Playing dead works wonders, especially for nosylittle "teens". Something about a motionless human body on the floorsays "jungle gym" to their hormone-crazed little minds and activebodies. I played keep away with my nine babies (they wanted to get tothe forbidden carpet too), sprawled on the floor between them and thecarpet. Pretty soon they'd be sneaking out and trying to get around me,or over me. One in particular liked to try and destroy any obstacle--Iwould put a stick in front of her face just to see her rip it down andbowl on over the the forbidden land. She eventually tried the samestealth tricks on the cat, who finally got mad and swatted her littlerear end all the way back to the bunny den.
About the carpet problem, have you tried putting something over it?Plastic, a blanket, a board? Also, rabbits LOVE to hide in smallspaces, because they feel safe and content. It's just a naturalinstinct response and not necessarily fear of you.
You mentioned that he avoids you--is he hungry enough?Thestrongest bonding occurs because of waiting expectantlyfor food. If I am trying to build trust with a wary one, I will feedjust enough food so that there are no leftovers when I go to feedagain, and the rabbit is mildly hungry and therefore excited to seeme--realizing I bring food and treats and all the good stuff.
I do NOT advocate starving an animal!
The right amount offood will maintain a healthy weight while keeping him lookingpleasantly (
not desperately) forward to the next meal.An overfed rabbit is often apathetic about people, and an underfedrabbit is paranoid and defensive about food. The happy medium is arabbit confident enough to be a shameless beggar.
The four-to-six-month stage is the Jekyl/Hyde phase. Chewing, nipping,lunging, growling, getting into everything, antisocial behavior,fights, dominance issues--all these are normal. Think about humanteens! An unaltered rabbit will usually settle between his or her firstor second year, with the bad behavior peaking at 4-6 mo. However, theywill retain some of these hormonal changes. Neutering/spaying shouldreduce this--not something I know from experience as all mine havealways been unaltered. Males often begin to spray around this time, orperhaps nearer to their first birthday. Females become territorial andusually growl and attack when approached. If you are an adult orteenagefemale and your rabbit is male he
maybecome...er...embarrassingly attached to you.
Good luck! This age is rough, but it doesn't last forever. First timeowners are usually perplexed by the nasty stuff that surfaces in thosecute little critters. Time and patience helps immensely. Hang inthere.
We all have stories about the "teen phase"!
Rose
