Hey everyone!
I would like to say that I made this account due to my situation and this is my first post so please go easy on me. I am a college student who just this year adopted a rabbit so I’d like to start my story there. Me and my roommates just moved into a new apartment this year for college and were very happy with the new space. Both my roommates thought it would be a good idea to get a apartment pet ( and yes I know this start off already sounds bad) I at first was very sure that I did not want one at first and that if they would like one they should get it on there own. They had many ideas but decided that a rabbit would be the simplest pet ( because I said any larger that I wouldn’t allow it). Slowly but surely my want for a fluffy friend started to happen. The second roommate insisted that a rabbit was simple to take care of and said that most pet stores are reasonably cheap. I first did research on the rabbits and learned that it was quite a lie. Long story short my young mind and Pooff’s cute face got the better of me and I impulsed bought ( with second roommate) Pooff for a total of 20$ ( Food, Cage and necessity). Now I know this sounds bad and it is, in my hindsight I realize I was a idiot. The pet shop is a mom and pop back of the door deal and they didn’t seem that quite reputable. Fast forward to when we brought him home, she was great , she didn’t mind being pet and she loved to hop around the boxes of cardboard we set up .She didn’t even mind being picked up. The first few weeks were great I kept her well fed, made sure she was out a lot ( the cage my roommate bought was too small with information I gathered ) and I let her do her own thing. Well after I did more information gathering I realized that pooff was just scared, that she just didn’t know how to react to his environment , . I realized this when the said roommate, who owned a rabbit before hand, handled the rabbit very roughly. He also started to not take care of Pooff I.E I was left to the cleaning the cage and buying supplies. We’ll my fear before buying the pet basically happened, they gave it attention for the next few weeks and slowly but surely they lost interest and I realized that I was the only one caring about Pooff in the long run (after college).
We would all take turns taking pooff over break, which actually got me paranoid because I knew they would not treat pooff the way that she should be treated ( they basically treated her like a hamster ).I started to worry that the sole responsibility of the rabbit would be left to me ( which I now know is actually a necessity). This is when Pooff started to be more herself. This was the part that hurts . Basically she doesn’t like being pet nor picked up . She actually charges my hand every time I enter her cage and the only way I get her to socialize with me is to lay out a course of cardboard boxes and toys for her to play with Sometimes she’ll even growl when I give her a toy . Now I understood that she has prey instincts and that some rabbits don’t like to be pet but this ruined me. Pooff was now just becoming something I spent money on to watch play. Don’t get me wrong, I love Pooff which is weird due to the short time I’ve had her , but me not being able to play with her or pet her made it un-fun to be with her .After the first semester when I toke Pooff back home with me over winter break my parents and friends back home got to meet her. My mom and dad were at first hesitant but my mom who saw how I constantly cared for the rabbit fell for her too. She even bought me a Larger cage and even a 10 pounds of food! This made it worse because Pooff’s behavior made it harder and harder to like her. Fast forward to know and Pooff’s has begun to be warmed up to me and will occasionally run and sniff me or run across my chest and burrow ( if I lye down ) but her negative behavior still has not stopped .
( Sorry For the Long Story!) My Problem is this now, I love Pooff to death and now have come to put her safety and well being over anything else but her antisocial behavior has become quite worn out she even growls when I’m in her cage or when I stop her from chewing on a item. Now I understand that some rabbits are just like that and it’s what gives it there uniqueness but it’s not the particular aspects I wanted in a Pet. I realize now that it’s my own fault, it was a stupid mistake made by a impulsive guy.I should of done more research and let pooff grow more to inspect her personality ( before adoption). Part of me has the idea of giving pooff away cage and all. my biggest worry though, is that if she goes to good home and not another person like me who didn’t know what they were getting themselves (completely) into. Another part of me thinks I should wait it out and see if she changes or warms up to me even more . I just want to ask what should I do? I love her to death but if I cant pet my pet then it seizes to be a pet to me. I just wanted some advice from people with more experience then me and not just another article or document I read online. Preferably with people who have adopted multiple rabbits.
Pooff is a dwarf rabbit and has not been fixed. Please ask questions if you have any and ill try to give you an honest response. I need all the advice I can get. In the end all I care about pooffs well being . The quicker the answer the better!