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evansrabbitranch

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Dragon keeps acting like I am going to hit him each time I touch him. He also won't come out of his cage on his own so I have to get him out to groom him. I hate doing this. In his cage without me too close he acts relaxed and almost happy, but any time I try to interact with him he becomes wide eyes and scrutches up in a corner and far away from me as he can get.

Any ideas of what to do or should I just keep on talking to him when I am by his cage, grooming daily, and picking up only when I have to to show him I am nice?
 
Don't force him to love you.

Some rabbits warm up to their owners very quickly, but some can take over a year just to get comfortable. I would suggest hanging out beside his cage while he's in it and talk to him so that he gets more familiar with who you are. Having treats to feed him will also help him realize that you're a good thing to be around.

Picking him up will probably make him hate you more (for the time being anyway)
 
Just give him time and leave him alone. Let him come out to you and meet you on his own terms.

Unless he's a wooly breed you don't need to work so hard to groom him. One of my rabbits refuses to be brushed so I just let her go and try to pluck out the shedding fur when I can. I would just leave off on the grooming for now if he's a normal furred bun and work on gaining his trust. Also avoid picking him up right now unless you have to for nail trims or because he's hurt - it will just make him more scared. Once he trusts you more you can work on picking him up.
 
I read out loud to my bunns, they seem to like it. Hearing a soothing voice helps them relax and it's a very low pressure situation. They like Watership Down the best.
 
It took my first rabbit, Benji, about 3 days to 'love' me.
It took my second bun, Pippin, over a year to even act particularly relaxed around me. I was so upset he didn't love me and shower me with kisses like Benji did, but I worked every day with him, and it has totally paid off because he is a total lovemuffin now and doesn't stop licking me all day, and will approach me for snuggles and leap on my lap, which I NEVER thought he would do. I think I even posted on here a few times about how he didn't even seem to like me! Now he loves me to bits!

Rabbits are naturally prey animals, so some may take a long time to act like a dog or cat would to you after a few days, but believe me the effort is worth it. You need to work every day to secure that bond with your bunny.

There are some little things I used to do with Pippin to earn his trust:

Never walk towards a shy rabbit. Pippin would bolt every time I walked over to him. So instead I would get down low and shuffle slowly over, with my arms oustretched and talking gently. First few days he still bolted. But after that he started to understand the stance meant I wasn't going to hurt him. And also, I didn't pick him up when I did that for the first few weeks. So he associated my approaching him in a non-threatening way, with a big nose rub and a chunk of apple. And soon he started to approach ME when I started to approach him. I was shocked!
Ignore your bun. Don't 'demand' his attention. You're not really ignoring him- but he thinks you are. This means he is much more likely to be inquisitive and approach you. If and when he does approach you by himself, just let him do his stuff. If your hand is right there, then give him a nose rub, and then carry on watching tv etc.

Like suggested before, talk to and read aloud etc. to your bun all the time, and voice association with good things and cuddles with appear.

Whenever you groom him, make sure you give him a big treat after- a nice bit of fruit or a realllyyyyy long nose rub or cheek rub, enough to make him purr!! When i rub Pippin's cheeks, he will half close his eyes, grind his teeth gently and just totally relax. If I stop giving Benji nose rubs, he opens his eyes, and SHOVES his head right under my hand over and over until I continue lol. It's so funny.

Try not to enter his cage. I know you have to sometimes, but he needs to feel totally safe in there, like noone can get to him, so when you want him to come out, try and entice him with his favourite fruit or something.

Don't worry, just keep at it and even if it takes a year, I am sure that bond will appear, if you keep on socialising him with you and getting him used to you every day. The more time you spend with him, the quicker and more likely he is to give his undying love to you! :D

Jen
 
Ah, see I forgot to tell you he is a french angora and is mid molt so I *have* to make him come out every other day at the very least to brush him. I made progress though, he let me put him on his back to 5 minutes tonight during grooming and I clipped his back nails and brushed the crooks of his back legs, where they tend to mat first. Then while upright he let me clip his front nails! He still flinched and trembled but did not freak out or pull away. I was so happy I went to another room and cried. I got his expen setup and he did a tiny binky in it. Then he stretched out and yawned at me. This is the most relaxed I have seen him since bringing him home. Here is a photo:

DSCF4571.jpg




Added: See, a little fight or fuss would be lovely but he acts like a beat dog, if you have never seen one who just sits and shakes waiting for the pain you are lucky. This is how he acts. Like hands are just for hurting him. I put his expen next to my desk to help him get used to me, my desk is in the living room where its bun safe, all wires are blocked off, the one seen on the left side of the pic is from the vaccume.
 
Dragon is stinkin cute!!
i know what u mean by it seems like theyve been abused..i have one like this also...Rascally Rabbit REscue called me and asked if i would try and catch a bun on my side of town running through the neighborhood..long story short i caught the little booger and i kept him ,his name is Doodle and he seems like hes been hurt by people..its hard to explain what he does but even my other scared rabbits that have come through my home have never acted like this one..the shying away from the hand and squinty and shaking like getting ready for a blow...its really hard to see him do it..ive had him for over a year now and he still does this if u move too quick when u come at him..and loud noises or closing his cage door too loud and he will go into this shocked look with eyes bulging and he wont move for like 5 min..hes frozen...its sad ... if i ever come across anybody who would ever harm an animal like him im afraid id go to jail for what id do to them.....
Jen has some phenomenal advice as usual but one thing i wanted to point out to u is when i got down low and crawled toward Doodle to show him im no harm to him..i happened to turn my head away from him for a split second and he charged at me and head butted me in the face.....HARD.
startled the poop outta me..i thought he hurt his face cuz it hurt mine...left a mark on my cheek ..i cant crouch down in front of him now..everytime i do he gets this look and crouches and looks like hes gonna lunge at me..i must look like im a predator or something when i do this...now maybe Doodle is scared of this cuz he was out in the wild for some time..so he had all kinds of animals he had to avoid... the area i caught him in is full of javalina and coyotes..
the good news is hes loved and hes never gonna feel any pain or hunger again...took me awhile but he teeth purrs for me now and it melts my heart..made me cry the first time..:)
there are no fast cures to fix an animal that a POS human has harmed,they just gotta understand that ur hand is ALWAYS gonna give them something positive...always..wether its a scratch on the head or a treat...u have to ALWAYS do something positive when u come near him...and they do like it when u have a good chat with them on a regular basis...all my buns totally enjoy everything i have to say, as long as its in sweet bunny voice.:)
keep us posted on how he does..im glad u have him now.,,so no one will ever hurt him again.

i wanted to add that the Rascally Rabbit Rescue was going to take him and adopt him out after i caught him for them..but since he acted like this i didnt want him going into any kind of rescue or foster care,,he needed stability and love ..so i added him to my family.
 
Wow, thank you for your heartbreaking yet warming story, its so hard when we see animals like this. I think he may have been associating a wire floored cage with his abuse, this morning he is hopping around his x-pen and looking around, doing things he never did in his cage. When in his old cage he would just sit flopped in a corner ready to back into it if he needed to. I hope getting rid of that cage and giving him more freedom helps heal his poor mind and heart.
 
He might feel like he has no place to hide. Make like a den for him to go into. Having a place to go and hid he might start feeling more secure around you.
 
Oh thank you I will have my husband get a couple of fry boxes from work, they are nice and big. I can use them to make him a little house. Today he has been sleeping next to me when I am at the desk. I put my hand by the bars on the outside and he put a paw on me. I melted :)
 
Thanks :) I only brush him down every other day right now and really only that often because he is shedding/molting (can never remember the right term lol) When he is not actively losing wool I will brush him a bit less but still try to have him have out of pen time. LOL I told him I was going to put his litter box in a open topped box with a couple doors cut in it and he shook his head at me, silly rabbit!
 
So much fun reading your story! I'm dealing with a similiar situation, so know your not alone. The advice you've been given (same individuals gave me similiar advice) and your PATIENCE is the key. Timid/Aggressive/abused buns need to make up their mind if they want to come out of their pen, be touched and lastly be picked up. Understand your dealing with molting, so bless you for knowing you musy.

Thank goodness you are there for this bun (to be their slave). Keep updating and please post anything you notice works for timid buns. Good job!
 
I had to clean his pen today so I opened the door and begged him to come out because I know they hate ahving housewrecking, I mean housecleaning done to their cages. Turns out no one ever told him he isn't supposed t like it. I could not get him out and had to clean up so I put the extentions on the vaccume hose and began cleaning as far from him as I could, as I cleared a spot he hopped into it and looked around like, "Well? Do I have to do the rest?" lol he even lifted the litter box a little and dug out stuff from under it all like, "you missed some!" But when I went to pat him he jumped into a corner. So sad, he fears me but sees a vaccume as a toy or something. Gosh even my 2 year old is afraid of the vaccume . . .
 
I am utterly amazed. I groomed Dragon tonight. I decided instead of having him in my lap I would use my computer chair like a grooming table and set him on it, I brushed his coat out and when I was done I let him move around on it while I straightened his coat out all nice. He sniffed, turned and did something I will never forget. He put his front paws on my chest and nudged under my chin with his nose! Got down, turned sniffing the chair, looked at the floor then nudged my hand asking for help to get to the floor. I set him down and he walked awkwardly around before doing a really neat binky that turned him 180 degrees then took off running around the room! He was out for almost an hour when I began to fall asleep on the couch. After I finish this I will be going to bed, I am beat. But the last thing that happened was truely amazing. I got down at the gate of his x-pen, put one hand on the gate and made kissy noises at him, he responded by going into his pen and laying down! I don't see how I won't have happy bunny dreams tonight. Well, before I fall asleep at the keyboard I am going to bed, lol, what a wonderful day!
 
It's great he's starting to get better! Won't be long before he starts kissing you back, lol!



MiniLopHop wrote:
I read out loud to my bunns, they seem to like it. Hearing a soothing voice helps them relax and it's a very low pressure situation. They like Watership Down the best.
Click to expand...
I tried this today, because my rabbit isn't liking me very much atm. (he has to have regular butt baths, and he hates them)

I'm not sure about my choice of reading material though, tbh; it's about forensics. I'm not entirely certain he wanted to know different ways to collect fingerprints, or methods of deducing the time of death!
 
Anaira wrote:
It's great he's starting to get better! Won't be long before he starts kissing you back, lol!



MiniLopHop wrote:
I read out loud to my bunns, they seem to like it. Hearing a soothing voice helps them relax and it's a very low pressure situation. They like Watership Down the best.
Click to expand...
I tried this today, because my rabbit isn't liking me very much atm. (he has to have regular butt baths, and he hates them)

I'm not sure about my choice of reading material though, tbh; it's about forensics. I'm not entirely certain he wanted to know different ways to collect fingerprints, or methods of deducing the time of death!
Click to expand...
That's ok, I think it is just hearing a human voice that is soothing. As long as you read it in a nice voice they are happy. :big wink:
 
You can try opening the cage to give him the choice to go in or out at will. Lots of soothing talk, treats etc. Rub his treats in your hand so they smell like you...so he associates your scent with something good. Put your hand in his cage, nearby but not touching him. Let him approach for a sniff but don't actually move. Then he learns he can trust your hand without treats too.

Awesome on the progress!
 
I made a big discovery, I think Dragon is blind in his right eye. Or at least partially. I was playing with him last night and he laid down with his right side facing me. I waved my hand, his blanket, and fav toy and got no response. When I touched him he jumped a mile high. When he calmed down he laid with his left side facing me and responded when I did the same stuff as before. Should I have a vet look at his eyes? He doesn't seem in pain . . .
 
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