Possible false pregnancy?? (Updated)

[Amaakir]

Hey, everyone, I need some advice on trying to figure out my lionhead bunny, Ender.

My wife and I adopted Ender about 4 months ago, he should be 7-8 months old now (Not neutered yet, but he has his appointment for this Saturday! )

Anyway, I need some help decyphering this little guy; he’s always been a little difficult, we adopted him from a pet shop where they had him in a teeny tiny cage, he was supposed to be 3-4 months then. It’s been difficult trying to adjust him to his new home, but after a couple of months he really became happy with us.

However, we had to go out of town for the weekend and left him home, he’s an indoor rabbit living in a free range spare bedroom (bunny proofed of course) and we had my inlaws take care of him and feed him until we returned. The funny thing is, he began acting very weird on our return. He has completely changed his routine, and is incredibly skittish, like he doesn’t recognize us any more sometimes!

However, when given the chance, he’ll hop on my belly when I lay down and groom me, but the moment I try to pet him he will run away inmediately (No thumping nor grunting, he’ll just run back to his cardboard castle). This has me very confused, I know a change in his behaviour is a serious matter as it can mean there’s an illness underneath it, but I managed to hold him and check him thoroughly and didn’t find anything weird, he’s still eating a lot and pooing as usual, it’s just that he’s become very skittish whenever we move or try to pet him, things that he was already used to a couple of days ago, he would even purr and flatten whenever we would pet him.

I’m very confused and worried that he might be sick somehow, another reason could be hormones, maybe? That’s why we’re having him neutered this weekend, but I’d still like some input from the experts!

 

Thanks in advance!

 

[Mikey]

You likely smell a bit different from your trip, so he is getting used to you again Allow him to keep exploring you and grooming you, but try not to pet him as much for a little while. Talk to him softly every now and then since he likely still recognizes your voice, this could help him ‘recognize’ you again

It could also be hormones. Hormones made my most cuddley, attention needing rabbit into a super independent bun who only enjoys cuddles once in a blue moon

[Amaakir]

Hi, Mikey, thanks for your reply!

Is it normal that it takes so long? We’ve left him alone once before and he didn’t react this way, just this morning he literally ran like all hell broke lose when I entered the room as I usually do, he just stayed in a corner until I finished serving him his 8 am meal. He constantly avoids contact and is always giving us the cold butt, I really miss our old bunny! It’s as if someone exchanged our loving rabbit and replaced him with a paranoid one!

[Mikey]

Im not sure. Wherever i travel, my bunnies come with me. But theres posts often enough about people who travel and then for a week or less after, their bunnies treat them differently. It also could be hormones making him confused about you. I would work on bonding with him again by just laying on the floor for an hour or two each day. You can read a book or something else thats easy to do on the floor. You can let him run around you, hop onto you, ect and you will have to semi ignore him while he explores. Once he is used to you laying around him, you can start petting him again. He will likely get used to that pretty easily

[jerseygirl]

It might be just a matter of time for him to settle again, like when you first brought him home. It’s almost as if something gave him a fright while you were away.

Another thing with lionheads is sometimes the mane gets too long and obscures their side vision. That can have them startling easily at times.

[Amaakir]

Hello , everyone!

Its been a long time and, man, have i got an interesting update on Ender.
Turns out its a SHE, not a he. We where very shocked to hear this from our vet when we took Ender to get neutered.
Anyway, in the end we couldnt get her spayed, since shes always been extremely nervous we wanted to give her some time to recover from the last visit.
The reason im writing is the following: we discovered she had a bad case of ear mites and we read about this honey treatment so we decided to try it. Good news is her ear is like brand spanking new, its amazing how good the honey treatment worked out, the bad news is she now hates me. Allow me to explain: Ive always been the one who cleans her cage, picks her up for physical checks, etc , so when my wife and i decided upon the honey treatment it was only natural that i did the chasing and picking her up and applied the honey, my wife did the calming her down support.
I always hold her the correct way, and she never got hurt, but she got increasingly nervous around me and would avoid me petting her, etc. She got to the point where she would run like hell broke loose around the room if i sat down on the floor.
It got so extreme, that the last time we treated her SHE SCREAMED when i picked her up. My wife and I got so terrified we decided then and there to stop treatment. Since then, she completeley avoids me, but will respond to my wife and will let her pet her.
This has been going on for a week and it deeply depresses me.
Any advice on how to regain my rsbbits trust? Is it possible after that scream??

[Amaakir]

Any help, please? This has been going on over a week now.
Ive been hand feeding her ever since and if i sit down with her she eventually hops on and licks my clothes, but i cant pet her and avoids me all day long.
She wont thump or grunt or anything, she just runs away, is she holding a grudge against me or something?
Btw, im not all over her all day long, last time I tried petting her was 3 days ago
She accepts eating from my hand and my bribes, but she runs away as soon as shes done.

[jerseygirl]

Oh I hadn’t seen the update about Ender. What a surprise for you!

She does seem to take some time to adjust judging from her history. It may be just a matter of patience and continuing the approach you are taking. Hand feeding her pellets is a great way re build the relationship. I wouldn’t say she is holding a grudge exactly, she’s just very wary at the moment. Ive read others stories here and the rabbits eventually do come back to being more trusting.

At the vet appointment (when you still thought she was a He) did they check her over thoroughly. In her ears and her eyesight?

[VivaLaBunz]

If she accepts food from you then that is a good sign! Bunnies can be very fearful after a stressful event. It may take a while before she starts acting “normal” again, maybe even months. It’s also possible that her hormones are causing this. I know that my hormonal lionhead wanted really nothing to do with me, although she was more aggressive than fearful. So spaying her and allowing some time for her hormones to die down might help but fear is a very strong and primal emotion.

You need to just stop trying to touch and hold her and let her come to you, many people make this mistake with animals. Literally just walk into the room she’s in and sit down on the floor and ignore her. Put some treats around you while you’re sitting there. Maybe watch something, play on your phone, read a book, etc. Spending time on the floor with her makes you look less threatening. Not initiating contact will make her trust you more. The treats will coax her over to you (hopefully). Maybe make this a daily feeding routine for veggies or pellets as these make healthy treats.

Time is the biggest factor. It is a lot easier to break trust than it is to regain it, so this is going to take time. But it is definitely not impossible.

[jerseygirl]

Another thing to do is just get down on the floor and read the paper, a book, browse the internet etc. Basically be down at her level but ignore her. Rabbits usually come and demand your attention then. I also think it puts us in a “calm headspace” that animals pick up on and find us more approachable. We are not putting out some sort of demand, we’re just hanging out with no expectation. 

[Amaakir]

Thank you so much for your replies!

@jerseygirl: yes it was quite the shock! The store clerk we bought her from told us it was a he so we kinda went with it.
I dont think they did any check up on her, we do suspect thats where she got the ear mites, though, we dont want to take her back there again, but its hard to find a rabbit savvy vet here, the place we went was listed as a rabbit savvy on a list we found online.

@VivaLaBunz: Shes been through stressful eventos before (moving, ver visits) and shes never acted this way before, it hurts that its only with me, Ender responds well with my wife.
My wife also suggested to stop trying to get close to her, but being a freelance artist and spending all day at home will make Ender hide all morning until my wife gets home.

[Amaakir]

@jerseygirl: I do that every day after teaching and she actually hops on and grooms me a lot. Thats why Im so confused hahaha

[jerseygirl]

My wife also suggested to stop trying to get close to her, but being a freelance artist and spending all day at home will make Ender hide all morning until my wife gets home.

This may be the time she sleeps the most though. My rabbits are very inactive between 10am and 3pm.

Sometimes it’s out size and shape too. If you’re hands are bigger, she may liken them to a larger bird swooping in. I have a rabbit who was afraid of hands for the longest time. He is elderly now and better with them but he was always skittish about hands. I wonder if it would be worth you trying putting a light coloured sock on your hand and seeing if she copes with pets that way?

@jerseygirl: I do that every day after teaching and she actually hops on and grooms me a lot. That’s why Im so confused haha

Well that’s a high compliment! Im just going to be jealous now. None of my rabbits (5) groom me. :'(

ETA: Are you using anything new with your work that she could be reacting to the smell on your hands?

[Amaakir]

Sometimes it’s out size and shape too. If you’re hands are bigger, she may liken them to a larger bird swooping in. I have a rabbit who was afraid of hands for the longest time. He is elderly now and better with them but he was always skittish about hands. I wonder if it would be worth you trying putting a light coloured sock on your hand and seeing if she copes with pets that way?

I really don’t think so, she’s been with us for 6 months now and I’ve pet her a lot in the past without any issues, purring and all.

I get it might be a bit too soon to post an update, but I think it’s gotten worse. I haven’t had any form of contact with her since my last post, I only come in and feed her, but now she refuses to eat from my hand. Whats worse, she won’t even come out of her hiding spot if I’m in the same room (Which is a problem since that’s where I work). In order to get her to eat, I have to step outside of the room until she’s finished and then get back to work while she sulks in her hiding spot.
I’m sorry if I sound very anxious but this situation deeply saddens me, she used to be perfectly fine with me before we began her ear treatment and now she can’t stand me in the same room :/ She no longer gets close to me nor will she accept any bribe.
Could it be the work of hormones?

[Amaakir]

Hey, all,
Another interesting update con Ender:
So shes lately become incredibly fixated on one of the rooms corners. Like,she wont leave the spot most of the day. Another curious thing shes doing is, since theres a lot of moving boxes in that corner, shes biting these small paper strips and gathering them up in that corner.
Shes always busy biting and clawing away at them, we’ve cleaned them twice and she quickly gathers another mountain of paper strips.
Shes also become very aggressive towards anyone that tries to touch her while near that corner. This all seems to point to a false pregnancy, but I need some confirmation or advice on how to deal with it.
We’re afraid she wont trust or love us anymore as she just recently began growling at my wife.
At least Enders a lot more comfortable with my pressence as long as I dont try petting her :p

[Azerane]

How long do you let her nest before clearing it away? You may just have to leave the nest until she is done with it and then clear it away, otherwise she will just continually build.

Certainly her behaviour will be the result of her hormones, being territorial etc. Once she’s spayed you will see her settle down, and hopefully she’ll come out of her shell again.

[jerseygirl]

Well false pregnancy would explain a lot of her change in behaviour! The nesting stage is normally the final stage, so once she loses interest in the nest, you might see a more positive change in her.

If you do want to go ahead and have her desexed, just wait a few weeks after the false pregnancy has resolved.

[Author]

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