Rabbit acts attention starved despite lots of attention

[Zainin]

My rabbit is a two-month old rescue, miniature hotot\dutch mix. I have rabbit experience, having fostered and worked in a shelter before, but I’ve never experienced this.

I can’t let him have free range of my apartment due to my lease rules, but he’s got a large enclosure with a  large cage attached to a dog playpen he always has access to. I give him lots of toys I exchange out regularly and he’s (for now) a lone bun, but he does have a plush companion he’s very affectionate to.

I let him out to play for at least an hour and a half every day in half hour clumps, and my fiance and I are both very affectionate with him, with lots of petting, grooming, etc. He’s very affectionate back with lots of chinning and licking to us both. The issue is, he’s constantly begging at the bars of the enclosure and he’ll poke his paws through the bars to get your attention if you walk by. We both lean down and give him pets every time we go by. It’s just that even with all the attention he gets he always acts starved for it. I do know that the previous owners he was rescued from didn’t treat him well- he was ignored and only fed pellets, and not given any toys at all, so I’m wondering if it’s a result of that?

Has anyone experienced this, and is there anything I can do?

[Bam]

I have never had a baby bunny, but I’d say give him attention he craves. It’s very important for young mammals to get close contact (sin against skin if possible) with other mammals. It actually changes how their health becomes later in life. I just read a studie about rats where rat babies that had affectionate caring mothers grew up to be more healthy and less prone to stress than rats that hade uncaring mothers. The study included cross fostering to rule out genetic reasons for stress-proneness and poor health. Now rats and rabbits are not the same, a bunny mother doesn’t constantly tend to her young like a rat mother does, but bunny babies as a rule have siblings that they are in very close contact with.

I don’t believe in trying to make young animals independent by refusing them attention, as is sometimes recommended with dogs. I think that a need for contact and attention is best cured by supplying lots and lots of contact and attention while the animal is young. That said, wild young bunnies whose mothers soon after giving birth have second litters will let their first young fend for themselves early.

 

It is very possible that your bunny would benefit greatly from having a bunny friend. 

[Zainin]

We do give him lots of attention though, is my point. I know he needs love and attention. We don’t ignore him in the slightest. It’s just he acts as if he is ignored even though we constantly interact with him. He gets to leave his enclosure at least an hour and a half a day, plus he is constantly being pet and played with while in his enclosure. He gets lots of love, and lots of pets, and he loves to snuggle and play. It’s just he never acts as if he’s gotten ENOUGH attention despite me and my partner lavishing him with it.

He gets minimum an hour and a half of time outside his enclosure with us daily, minimum. He gets played with besides that in his pen and he gets pets literally any time you come near him, which is constantly as he’s set up right in the centre of our living space. I have experience with many buns and yes, they’re gregarious, but I’ve never seen one so starved for attention. I easily give him hours of my time a day in pockets throughout the day as I work from home but the second I walk aeay, after run time, a game of fetch, and a solid ten minutes of petting, he still begs to be pet. This is the level I’m meaning.

[Bam]

Oh, I didn’t mean to imply that you weren’t giving him enough attention, I just wanted to say don’t stop! With puppy dogs people are sometimes recommended to shut the dog into a room and leave it to howl and cry all it wants until it “tires” and become a “good dog”. It results in learned helplessness, ie the dog learns it has no way to impact it’s own situation. It’s sad imo and often leads to other unwanted behaviors. So I just wanted to say: Don’t do that, in case so has suggested sth like it to you. It doesn’t seem like you’ve considered anything like it though, I was just being over-cautious.

Sometimes human companionship may not be enough though. Many rabbits benefit greatly from a rabbit friend. As I’m sure you know =) This may not be a good option for you though, going from one to two rabbits is a big step.

I really hope someone with experience in emotionally needy buns sees this thread and can offer some help or at least some suggestions.

[Zainin]

I see, sorry for the misunderstanding! Yes, you’re right. Human company is often not enough. Once I have him neutered I do want to get him a bondmate but as he’s only 2 months that is a bit off still.

I just worry is all! I hope I’m not alone in this experience. Thank you so much for your help!

[redbunbun]

My Tossu was the same as a baby – with the difference that he was out of his enclosure and with people 12-16h a day! He would never tire of affection, and was constantly sitting next to me, begging for pets, wanting to be noticed, etc. Tossu got “over it” when he was around four or five months old, but after being with us only a few weeks he would be content just to sit on/near my feet or next to me as I sat on the couch, so he didn’t need to constantly be pet. This made it much easier to keep up with his social demands. It was clear the physical contact was extremely important to him, even if it was just him sitting next to me.

Remembering what Tossu was like, I feel like 1,5h out of a 24-hour-day is not much time at all for an affectionate baby bunny. He’s probably spent all his waking and sleeping moments with his siblings and mother up until relatively recently, and suddenly being alone in an enclosure for 22+ hours a day is quite a lot to ask of a baby. An hour and a half is not long at all. I understand that you and your fiance pet him whenever you walk by, but even then, you’re not “in the space with him”, you’re just an occasional visitor.

Is it possible for you to take your work into the bunny’s enclosure? If you have a laptop, you could work next to your bunny for at least a few more hours out of the day, just so that he can lie next to you and get some of that physical contact from another sentient being.

[Gina.Jenny]

We recently adopted two bunnies, who have just been spayed. One of the bunnies struggled to keep warm after, and I spent many hours cuddling her with warm blankets, and the past couple of days, she is behaving in a very similar way to you describe, and I would guess for similar reasons.

There is a hormone mammals produce called oxytocin, sometimes called the cuddle hormone. When a human strokes a furry friend, it releases oxytocin for the person doing the stoking, and I imagine it also does for the furry friend being stroked, and when animals groom each other, or side side by side, I guess that oxytocin is also produced then too? Could you maybe make those quick pets in passing just a little bit longer? And maybe a few slightly longer times. I am using the time I take to drink a cup of tea as time to sit beside Jenny and give her lots of strokes.

As redbunbun says, 1.5 hours isn’t a big amount out of 24 for a baby needing that physical contact he has lost from snuggling in beside his siblings.

[Author]

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