Making your Bunny your best friend

[Bunnyguy101]

Hi I couldn’t find an article so I apologize if there is one.
I have had my bunny Theo for 3 months now, he is a very confident bun he will jump on new people isn’t very skittish and has is little spots around the flat (he has full reign of the flat apart from the kitchen) and he flops down a lot ecspecially near the fire. However when I come home he doesn’t look he’s really that bothered to see me, he rarely teeth purrs and only wants to be stroked for a few minutes but he does follow me around everywhere and nudges me a lot. I spend a lot of time on the floor, feed him by hand and he honks away when he’s eating and I stroke him.

Are there any suggestions on how I can get closer to my bunny so he is happy to see me and enjoys being stroked for longer for teeth purrs?? What I have noticed when he is lying down he will sometimes do it.

He hasn’t been neutered yet he is about 5 months old but hasn’t displayed any destructive, mounting or spraying behaviour.

Any suggestions? Thankyou

[Mikey]

Different bunnies show affection differently. It all depends on their personality. Him allowing you to feed him, sprawling, nose poking you, ect are his ways of saying he loves you

[Bunnyguy101]

My partner comes around on weekends and he is all over her on the couch and bugs her for strokes and attention but with me he’s not fussed haha

[LBJ10]

Moving to behavior.

I agree with Mikey, although I’m pretty sure all I’m good for is food and naners in their eyes.

[LBJ10]

Ok, nevermind. My phone won’t let me move it. I’ll have to do it later.

[Autumn's Dad]

I have had Autumn over a year now and only just recently has she shown me a great deal of affection. now if I feed her and am sitting/laying next to her she’ll dead flop against me and often fall asleep. I think time is the most powerful judge, even in a very calm setting where they may even trust you from day one (my case), deeper bonds may take years to form. my advice is just take it easy, don’t be disheartened if he is not affectionate now as most rabbits need to mature and mellow out from their hyper teenage ‘years’ where they are most often not affectionate. Good luck
A.D

[Bunnyguy101]

Thank you for all your replies will just keep doing what I’m doing

[MaddieRabbits]

Yes, rabbits are prey animals and will often be shy or aggressive due to their fight or flight instincts. People often assume that because they’re fluffy and cute rabbits would enjoy cuddling and human contact, which some bunnies do, but most of them don’t. The fact that he flops down by the fire and interacts with you sounds like hes a happy bun living his life how he wants to, I know it might seem like he should get excited just as a dog would when you come home but bunnies don’t tend to do that.. unless there is food involved! To me he sounds very happy and relaxed in his setting and I think you should be proud. If you carry on acting how you do, and maybe do some additional 1 on 1 bonding time with lots of treats involved, you will definitely be your bunny’s best friend. Here’s a video that I watched yesterday which is about aggression in rabbits but it also explains some of their thinking and instincts which will help you to understand your bunny: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOwCCeirSY4

[Bunnyguy101]

Hi thank you I will give it a watch, any ideas how I can bond with him with treats? At the moment I hold a small carrot for him and stroke him also he comes to his name (sort of) and can stand on 2 feet when I ask him to aswell when I am giving him treats is there anything else I should or could do?

[MaddieRabbits]

This sounds good. If you mean a baby carrot, they tend to be high in sugar which can be a bit unhealthy. They love them so they can have them as treats very occasionally but for things like bonding or training you will want to be giving a lot of treats to reward them so it’s best to use healthy things like dried fruit or fresh herbs. Most processed rabbit treats in store are unhealthy, sugar filled and fatty so I wouldn’t advise them unless they’re natural.This page is quite helpful for advice on healthy treats: https://www.saveafluff.co.uk/rabbit-info/treats-for-rabbits 

I think your method is really really good and I would definitely carry on doing what you’re doing. There are absolutely LOADS of fun games and methods of training that you can try out and there are millions of treats you can try out along with that which will definitely help you to bond. I would recommend searching on Youtube for some videos on bonding such as this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1E2ZEJO81bM

Good luck and make sure to update us on how it all goes. 

[Author]

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