In tears, 1st bunny and she just started hating me .

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Angieleique

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I don't know how old she is ( vet guessed 2-4), shes black and white has the steipe down her back no butterfly on her nose .

We found her abandoned on the side of the road ( rest stop type pull off in the middle of nowhere , no houses around I looked and checked with the state police and local vets in that area to see if I could find her home) 2.5 months ago, started shaking leaves ( thinking she was wild ) and she ran right up to me and started chowing down . so we took her home , made her a huge out door pen , hay, sawdust , hiding spots the works 5ft by 9ft . brought her in and she started peeing in the bed we got her , tried a box and she was house broken. She kept hiding and got sick so I brought her to the vet did the water and critical care and antibiotivs massages every thing every 2 hrs for 9 days and she survived . she became teusting of me and would come up to me lick my face play with the toys ( I couldnt and still cant pet her or pick her up ) .... nowwere another month and a half down the road she grunts at me loudly, licks my face if im lating on the floor , but hides constantly and runs away from me now . I didnt do anything to her or diffrent but I thought we finally bonded and now I'm just crying she she acts like she hates me again . what can I do ? What voukd I have done . I'm so fricken sad . and worried about her again .
 
Make sure to try and take it slow with her, try to hang out with her but not give her as much notice until she’s more comfortable with you being there, and try to hand feed her when you give her pellets / treats. Give her time she’s had a rough life it seems! She’ll come around im sure
 
It sounds like she is just not very trusting give her time and just keep trying with her you will get there you don't know how long she had been dumped in the wild she may be slightly wild now and just needs a bit more time because of this aswell she will get there well done for putting in the time with her and don't cry she obviously loves you xxx
 
She only need your love and she will slowly build up her bond. You have already reached the kissing/grooming stage which I have not managed with one of my bunnies. He’s still too scared of humans.

When you feed her let her eat from your hands, you can also use pellets as treats and she will build up a bond a little faster. The way to a bunnies heart is through their stomach, even bunnies that love petting more than food will still fall for it :)

I hope she won’t have too much of impact on hormones changes if she’s not sterilized. Some bunnies will change their personalities and can become real tyrants. My doe was one of them that would act negative when she was ready to breed/ spring feelings.
 
You are doing great! Sounds like you are still bonded/bonding so don't worry.
Let bunny come to you. Don't actively try to play with bunny. Simply grab your phone/a book/a game and lay down on your stomach and try to keep still. Even maybe put a small pile of pellets or hay near you/in front of you. Let bunny come to you. My bun used to use me as a jungle gym and try to groom my hair while I was trying to bond with him. Took me forever to get him to trust. Maybe grab baby toys like plastic baby keys and jingle them on occasion for a second and then put them down next to you and leave them there. Let bunny take off with them if bunny does. Try not to watch, just let them do as they please.
Long story short, let the bunny decide the pace. Just like a human child, they are prone to mood shifts that could last from minutes to weeks, especially if not fixed.
You are doing great! Keep going!
 
I don't know how old she is ( vet guessed 2-4), shes black and white has the steipe down her back no butterfly on her nose .

We found her abandoned on the side of the road ( rest stop type pull off in the middle of nowhere , no houses around I looked and checked with the state police and local vets in that area to see if I could find her home) 2.5 months ago, started shaking leaves ( thinking she was wild ) and she ran right up to me and started chowing down . so we took her home , made her a huge out door pen , hay, sawdust , hiding spots the works 5ft by 9ft . brought her in and she started peeing in the bed we got her , tried a box and she was house broken. She kept hiding and got sick so I brought her to the vet did the water and critical care and antibiotivs massages every thing every 2 hrs for 9 days and she survived . she became teusting of me and would come up to me lick my face play with the toys ( I couldnt and still cant pet her or pick her up ) .... nowwere another month and a half down the road she grunts at me loudly, licks my face if im lating on the floor , but hides constantly and runs away from me now . I didnt do anything to her or diffrent but I thought we finally bonded and now I'm just crying she she acts like she hates me again . what can I do ? What voukd I have done . I'm so fricken sad . and worried about her again .
My bunnie did that , she grunted at me and tried to attack me .
But i left her for a while , and it helped .
Then i let her out with her other bunnie friends , and hand fed her without moving or touching her .
I hope this helps .
 
Lie on the floor next to her pain. Don't talk or anything. Just lie there two or three times a day. After a day or two to talk a little. If you can pick her up and hold her, hum on top of her head. It's very calming.
 
Sorry about the typos. I meant pen not pain. Also when you're walking by the pen try not to move too fast. Slow motion gives her a chance to watch you and see what you're up to!
 
Just thought of something else. My girl who is about 6 years old now still lunges and grunts a little when I'm getting her water bowl to rinse and refill. I learned to say something before I reach in. Seems to help.
 
My male goes through stages where he loves me and cuddles and then is terrified of me. Before he was neutered, he didn't do this on/off relationship with me. I agree with the others, just lay next to cage and be present with them without trying to touch or pet. My husband has two pillows next to the hutch and just lays there with the doors open and they both LOVE him so much, want to be close to him and lick him nonstop.
 
Sorry about the typos. I meant pen not pain. Also when you're walking by the pen try not to move too fast. Slow motion gives her a chance to watch you and see what you're up to!
Shes not in a pen ..... Ive never had her in one . I just happened to be setting up a pen for her , and she hopped in the cats old litter box and pottied ... So I've just let her be free . sometimes shes ok .... Most of the time she'll come out and stay out ... Others she grunts gets a little attitude and hides .... Ive made her 3 shelters , have a buffet set up of hays (and a treat dish and a greens dish and 2 water dishes , a private "bathroom area ( old table with a curtain set up attatched ) toys that I try to play with her with ( sometimes she picks up the ball things and tosses them around with me other times I get the grunt , the primadonna attitude and shunned) I don't know if she's fixed but she's set up to get fixed I'm hoping this curbs the PMS shes got going on because I dont knkw what else to do .... I leave her alone she gets more grunty when I try to interact with her, I lay down and do nothing but watch tv - she comes sniffs backs off about 2'/3' and sprawls out , if I crawl towards her bend my face down and DO NOT LET HER SEE EVEN THE SLIGHTIST PART OF MY HANDS (Or she jets like Tokyo grom godzilla) she has been licking my nose and hairline though so .... I was excited till my brother said " its because she thinks your a giant salt lick (* instant tear reaction occurred) . I come out of my room at night she sits there like shes fearless . I come out during the day and its skittish city at first .....
I am seriously hoping shes just P.M.S ing and having introverted moments like I do .... Or I font kniw what else to do other than just continuing the same insanity routine hoping for diffrent results . the besides caging animals has never sit well with me . my poor parents . wed go to a shelter and come home with EVERY animal that was in one particular pen/cage ... I didnt want to leave their "friends" behind.


I need to call my dad on that note .
 
My bunnie did that , she grunted at me and tried to attack me .
But i left her for a while , and it helped .
Then i let her out with her other bunnie friends , and hand fed her without moving or touching her .
I hope this helps .
ive never had her penned . ( comment 13 is a novel I posted about it and everything ive been trying )

Thank you . maybe I just need to get her a friend ...... If she doesnt go all HULK and beat them up. She has a DIVA attitude ( may be my fault ..... I did / do SPOIL her ... Even built her a private bathroom. Lol)
 
My male goes through stages where he loves me and cuddles and then is terrified of me. Before he was neutered, he didn't do this on/off relationship with me. I agree with the others, just lay next to cage and be present with them without trying to touch or pet. My husband has two pillows next to the hutch and just lays there with the doors open and they both LOVE him so much, want to be close to him and lick him nonstop.
I would kick Sean out ..... My jealously knows no bounds . but and the only person she gets close to without running off... So theres that . but shes just ..... Ugh I get so emotional ..... but we found her on the road 2 weeks befor I miscarried my 1st pregnancy at 13 weeks with twins .... Then about 9 days later she got go stasis and I was litterally on the spot with the 2 ccs of C.C every 2 hrs with a syring and 5 tsp of water vis syring pain meds every 4 hrs antibiotics every 8. I would sleep for an hr get up for an hr. Sleep for an hr and so on for 11 straight days with breaks every 3 days or so so I could get real sleep (my brother , my boyfriend or my dad would come and stick to the schedule like well trained soldiers ) so I know that I may be a little overly emotional because of that. And the situation . But I lost my dog of 14 years who was my shadow and I swore I was never getting another pet .... 16 months later I have this bunny and I just want her to act like she has some intrest or. Trust because I am bending over backwards for little orphan annie and she acts like I'm a velociraptor half the time .
 
My Daisy bun was like that when I first got her. She's a tiny, but very feisty bun with attitude. She grunts, growls, claws, and boxes. She wasn't treated well before she came to me and nobody wanted her because you couldn't do anything with her. I've had her two or three years now. She still hates to be picked up, so I leave her be in that regards unless I need to do her nails or take her to the vet. Sometimes she still shows aggressive behaviors, but that's okay. Bunnies have their days like anybody else. I do everything on her terms. If she wants to be pet she lets me know. It's not that your bunny hates you, she's just been through a lot. She may have these issues for years to come. Try not to let it get you down.

Daisy also has had two friends, one of which was old bun Bono, who sadly passed away. But she bonded with him right away and he really helped her settle down and become more bold.
 
Not an expert myself as I just started raising rabbits for 3 months but I watched a lot of youtube to learn about rabbit's behavour. I think bonding with rabbits could be done via food, not just hay.. or vege.. or pellets but treats! The best treats I've learnt from Howcast is raisins. Get a small box of raisins and feed your rabbits till she loves it and literally begs from you. Then you could shake the raisin box and she would come right to you! That's what my rabbits would do!
 
Just a little input. rabbits don't lick their owners for salt. They lick them to say, " Hey, I love you and the things you do for me". She doesn't hate you by no means but she just needs some time to adjust may be more than " some" she went through something traumatic that a human did to her, it will take a while for her to trust you enough to let you pet her. It's like an attachment disorder in children (almost)
 
I think I'm going to get her a friend we brought her on a couple "dates "and there is a male fixed rabbit about the same age and size . They kinda ignored each other at first and then my bun laid down all chill and flopped out . Then they sniffed did a little mounting (I couldn't help but laugh because my bun was having none of it and mounted him and that was that). But then they hopped a bit and sniffed and rubbed faces and then my bun flopped back down the rex bunny went into to (for betterl of term) a little bread loaf position and then came and smelled me a few times about a half HR of laying with them both , she saw him sniffing me and she came over all curious and like " man that ones under my protection who are you and what are your intentions ". But he started licking my hand and she started licking/ grooming him. So ..... We should be good right ? I just don't want to adopt him and find out they're mortal enemies .... He's been in the shelter for 1 year 5 months and now 16 days (he's got 14 more days and he's a goner, so now he licked me I can't just keep him on death row) anyway you think they'll be ok because I want her to have a friend and not be so sad now I work 8 hrs a day but I don't want to come home to an episode of LAW AND ORDER B.u.n.
 
My thought is that you would need to seriously consider that. I, too, thought that getting a friend for my bunny would make him feel not lonely. They socialized well for first month but then the next thing I saw was Snowball chasing Pepsi around, whether it was inside the enclosure or outside. There was once I came home to find fur around the enclosure and my biggest guess was that they must have had huge fight while i was away. Even doc also advised me it would be best to separate them, despite after neutering both as it would not guarantee they would be any less territorial.

I kept observing on the bunnies and I thought Snowball had been bullying Pepsi and fighting over food or space given Snowball is in bigger size and he is older. But later I noticed it was Pepsi being naughty one as I saw he was the one climbing over Snowball's head and body or over grooming him, especially at the behind which has led Snowball irked and chasing him. Oh well... that's what I saw as you could see on my previous post with Pepsi's one of his leg over Snowball's back.

Just sharing what I face.
 
My thought is that you would need to seriously consider that. I, too, thought that getting a friend for my bunny would make him feel not lonely. They socialized well for first month but then the next thing I saw was Snowball chasing Pepsi around, whether it was inside the enclosure or outside. There was once I came home to find fur around the enclosure and my biggest guess was that they must have had huge fight while i was away. Even doc also advised me it would be best to separate them, despite after neutering both as it would not guarantee they would be any less territorial.

I kept observing on the bunnies and I thought Snowball had been bullying Pepsi and fighting over food or space given Snowball is in bigger size and he is older. But later I noticed it was Pepsi being naughty one as I saw he was the one climbing over Snowball's head and body or over grooming him, especially at the behind which has led Snowball irked and chasing him. Oh well... that's what I saw as you could see on my previous post with Pepsi's one of his leg over Snowball's back.

Just sharing what I face.




She's a female so hopefully that won't happen .. ughhhh .... I just don't want him on death row because ... Well .... He was so sweet and I don't want him to die just because nobody else will take him
 

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