keeping bonded bunnies people friendly

[Mika77]

I was just wondering how many of you have a good relationship with your bunnies and how many feel that your bonded bunnies mostly tolerate you but you are just there to provide food as far as they are concerned? When I had just Hoppy it took me a long time but she did bond with me and wanted attention from me. Then when I got Clover, Hoppy bonded to him very quickly and lost some interest in me but still would come to me for some attention (no longer wanted to be held though). Clover alowed us to pet him but mostly was interested in Hoppy and followed her around so if she came to me, then he often did too. After Hoppy died i got Lilly right away and shortly after Bindi. Lilly was never interested in people but Bindi seemed very friendly at first. However all the rabbits bonded with each other and totally lost interest in people. They come to me only for food and otherwise stay away, if we are in the room they mostly stay in their cage and come out when no one is here, often if they are out and I come in then they run back to the cage.
They are cute and I am glad that they are happy but I wish (and I hate to sound childish) that they would like me. I also have a dog, two cockatiels and a cockatoo and they all love attention but the bunnies do not want to be bothered.
Is it possible to have more then one rabbit and have them enjoy attention from people? I do not think I will be able to change these bunnies, I have been trying for months and they are not afraid of me but just do not see any use for me other then providing food. To have a very people friendly bunny is it really better to have just one?

 

[Sweetie]

My rabbits are people friendly. When Sweetie and Prince are both out of their cage, they are interested in each other and the rabbit area they are in. When I have just Sweetie by herself, she loves the attention from me, I fluff her up she likes it. I talk to her. She also helps me get rid of my anxiety and headaches. But when I have Prince alone, he wants Sweetie instead of me. He tolerates me holding him and such.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

All of ours are pretty much friendly even if they didn't get a great start.

 

[Bassetluv]

I think it does depend on the individual rabbit. Yofi and Anna are very closely bonded, but Yofi seems closely bonded with me too. Anna isn't quite as close to me as Yof, but then, for some reason he attached himself to me moreso than any other rabbit I've ever owned. Anna can sometimes be affectionate with me, but for the most part she's just too busy 'being a rabbit', and aside from rushing to the door when I first come home, a great deal of the time she ignores me...and even at that, the affection she does show took quite a long time to come through. (Neither of my rabbits, btw, tolerate being held. To them it's like a form of torture... "noooooooooooooooo...we don't wanna be HELD!!".)

When I first got Raph (my first English lop) he too bonded to me quickly. However, after I brought Anna home to keep him company, Raph immediately turned all attention on Anna, and not only did I become second fiddle, but Raph saw me as a rival, and he would nip and charge at me if I got too close to 'his love'. At first I found it a bit disconcerting, but when you think about it, it really is only natural for one animal to seek out and bond with another member of it's own species. And I don't believe it has anything to do with liking or disliking, for a rabbit to forego the human(s) for a lepidopteran friend. They simply have a comfort level with their buddy that they prefer. And some rabbits are like that regardless if there is another rabbit in the household or not, so there is no guarantee that a rabbit will bond with its human if it is the only one in the home. Actually, I'm amending my last statement a bit...what I wanted to say is that it isn't that the rabbit doesn't bond with their human; it's often that they just don't show it in a way that we expect them to. Often rabbits can be attached to their human and that person doesn't even realize it...if what we perceive as affection isn't being displayed, then we think they don't love us, or they haven't bonded with us...but rabbits are such silent, mysterious creatures, that I do believe they can bond with their owner, yet the signs are so subtle that we cannot interpret them.

Have you ever just lay in the middle of the room where your bunnies are, and let them come to you? They might, or they might not...but rabbits are curious creatures, and if you lie there long enough they might just decide to do so. I've done this in the past with rabbits who were new to my household, just to let them get to know my scent, and allow them to realize - on their own terms - that I'm not going to approach them suddenly or hurt them in any way. I've found that in doing so, the rabbit would eventually approach, and after sniffs and exploring, would sometimes even get on my back and hop around. It's something I also do with Yofi and Anna at times, even though they both know me and are comfortable around me...it's just a way of 'being with them' without really interferring or intruding on their space.

Another thing I sometimes do is give them massages. (Yofi absolutely LOVES this.) If you don't already do this, then try it on one rabbit at a time, in another room away from your other bunny. Gentle massages of the back and neck, along with a treat or two administered, may help your bunnies develop a closer bond with you, one at a time. But the best thing of all I would recommend is to enjoy your rabbits, whether they show signs of affection toward you or not. You might see it come out in them at some point, or you might not...but either way, the love is there. It's just the bunnies' way.

 

[Mika77]

Thanks everyone

Bassetluv, Thanks for the long message, actually I was thinking a bit along the same lines. My dog and birds are very pushy when they want attention and especially the birds can get very loud and demanding (which is actually really annoying at times). So when the bunnies are so different it really does seem as if they have no interest in people but maybe, like you say, its just that they are different.
I do love having the bunnies around, even if they do not run to me and demand to be petted. If I do want to interact with them the best thing I can do is sit with them late at night and then Clover and usually Bindi will let me pet them. Lilly does not like to be petted but she will come up and sniff me. Bindi will hop around me and sometimes lick my clothes (I think she is trying to play with it). I guess i felt that they do not like spending time with me because they only interact with me if I go to them and almost never seem to seek out attention from me but maybe that's just how bunnies are and I should not be compering them to other types of pets.
I loved my Hoppy and almost make her out to be a saint, although I guess she was not that much different then the bunnies I have now and the reason she wanted my attention a bit more was because for most of her life she was deprived of a bunny friend. Also she was with me during a very difficult time in my life and that caused me to form a very strong attachment to her. And I still feel guilty that she died, she was six-seven years old but still seemed young. She was prone to digestive problems and eating vegetables in larger quantities made her sick on more then one occasion but I was an idiot and kept on feeding them to her (mostly because she liked it and because almost everything I read said that I should), if I had changed her diet she probably would still be alive today. Clover also had a couple stomach issues (he is getting a bit older now too) and now I feed the bunnies almost all hay with just a little pellets and tiny bit of veggies and they are all doing really good. Well I'm getting off topic here.
Bindi was funny because usually I open the cage first thing in the morning but today I have not yet and she was yanking on the door to be let out.
Well I think you are right, my bunnies probably do have a bond with me and the rest of my family but they just do not show it in a way that I expect. I guess I just wanted to know if other peoples bunnies are much more outgoing with their affection ( more "dog like") but it seems that, with a some exceptions, most bunnies are much more subtle.