How can I bond with my bunnies?

[i have bunnies]

I have 2 bunnies. I have had one for 7 months and one for 5. It seems like no matter what I do, I can’t get them to bond with me. I have tried giving them treats and slowly gaining their trust, but it hasn’t been working. I don’t think it is a matter of fearing me, they will nonchalantly hop away from me whenever i try to pet them or get near them. If I am lucky, my girl will let me sit next to her and let me pet her for a minute or two a day.  Also, they destroy everything. I try giving things to chew and dig, but they always go straight for the carpet and everything else valuable to me. I am constantly having to stop them from doing something. I have been considering rehoming them. I don’t want to, but it is getting really expensive and I’m not sure its worth it when I am just getting ignored. I feel like it is a really selfish thing to do but I’m not sure bunnies are for me. Does anyone have any tips to bond with and train them? Everyone I know that said I should get bunnies and that they’re such great pets are now saying that they remember how much trouble it was and they kept them in the cage most of the time, which I don’t want to do to them.

[Sarita]

Are your rabbits spayed/neutered? What are their ages?

[Megabunny]

I’d also be curious what breed they are. Certain breeds are just normally hyper

[Peony]

My rabbit is hyper. She let me pet her in her pen when it is closed. Ever since getting free roam she never let me pet her. (She is like a suger high child during free roam, never sits in one place for more then two seconds and runs a lot)

For the digging. Do you have a way to put them in a closed space? Like a pen? I do not know how well this works on others but so far my rabbit seems uninterested in digging outside her hutch. So the first night she kept me up by digging at the carpet on the bottem of the hutch (We gave her her own carpet, this is not the hose carpet) and she just kept doing it. I figured she did this because she was not getting anywhere (also caused her to spill her water dish form the tugging since the dish was on the rug) So what I did was put her water dish in a corner of the hutch where the digging would not disturb it, and gave her a few towels folded over in the spot she dug at. She dug at the towels and stopped and I assume went to sleep. I think she just wanted to “build a nest” You can also give them a phone book or build other diggy games so they have that to dig at and not your rug. Once they are in the small area for a bit and go explore, they should not do it outside. Least for mine when she has her erge to dig or eat hay, she runs back to her pen/hutch. They may dig at spots to “test” but if you put something in those spots like a bend a bridge or expandable towels or something. (Oh yeah that is another thing, my mom gave me old towels to give bunny when ever they are needed)

[i have bunnies]

One is a 7 month old Flemish Giant and the other we think is atleast a couple years old and he is a lionhead. I think I will wait for them to get a bit older so they can calm down, although what really bothers me is not being able to bond with them. It makes me really sad because I put all this work into it and I feel like I am getting nothing in return. Neither of them are interested in being petted, and they lose interest in me as soon as I run out of treats.

[Peony]

What did you do exactly with them? When you start out you just open the cage, hutch, pen, whatever they are in and lay on the floor. Ignore them for the most part and at some point they will come to you.

For the digging you need to make sure they have something they are allowed to dig in. My bunny has the towels for her sleeping spot and I have a big litterbox. She sometimes digs at the hay I place in there but it does not cause anything to really spill out. Then if there is a spot they still like to get at in free roam just put a bend a bridge there.

 

My lionhead is just approaching two and what I hear, they tend to be hyper :3 She does not want petting often and I’m trying to learn still when she wants it. Just a little while ago she was staring at my wall looking sad so I went in her pen and started to pet her and later brushed. She even lowered her head a bit for me and that is the first i saw that.

[i have bunnies]

Haha my lionhead isn’t the hyper one at all, he really doesn’t cause any problems, just comes out and lays on the floor. I give them phonebooks but they don’t care for them.

[Peony]

Well what about accepting pets? How did you interact with them so far?

 

Like did you ever try just opening their cages, you lay on the floor and let them be?

[i have bunnies]

Yes I have, my lionhead who is skittish will go around me and if I am in my flemish giant’s way she will hop on or over me to get where she wants.

[Isabelle]

DIGGING: Oh my do I have a digger! Dutchess is often obsessed with digging herself a little burrow in every room of our house! The easiest thing I found was investing in some body splash. Yup, body splash! When she decided it was dig time, I spritzed a little body splash right on her dig spot after shooing her away, and she would leave it alone. I would try to interest her in a different toy or activity or treats at the same time to get her mind on something else. Bunnies are programmed to dig, that is how they make their home in the wild, it is not something that will completely go away unfortunately. Give your buns some digging boxes, wood chew toys, and I bought a scratching post for Dutchess. I cover it with a blanket and she digs to her heat’s content and rips off all the carpet pieces and loves doing it. I have some carpet fiber pick up duty after, but its a lot better coming off a scratching post then our carpet

Bonding: Your buns have each other for socialization which is one reason they might not be as interested in figuring you out as you are with them. Time is the biggest thing you can give to them. Lay on the floor in their space, put hay on your tummy or your back (same with treats), shake some toys or play toys with them, roll some balls (Dutchess with roll them back to me it is SO cute), and just be on their level. Really focuses on rubbing their foreheads, buns love that spot as it mimics another bun grooming them. What is their most favorite treat/toy? ONLY give them that if they approach you and take it out of your hand/off your tummy etc. to encourage very good things with being around you. This is also a good thing to do when you are in a small, less stimulated area of your house so they don’t have a gazillion things to do. Focus items and food where you are at, don’t lay on the opposite side of the room where their favorite things are.

[JackRabbit]

I haven’t been doing the bunny thing long, but . . . Two of my bunnies (both are Holland Lops) were a bit like that.  I’ve had these two for going on three months now (they are 5 months old).  Everything I read said to just sit or lay down with them and don’t try to touch them.  Every evening during their play time I sit or lay in the hallway for a while they run and play around me.  At first they ignored me, then they started sniffing me (after they finished playing), then they started letting me pet them.  Next came major pet time — they still don’t want to be messed with until they’ve finished playing but then they started demanding ear rubs (I get a tiny nip or shirt tug if I don’t comply).  Two days ago I was laying face down on the floor (I was actually dozing off!) and I suddenly had two bunnies hopping around on my back!  They still haven’t climbed in my lap, but we’re getting there.  So, to make a long story short, don’t try to train them . . . let them train you.  When they’re ready, they’ll let you know what they like, when and how they like to be petted, etc.  The more time you spend just sitting or laying there with them (you can read a book, surf the web, etc)  the more interesting you will become to them and the more comfortable they will be with you.  It takes time, but the payoff is worth it.

As to the digging and destruction . . . if they want to tear up your carpet then take the carpet away (maybe not literally!).  We have wall-to-wall berber carpeting so we got puzzle-type mats (exercise or safety mats that fit together like puzzle pieces) and put those in our hallway play area.  No more carpet digging and they wipe off easily.  They have a litterbox to “go” in and another that they dig in (and sometimes they forget which is which).  We tried the phonebook thing but my little girl just wanted to pee on it.  Grass mats, cardboard, and balled up plain paper can all be chewed, torn up, tossed, shredded, and are apparently lots of fun.  Just some suggestions.

Hang in there!

[MoveDiagonally]

Are your rabbits spayed/neutered?

[Isabelle]

I want to add that the puzzle mats JackRabbit described can be a problem if ingested, my vet advocated I not use them. They will really hurt your bun’s tummy so it best to avoid those when possible

[i have bunnies]

I sit or lay on my floor for atleast an hour or two a day. The only time they come up to me is when they are chasing each other around the room or when I have treats. And yes they are spayed and neutered.

[Peony]

Maybe try present your hand to them? I know this seems odd but have you ever try scratching the floor when they are near? If they stop and lower their head to that, means you can pet them. Has not worked on my bunny though.

[i have bunnies]

Neither of them will do anything when I scratch the floor. Recently my giant will stop and let me pet her some of the time when I try petting her, but it is always when she is far enough away to make it really uncomfortable for me, and when I move, even the slightest movement, she almost always gets up and moves.
Yesterday I was laying down while using my laptop and I looked over to find her laying next to me, but I think that’s only because I ways laying next to one of the spots she likes to lay in. It still made me happy though.

[i have bunnies]

It is also very hard because my mom only lets me keep them in my room which isn’t very big with my bed and their cage in it, and a lot of it i have blocked off so they can’t destroy any more carpet/whatever in that area. We are moving my room into the basement soon where I will have much more room so hopefully that will help.

[i have bunnies]

It is also very hard because my mom only lets me keep them in my room which isn’t very big with my bed and their cage in it, and a lot of it i have blocked off so they can’t destroy any more carpet/whatever in that area. We are moving my room into the basement soon where I will have much more room so hopefully that will help.

[i have bunnies]

It is also very hard because my mom only lets me keep them in my room which isn’t very big with my bed and their cage in it, and a lot of it i have blocked off so they can’t destroy any more carpet/whatever in that area. We are moving my room into the basement soon where I will have much more room so hopefully that will help.

[Ktiernan]

I’m sorry to hear your having such troubles. I’ve been working hard on bonding with my new bun as well. She did the exact same thing at first where she’d let me pet her but only from an awkward distance and would leave if I tried to move closer. I’m learning patience is definitely the key and is so rewarding when you get little pay offs. The other day Brenna followed me around the apartment while I did a few things..it was crazy exciting for me. I bet you can get there too!

I read on another forum once that with bonded bunnies like yours sound, you have to have bonding time with each of them separately. Maybe try only letting them out once at a time and see if you can make any new progress that way.

I don’t have a lot of advice on the digging as my bun is a chewer (and a tosser) but I would definitely look into a cardboard cat scratch, you don’t need a real standing one just the replacement pads.

[i have bunnies]

I can’t let them out seperately. I always feel bad for the one being left out. And usually when only one comes out they still have no more interest in me than normal.

[BunnyLady1989]

I think the problem that you are having is because you are trying to bond with two versus just one. I’m no expert, and I’ve only had one bunn at a time, but I think it would be much harder to bond with bunnies who are already bonded to each other,you know? Like I said though, I’m no expert. Also though, mine is 3 and a half and I had many problems with bonding with Lulu. It took much longer than normal. At first I thought it was just her attitude (and boy does she have one), because all bunnies are different just like people. Then it wasn’t until this past summer she had pastuerella. Going through that together really made us bond, and I had her since she was just about a month old. The relationship that we have now was definitely worth every hassle that I had with her.

[BunnyLady1989]

Is this your first go with having bunnies? Why did you decide on having two?

[Deleted User]

 it is very helpful to take a whole banana or other large chunk of food they love (maybe kale? Mine love it)and sit with them and let them nibble on it. I would also use a dog exercise pen to enclose around their cage so that you are with them in a small enclosed area with the treat or special food. While they are eating you should pet them. Mine let me do this because they are so engrossed with eating. They allow me to do this while they are eating grain as well. This way they will associate food with being pet. I also treat mine for all aspects of being handled when I pick them up a treat them a few times while they are in my hands and when I put that them down I treat them again. the goal is to associate every aspect of being handled with something good (food, yay!). This has been immensely beneficial for bonding to my 7 rabbits. I also suggest the one on one time even if you feel bad for the other rabbit I promise he will get over it. If your rabbit is calm enough I would pick him up and keep him with you on the couch with a treat that he loves and pet him, and treat and pet and treat him and pet him, for short sessions. This has gone very far with my rabbits and helped a lot for bonding. I hope that this helps a little and good luck 🙂

[BunnyLady1989]

Agree

[Author]

Messages