End of my tether

shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Advertise with us
Love your rabbit
Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
BunnyMummy

BunnyMummy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2008
Messages
60
Reaction score
0
Location
Wherever the army send us!, , Germany
Hi I have posted here a couple of times and introduced my two buns, Pebbles and Bambam.



We have had them for over two months now and I am feeding them right, giving them space, exercise, treats (not too many), lying on the floor for hours on end, tiptoeing around them, not being too noisy around them, but they still run off.

If me or my husband don't have a treat, then the buns just don't want to know us. We have tried not picking them up and leaving them to get to know us in thier own time, but they just run off and hide. We have more recently tried picking them up and petting them but all they do is sit on our laps stock still obviously petrified, then when we let them go they run off to thier bed and sit their shaking.

I really have no idea what to do, they are turning our household upside down and we are both bending over backwards to accomodate two animals who obviously dislike us intently!

I really am at the end of my tether especially as all I seem to do is clean up after and feed them. Does anyone have any advice please before I give up for good?



BM






 
Hello! I'm new to bunnies, and have had my bun since mid-Nov (4 months).

At first getting her, I felt the same as you: I just cleaned up after her and fed her. She was anti-social and frequently turned her back on me. I was torn because I wanted her to like me, too! I followed her lead as to the amount of interaction she tolerated and wanted. She has made great strides, though gradual, towards being a social bunny. She still will not tolerate being picked up, or held. If she wants me to pet her I do so on her level. She now seems happy to see me, and lets me comb her.

I suggest that if your buns don't seem to like being picked up or held, that you back off. The more you push them to like it, the less they will (much like children). Love them and care for them, sure but don't give them more attention than they can handle right now. It takes time to build a trusting bond.
 
That's the thing, I have spent whole days (some nights too)on the floor, just minding my own business. I thought their natural curiosity would make them sniff me out, which they do, but as soon as they finish their treats or realise there are no treats they run off and play by themselves.

My husband sometimes has to work away and after we moved but before I found work I was at home all the time with them, I love reading so was happy to lie on the floor propped up by the elbows reading whilst they had all the freedom they wanted. I even got the spare quilt and slept on the floor near them so they could see that although to them I was huge, that I was still harmless.

All I have to show for my patience is an aching back and buns who still thump when I enter the room.

:(
 
Do you know their history? Are they bonded together?
 
Hi BunnyMummy! :wave:

I am guessing for the time you had them they are still quite young. They are growing, full of energy, and still like to explore. There will be a time when they hit their teenage years, and many things can occur. :D

I did the same things you did, lay on the floor,feed them treats and spent time with them. Over time, they will be more laid back and would love the long cuddles and petting you want to give them.

However, I think you should try to handle them as much as possible, so they grow up being use to it.

Here are my suggestions.

Close off the room, make the space smaller so you are closer to them and there is less space for the bunnies to run away. By being so close, they can't avoid you. Make it so small, that they have to climb over you to get to the other side.

Have them eat out of your hand.Like a treatI would feed mineone pelletat a time until they bored of it. Instead of giving them the bowl of pellets for supper, pour some in your hand for them to eat out of. Hold a single piece of hay and feed them. Hold a treat while they eat it, don't let them grab it and run away.

When you pet them, don't reach down and pet over their heads. Rabbits are very afraid of birds swooping down on them. I would reach out at their level and stroke the side of their face with the back of my hands and have them get use to that.

I played with my bunny on the stairs. This way, I was eye level or even below them.

When you pick them up or hold them, you really have to make them feel secure. They don't like the feeling of being dropped. What you do is hold them against your body with both arms around them.

One trick I did, was to wrap them up in a towel, (like a burrito) and held them that way like a real baby. They can't move or kick when they are wrapped up. This made them feel real secure and they get use to you handling them real fast.

By the way, my bunny is named Pebbles too. :D I did name her after the Flintstones character because of her big and beautiful eyes. But her name stuck,after all the pebbles she would leave on the floor. :p
 
Hi all, thank you for your replys. First of all we got them beggining of Feb from a pet store here in Germany, they are young, I think Pebbles is nearly six months and Bambam is 5 months now. They are very tightly bonded together and that has been the case from day 1. Apart from when we had Pebbles spayed and Bambam kept attacking him, but that didn't last long and now they are best friends again.

I will certainly give your tips a go and persevere with it, I just hope it pays off! We have bought a pen which I can move into the living room and use to block off a section so will go back to sitting on the floor with them.

Many thanks and I will keep you posted.

BM

XX:pray:
 
Have you read my article on bonding with your bunny? It's in the Bunny 101 forum. That might give you some more tips.

They are very young so, like pet_bunny says, they will be wanting to explore, they will want to be running around and burning energy, not snuggling or paying too much attention to you.

They don't hate you, that much is clear, the are also not scared. If they hated you they might be vicious, they would not come to you for food, they would hide in their cage, same as if they were scared.

They seem to feel comfortable and safe in your presence which is the most important thing.

Rabbit's will always choose rabbit's over people (if they are bonded together that is), so, in effect, you are like a really awkward rabbit joining to make a trio with the already bonded pair. Bonding rabbits can take a really long time, weeks, months, years, so don't expect too much too soon.

You might find, when the mating season is over (maybe about August-ish), or maybe when they get to a year or so, that they might start to calm down and want to spend time with you more. They might not, but I found that was the best time, also just after they had been fixed was a good time to bond too.

You might want to try having each one out individually in a space they don't know and trying to get to know them that way, like on a one-to-one basis.

Can I ask, if you don't get them bonded to you, how you want, what will happen? Do you know what you are aiming for with them?

I'm concerned about that because not all rabbit's are interested in people, especially if they have a bonded friend. They certianly don't hate you.

It might be worth reading some pages on rabbit behaviour (there are some at the bottom of my article) because if you can learn about their behaviour, that could help you understand them more.
 
Just wanted to add, that because they came from a pet shop they may never had had human contact. The breeder might not have held them or talked to them or anything, so it might be all new to them and they don't know how to act yet. So you just need to let them see its ok to be near you. Persevere and keep trying with it.
 
Yep, what Flashy said. :biggrin2:

They are young, they are freeee, they want to explore and explore some more and then get into trouble and see what they can get away with. Hihi. It will take time. You can try doing the reverse as well and just go about doing your things and seeif they don't get curious and come to you ;)
 
They were from a pet store and are very tightly bonded together. I will try to take them out one at a time and see what happens. I have had the little boy fixed but at 5 months Bambam is still too tiny to operate on and I don't want to run the risk untill she is strong enough, so maybe a few more months yet before we can get her done too.

I will admit to thinking that they would be happier elsewhere, but I know that is a defeatest attitude. As far as the behavior aspects are concerned, I have read a million and one forums, sites inc the house rabbits society, the quintessential rabbit, Marion Harrimans book extracts, the 101 rabbit behaviors and many many more. I've sat and watched them for hours to pick up on thier likes ect. I know what thier favourite treats are, what veg they wont eat, their favorite toys, which part of the wall they like to chew, what time at night they start to wake up and play. All of which I want to be part of (the playing bit I mean :))

XX
 
It's good that you have researched so much, I wonder though, what it is that makes you think that they are unhappy with you?
 
Because they don't want to be anywhere near us. When we walk into the hallway (where they have a huge run) they thump and run full pelt into thier bed, despite the fact thet both my husband and I take pains not to make suden or loud movements around them. We try to play with them by pushing thier favorite toy gently towards them (the ones they use to toss around, and even if there is a nice treat inside the toy they turn thier backs and ignore it and us.

We lay down last night and my husband put food and treats all around me while I lay stock still (so still I drifted off to sleep :?) on the floor, the buns hopped over me to get to where they wanted to be then went to the other side of the room and flopped down. Leaving me, the human food bowl there for over an hour...

Like you say I feel like the awkward intruder..x


 
To be honest, I don't think they sound unhappy at all. I think they are just not used to being handled, or even being near people. That won't change wherever they are, unless the owners put in hard work, which is what you have been doing. It will take time, ages, in fact, but I am sure you wil get there. If not, try to content yourself with the fact that they are in a happy home with people who love them, which they might not find anywhere else.
 
I have another suggestion, and it does sound silly, but it has worked with my nerviest girl as well as countless others.

When you go to the toilet, take one of them in with you. Something inmine seems to make them want to jump on my lap, even if they are normally scared of me. So that might be something else to consider, even if it sounds really bizarre.
 
At the risk of bad taste, the longer you stay there, the more chance you have of them jumping on you, or at least coming round to you. I'll stop there, lol, before I cross all boundaries.
 
Maybe it has more to do with being in unfamiliar territory, and you being the only thing they recognise. Either way it's worth a shot at maybe taking them into a room they haven't been in before and just sitting and waiting for them to react??? As I say I am willing to try anything.............well almost anything:p
 
My buns actually know the bathroom, it's part of their normal run space, so it doesn't apply to mine in that way, but it might to yours.
 
Also keep in mind they might not have been handled right when at the petstore.

My Dallas took almost a year before he liked being handled and now he is ALWAYS all over me. He sits on my head when I am at the computer desk.
 
Alrighty. I think THINK we have a little progress. I took them into the bathroom, no joy I'm afraid.....



I took them individually into a part of our bedroom, cordonned off the rest of the room and lay down on the floor with a book, still each of the buns in turn went to the furthest part of the room and flopped down.

So if the Mohammed wont go to the mountain.....

Last night I went and sat in thier cage!!!!

At first they just sat in thier bed box shivering and wouldn't move. So i read my book and occasionally stroked them gently.

They did not like this one bit at first, but after a while they visably relaxed and put thier back paws behind them and stopped shaking.

Bam bam the ever hungry decided it was snack time and nothing, not even a giant sitting in between her and her food was going to stop her from munching, so she clambered over me to get to her bowl and hay and sat there nibbling and even propped herself up on my arm at one point.

Pebbles was not so forthcoming, but he didn't flinch when I touched him which is HUGE progress.

They both had some raisins before I left for bed, out of my hand.....

They were still jumpy when I went down this morning, butI think another hour or so with them tonight and we'll see how we get on.




 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top