fear of us her own personality, and to what extent is it our failure to take care of her? How can I motivate my younger sister to take care of her rabbit without making her feel upset or distraught? How can I get Velvet back into her cage after floor time? After three hours of waiting, I just now had to pick her up and force her into her cage, which I know is only making the problem worse.
My family is a classical example of a Christmas pet gone wrong. I'm here to testify that it's a bad, bad idea, but what advice do you all have for those families who do not heed the warnings? I'm about to give up on this rabbit.
My sister is 12 and she has a mini rex rabbit named Velvet. Velvet is a female rabbit, probably 5+ years old. I could probably find out exactly because we have certificates for her. We bought her from a breeder, she's purebred, she used to be used as a breeder by the last family who owned her. The family ran a large rabbit breeding operation, but we were assured when we bought her that Velvet lived with the family and was a very well-behaved, loving rabbit who would be picked up by the children and cuddled. I don't know whether or not she's been spayed; I tend to doubt it, since she was a breeder. Her "hormones" shouldn't be acting up too much since I think she's quite a bit older than the younger, teenage bunnies that can be so much trouble. I'd urge my parents to get her spayed but my mom and dad don't want to spend the money on a surgery for a rabbit and I don't think they understand why she needs to be spayed.
Anyway, despite what we were told by Velvet's past owners, for the three years we've owned her she's almost never willingly let us hold her. Sometimes if she's in a good mood and she has a carrot in front of her she'll let me pet her in her cage, but that's really rare. In general, she seems to me like a quite intelligent rabbit, though very timid and not bonded to our family at all.
She's had three cages since we bought her. One was a small, cramped metal cage with barred floors and an old food bin. This was the cage she came in when we bought her. The second was an enormous C&C cage I built for her about two years ago and a couple months after my sister got Velvet as a Christmas present. The cage was basically everything a rabbit could want (I could actually crawl inside to hang out with her) but one day I came home from school and my mom had dismantled it and replaced Velvet into her old cage. I'm still not entirely sure why she did this, but my mom says the cage was taking up too much room. She also thought the cage was too big, and Velvet and my sister weren't connecting well because Velvet had more than enough room to be antisocial... This doesn't really make much sense to me, but I couldn't really argue. Then recently, my mom bought Velvet another cage. It's a pretty typical rabbit cage, larger than the old metal one and with safer floors, but still pretty cramped for a rabbit Velvet's size. I wish we could reconstruct the old C&C cage but my mom threw out the coroplast.
Anyway, the cage is in the "den" of our house, where we keep my mom's computer, a TV, some video games, an air hockey table, and a large shelf of books. Obviously, this isn't a very good setup for a rabbit, with so many wires for her to chew on, but my family doesn't seem willing to put her anywhere else. My sister won't have her in her room because she thinks Velvet will keep her awake at night, my mom refuses to put Velvet anywhere else on the main floor of the house because she doesn't like the mess, and my sister doesn't want Velvet in the basement because she'd be too far away from the family (I agree with her there, but we might have more space for free time, so I'm not sure). Worse still is that my dad wants to put Velvet outside, which would basically mean the family could safely ignore Velvet for long periods of time except for when we have to feed her.
Velvet gets floor time about once a week, which I know isn't nearly enough. I've tried rabbit-proofing the den for her, but obviously there are wires everywhere, and my parents don't want to buy covers for them. Usually, she's only getting a chance outside her cage because the thing has to be cleaned. When Velvet gets floor time, she spends it making long, repetitive runs around the room, interspersed with wire-chewings and knocking over random objects. I've tried to minimize the things she can damage, but I can't successfully distract her because she has very little interest in people, toys, or food. Even parsley or raisins or carrots can only hold her attention for a few seconds. I don't think she's getting excess food because my sister is pretty consistent about feeding (Velvet doesn't get nearly enough hay, but at least she's got the other basics).
My sister, Beth, isn't very interested in her rabbit. Beth has a very short attention span and high energy levels, so nothing really interests her for long. She spends a lot of time outside and playing sports, so taking care of Velvet has become a chore for her. I've tried to motivate her to take care of her pet, but usually this only winds up frustrating her. I don't typically take care of any of Velvet's day-to-day needs, but since I'm the resident expert on small animals (I have three very well-behaved guinea pigs sharing my lap at this moment) I'm expected to solve any problems Beth has. This means I focus on socializing Velvet, but it also means I'm usually playing the "bad cop." I force Velvet back into her cage when she doesn't want to go in, scold her for chewing on wires, and hold her down when it's time to trim her nails. Basically, the rabbit hates me, and with good reason.
The thing is, I'm an extremely patient person and I try to take care of Velvet in the most gentle way possible. When everyone else has given up on getting Velvet back into her cage after a cleaning session, I sit in the room for hours on end patiently waiting for Velvet to go back in of her own accord. I've tried every vegetable in our refrigerator to entice her back into there, and I've sang music, read books, and showed her videos of other rabbits just to see if there's something that might calm her down. She still dislikes me, though.
I think part of it is Velvet's personality, as I could never imagine her as the cuddly type, but I know there's a lot we're doing wrong. I just want to know how I can remedy these things while navigating the tensions in my family. I would focus all my time on properly bonding to Velvet, but I know I'm not the good guy here. I already spend a lot of my free time with my cavies, and I'm a junior in high school, so I already have almost no free time as it is. My sister has much more time to take care of Velvet but almost no motivation. My parents do not view animals the same why I do, and to a certain extent neither does my sister.
Should we move Velvet into the basement? Is it worth it to spay her, and how could I convince my parents to do this? Even if I've spent a lot of time socializing her, is there anything more I can do to make her feel comfortable around me? To what extent is her fear of us her own personality, and to what extent is it our failure to take care of her? How can I motivate my younger sister to take care of her rabbit without making her feel upset or distraught? How can I get Velvet back into her cage after floor time? After three hours of waiting, I just now had to pick her up and force her into her cage, which I know is only making the problem worse.
My family is a classical example of a Christmas pet gone wrong. I'm here to testify that it's a bad, bad idea, but what advice do you all have for those families who do not heed the warnings? I'm about to give up on this rabbit.
