Distrustful or just adult?

[Muchelle]

Hello, first time writing here! Nice to meet you all  
I write from Italy and I have a 2 years old black/white dwarf bunny named Kuro. He was an “unwanted” gift for my master degree (he was a surprise present from some friends, I had no intention whatsoever to have a rabbit as a pet, also I hate the concept of buying animals to make presents but I digress).

Bottom line is, I have been with him for a while now but I would like to receive some feedback from more experienced bunny owners.
This is potentially going to be a TL;DR post, I’ll try my best to be brief. I’ve highlighted the point where the actual question is.

He was bought as a “2 months toy dwarf” by my idiot ex-friends, but according to the vet he was at least 4 months and not a ‘real’ dwarf (his ears are big and he’s 46cm x 2kgs… about the same as an Italian meat rabbit, just a few cms smaller). Also he already knew how to use the litter box and was deadly afraid of male persons. So I really have no idea about what happened to him before he was given to me. All I know is that he had the worst possible coccidiosis infestation (to the point of anorexia) and the vet said he would have died in a few days hadn’t he been taken away from that shop. Needless to say, he hates being held or picked up – which is a pain when I have to check up on him, but otherwise is not of bother.

We were wary of each other but slowly built a somewhat decent relationship to the point that he would sometimes concede me the honour of lying next to my legs or grooming my eyebrows. 

Last August he became VERY sick (he had been showing signs but I didn’t pick them up even though I had been educating myself online) because of his molar teeth being a complete mess. From September 2015 to January 2016 he’s been on the surgeon’s table 4 times and I have been needing to torture him with all kinds of oral and subcutaneous medicines. He’s been through a hell of pain, poor thing (btw, now I am an expert about medication and picking up sick signs… sigh). 

Now he’s been fine ever since and he’s still his diffident self; he overcame his fear of men (he’s super bonded to my father, that was the person that scared him the most in the beginning), he likes to eat from our hands, likes to be groomed and petted, likes to hang out with everyone when I have guests over. So I guess he’s a pretty satisfied rabbit?

Before the whole sickness ordeal he was much more active and more physical with me. Now he sleeps or does sweet nothings all day and runs around or seeks me only a few hours at night, also he never comes to hang out by my legs anymore and he flees if I bend over and reach to him with more than one hand. Also he stopped following me around (if not to go to the bathroom…cause he likes the bathroom, that’s usually locked.) 

After all this huuge introduction, my question is:
Is he just behaving like an adult? Or can it be he’s still traumatized and is now in an ambivalent love/hate relationship with me? If it is so, what can I do?

p.s.
We basically spend all day together because right now I mostly work from home. I also never miss to go lie on the floor next to him to chill out together or to see if he wants company every couple of hour or so… maybe I’m just annoying him? Or he thinks he’s my alpha? XD 

p.p.s. If you guys think it may be useful to help other people, I’ll write more about our story and his sickness. Also, please forgive my grammar in case I have messed up.

Thanks in advance to whoever will be brave enough to go through this post!

[Q8bunny]

I was brave, and your English is great, so don’t worry.

Your story is sweet – you and your rabbit reluctantly ended up bonding. I am sorry that the poor little guy had such a rough health start, though.

My question is, is your bun neutered now? Because when hormones kick in in boys at around 4-5 months, they get very affectionate and like to shadow the object of their love (you!). Then after neutering their hormones calm down and they become a bit less obsessed with their hoomans.

Not sure if that’s the case here… but either way, as buns get older, their adult personalities can be different from their baby ones, so I don’t think he’s in a love/hate dynamic with you. I think he’s just… a bunny.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Welcome to our forum! Indeed, giving pet as a gift is so moronic. You’re an excellent bunny-mom, but how often do these animals end up unwanted and mistreated?

The behaviour of your bun doesn’t sound very odd to me. My bunny behaves the same: during the day he mostly sleeps in his hiding-box under the coffee table. You’d hardly know he was there. Between 22:00 and 23:00 he suddenly gets cuddly, demanding his pettings next to me on the couch. If I’m not on the couch yet, he’ll start licking it and looking at me reproachfully. This is the most interaction I have throughout the day with him, even though we spend all day together. Most of the day he’s just not in a petting mood, and runs away from my hand if he finds out that there’s no treat in it.

[Muchelle]

Thank you for your replies!

Q8bunny: Kudos for the courage! Well, he’s not neutered. We talked to the veterian hospital’s equipe and they strongly recommended he should be the only pet of the household, so we decided together that as long as he is given ways to vent his sexual hormones (he has his personal sex doll) it isn’t necessary to neuter him… So any hormonal change he might have had was completely ‘natural’.

Ellie: Aw thanks <3 It was very hard to settle with him… I couldn't bring myself to hand him to someone else because he was weakened by the coccidium. I've spent a good three months wrecking my brain about what to do. Also I live with my parents so I've almost been thrown out of home because of this stunt those idiots pulled on me xD
I guess he is a normal adult bunny, then? Maybe as a kiddo he was more active and physical and he just developed in a loner bunny. When he wants me he chatters his teeth (“slave, come here”) or if he wants to say hello he comes to me, goes “HUH” and then walks away… he has an interesting personality.

I’m glad to have received this feedback, I have no experience and I admit that I am afraid he might feel depressed or alone, I feel better now

[Q8bunny]

Well, despite some opinions to the contrary, neutering is not only for the prevention of unwanted pregancies and for the elimination of sexual frustration and other negative behaviours.

In many animals, and frequently in rabbits, the incidence of illness, especially reproductive cancers, increases dramatically in unaltered, non-breeding individuals.

So just something to think about with your little one.

That aside, I guess your bun’s behaviour change is simply a result of his growing up.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Sorry, but I completely disagree with your vet. Please keep in mind that a rabbit is an uncommon pet, and there are a lot of vets who have 0,0 experience with them. Find a vet who specialises in rabbits, and please neuter him.

Rabbits who aren’t neutered can develop behaviour problems and diseases, because of all the raging hormones. Females can develop uterine cancer. Males can start spraying urine everywhere and are prone to agression.

Rabbits get frustrated easily when they are so full of hormones and can’t find a partner. A substitute is not enough. Your rabbit will definately be a lot happier when these inner frustrations are taken away.

[Muchelle]

According to our vet hospital’s research, the chance of testicular cancer in neutered/unneutered males is about the same (basically, if genetics are bad, they’re bad) so we decided to trust them all the way. On his part, Kuro never had annoying behaviours like peeing around since he feels the boss of this house and he never misses one hot date with his sex-doll 

I do assure you that he is clinically very very very followed, so if anything weird starts to happen to him, we’ll know in the blink of an eye!

[Muchelle]

Sorry for the double post, my internet is totally going crazy right now! It won’t stay connected long enough for me to go through the “edit” button…

The equipe that follows him is composed by two specialized surgeons and an anesthesiologist, all of them work only with exotic animals (one of the two surgeons works only with rabbits), so we decided to trust them. They have been wonderful with him up until now, saving his life three times in these bad months he’s had.
I know it is an unpopular decision (just as our joined decision to have him live with no other bunny-mates), but this is how it will be for now. Of course if he will show signs of psychological or physical suffering on any of his monthly check-ups, we will discuss again our options with the equipe.

This decision was ultimately taken for *him* personally due to his clinical situation (he will be under strict control for six more months), so in no way I am advocating not-neutering/spaying animals. I know how important it is and I generally support it strongly.

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