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Forum BEHAVIOR Scaredy Bunny! Need Advice (sorry – long!)

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    • Katscarpena
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        I posted over in bonding a little on Chipper – a Mini Rex/Lionhead mix we are hoping to at least get to tolerate our energetic little Jersey Wooly Licorice.

        I’m concerned about him. He is such a scardey bunny. I do have some experience with small animals – not as much with rabbits who are rescues. We got him from the SPCA.

        Here is what we know: he was rescued with a large amount of other rabbits in an unacceptable outdoor hutch. He came to the SPCA with a wound. They treated it and then neutered him. He was then adopted, and brought back. He has been here at our house going on 2 weeks. We do have children (2 boys, 6 and 10) – they are extremely respectful (never crowding his cage, do not stick fingers in, and would never pick him up. He seems to actually like them better then us adults.

        Set-up:

         

        We have him alone in the kitchen – it’s gated off. Our other rabbit absolutely cannot get to him. They can hear each other though – and we’ve been trying to let them meet n greet though an old window screen. That is going better and better actually.  I have been using organic dandelion greens to lure them near each other – they sit side by side eating. I think that is a good sign.

        Behaviors that worry me:

        He simply will NOT leave his cage of his own volition. Period. He cowers and hides 80-% of the day.

        When we do get him out – there’s a little grunting in “protest” but he usually perks up then. Two days ago he sat with my husband for about 2 hours – did a little exploring, sniffing all around, then cleaning himself, and finally snuggling right in with my hubby. This is huge progress. He was acting VERY scared of him.

        Then yesterday – something startled him when I had him out in the kitchen. He was thumping and cowering in a corner. =(  I wasn’t sure what to do – because when I came near, he thumped again. Finally, I was able to kind of shoo him to his cage, and he seemed ok after a treat. (unsweetened organic Banana chips.)

        Problem: Now he is acting more terrified then ever!!!

        Question: are we doing him more harm then good by taking him out? I know he needs exercise. He does generally seem ok once out and about. What do I do here?


      • manic_muncher
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          I had similar issues with Bumpy when I first brought him home. He really was worrying me about not getting enough exercise and I was terrified he was going to hurt himself when he began resorting to doing his bunny 500 runs inside the cage. You say he’s in the kitchen. What kind of flooring is just outside his door? If it’s linoleum or tile, that may be deterring him from coming out on his own. As soon as I put down a piece of indoor/outdoor carpet, Bumpy came right out, like within minutes. This was after almost a month of him refusing to come out on his own.

          As for his thumping and being scared at noises, you never know what he has had to deal with coming to you as a rescue. It may have been very loud and noisy. The first adopted household may have had children that terrified him. I would leave him alone. Let him hide and get used to your normal household sounds, make sure he has something to step onto that is non-slippery when you have his door open during designated floor play time. Eventually he will get curious and settle enough to come out on his own.

          I would grab Bumpy and force him outside his cage (Aug 2013), and while his setup is much different now and he has no problem running around and exploring places when his xpen is open, I’m not quite sure that he’s forgotten the early days. He’s much more friendly and comes running up to the bars when I walk by, but he scoots out of reach if he even thinks I might be reaching for him. I think Chipper just needs more time. He has had a lot to adjust to recently, being saved, being treated, getting neutered, being adopted then returned and adopted again. His world has been turned upside-down so much, he doesn’t know what will happen next. Rabbits take a long time to develop trust, it will definitely take some time with him.

          Don’t give up on him! Continue to speak softly to him whenever you are in the room, offer him his treats at his doorway, but don’t force him to come out, sit quietly next to the cage. Maybe have the kids do their homework on the floor so he can get used to them being nearby and motionless too. Having them lay on the floor will be more inviting to him. Maybe leave a radio on during the day when no one is home to help him get used to noises. (Bumpy isn’t bothered by any noises now with the TV playing horror and action 24/7)

          It sounds like Chipper will be a challenge to win over, I hope you the best!


        • friedegg
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            I think you’re doing fine – some bunnies will take more time to adapt than others. When our bun was getting used to the house, even after two months – loud bangs from upstairs would startle her and she would run and hide under my bed while thumping her feet (and this was a bunny raised from small, never went through the stuff that yours did). Just let him know that you wont harm him. Considering his previous condition – its probably going to take a while to get his trust back up, but it will happen. Hang in there

            On a side note, ours *still* will act like a scaredy bun if something seems wrong to her.

            oh…and if its any comfort to you – we have a small house for our bunny to hide in, and for the first two weeks or so she would *never* leave that place until I forced her out (gently)


          • LBJ10
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              I read this and what you posted last in your other thread. Honestly, it sounds like the cage is his security blanket. The poor thing was in horrible conditions, rescued, adopted, returned, and then adopted again. Could it be that the only consistent thing in his life has been his cage? When you look at it that way, it’s understandable that he wants to be in there. It makes him feel safe. As suggested by others and myself in the other thread, he may be scared jumping out of the cage and onto a slippery surface. So I would do what you can to set him up for success and then let him figure things out on his own. Eventually he will see that it is okay to come out of his cage. I think he just needs more time.


            • BlueMoods
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                Barricade off a small (about 4 times the size of the rabbit) area outside his cage that he can get to from inside the cage. put his food and hay out there but close enough that he can reach it and still be half in the cage he thinks is safe. Each day move the food further away, until he is comfortably going all over the small area, then make it bigger and move the food further away. In time the food will be in the next room and bunny will be happy going to get it, and exploring everything in between on the way.

                He’s used to only having a cage that he can claim as his safe territory, expanding it a little at a time lets him get comfortable with just a little bit of his bigger area at a time, then he knows that is okay, so, a little more isn’t so hard for him to accept as okay for him to be in.


              • justwildbeat
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                  Definitely check and see if changing/covering the flooring encourages Chipper to come out. This was what ultimately got my bun to come out of this cage. As others have mentioned the cage seems to be his safe zone. You can also try attaching a NIC grid or a xpen around this cage. That way it looks and feels like a cage but gives more room to run around in. Continue to be patient with him and try to keep things routine.


                • Katscarpena
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                    This is all incredibly helpful. I grabbed a bath mat (it’s a nice soft one from Pottery Barn) and placed it in front of his cage. I also left a trail on banana to see if that would get him out. He ate all of it except the piece outside his cage. lol There is no carpet here really though. I’m trying to think if he is better off on our lower level in the rec room. There is an area carpet there. It is certainly quieter down there then my kitchen and the kids are down there quite a bit. (Model trains are there, play room, video games, etc). I just like the buns here with me. =) I find them entertaining and I like having company while I’m working. As long as I’m not completely traumatizing him by taking him out – I’d like to keep doing it to try and socialize him.

                    It’s also very reassuring to hear I could just have wrong expectations about Chipper’s settling in time. My husband reminded me on the phone today that the cat hid in the basement and did not come out from under an old oil tank at all for 3 full days when me moved here 10 years ago. Took me almost 3 weeks to coax him upstairs. He was a scardey cat – we rescued him at age 6, and had him until he passed this January at age 18. He was also terrified of Licorice when we brought him home. lol My poor old man. He was so sweet =)


                  • Ellis's Mom
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                      It took Ellis a few months to figure out how to deal with our hardwood floors. We have some small throw rugs and runners, but there’s a lot of “lava” for him to navigate if he wants to join the family in the living room. We did get one more throw rug for the largest section he needs to traverse, and that helped. He doesn’t like the linoleum in the kitchen at all though…way too slippery.

                      We also tempted him to be more adventurous in leaving his cage by putting his greens, timothy cubes, and even a few pellets (“bunny crack”) on the rugs from time to time. Eventually he came to realize that whatever he can get to in the front two rooms is his, and now he is fine. He has a circuit he runs, around in his cage, into the living room, around the coffee table, back to the front hall, down the carpet runner to the front door, bink to turn around, then back the the entrance between the two rooms, to see if anyone noticed. We’re still not sure if we’re supposed to notice or not supposed to – he’s a very private rabbit – but we always squeal and I think he knows it makes us happy.

                      We leave Ellis’s cage open whenever we can. It’s his choice whether or not he wants to join us. His active times are late morning/early afternoon and from about 10pm-1am, which corresponds to our family time.

                      It has taken some time for us to get to the level of involvement that we have so far. He’s still not very cuddly, and lets us know if he doesn’t want to play. But we’re developing our new family dynamic without rushing and things seem to be working out.


                    • Katscarpena
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                        I followed everyone’s advice – and guess who is coming out on his own!!!! Sorry the viedo is dark – he does not like flashes/ bright lights.

                        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSS8kuZoSno&feature=youtu.be

                        Unfortunately – it’s put Licorice in to bunny overdrive. He does NOT like Chipper in his space. I think they’ll settle after a bit – and Chips is out sleeping on his mat in front of the cage even though Licorice is frantically trying to find a way in there.


                      • LBJ10
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                          I think Licorice will get over it eventually. This might help you with bonding later on too.


                        • manic_muncher
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                            YAY!


                          • Beka27
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                              That’s great news! The best gift you can give him right now is time… He’ll come around 🙂


                            • Katscarpena
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                                He seems better and better each day now that we have moved him. Yay Chipper!

                                Also – Licorice is chilling out. They have taken to sitting directly next to each other – sort of side by side through the screen. When we had them both out in the living room yesterday – Licorice kind of followed him (we did not allow chasing) – but they did a lot of sniffing, no nipping. Chipper thumped a few times here and there – Licorice responded by backing away and finding a lap to sit on. I’d say that is progress on both fronts!

                                Sorry this pic is fuzzy – Chipper really does not like the flash. Also – he is a big time chewer/digger. he destroyed that bath mat completely by pulling it all apart! Glad it’s organic cotton…

                                 photo 18b33083-30af-44fb-916a-1a6e29c634da.jpg

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                            Forum BEHAVIOR Scaredy Bunny! Need Advice (sorry – long!)