Help with new bunny

[Ramble]

Hello all.

Firstly, I’d just like to thank you all for all this forum and the posts. I got my first bunny rabbit (a mini-lop) called Rumi about 5 weeks ago (he was 12 weeks when I got him) and all the advice here has been really invaluable.

Will give some backgroung in case it helps. Had already set him up a large cage with a pen area (indoors in living room) when I brought him home. I covered half the cage with a blanket to give him some hiding space and within a day he was coming out and (VERY warily) starting to sniff me out. He remained very very wary of me and would hide as soon as I entered the room. I had assumed, because of how extremely wary he continued to be of me, that it would take quite a while to bond with him (understandably) but 5/6 in he was running around the whole pen whenever I sat in with him, binkying, letting me pet him and eating veg out my hand (will demand veg from my hand now) and flopping next to me to lie down.

Despite this, he would still sometimes be very stand-offish with me. It’s equally common for him to be binkying around, licking me and jumping on me as it is for him to keep himself at a constant distance from me.  He would start sometimes pushing my hand out of his cage if i reached in to pet him and would randomly start exhibiting behaviour that I had offended him (not just for petting him in the cage – which he sometimes actively gets me to do while he’s chewing hay or snoozing by nudging me if I’m sat near him – but for reasons I still for the life of me can’t work out). He escalated “you’ve pissed me off signs” really quickly one week and would not come near me (this was about 3 weeks in) to the point that I thought maybe that’s just the way he is and then i was lying on the floor and he came up on his own and started licking my face!

He now has the full run of the open plan living room and kitchen, plenty of toys (carboard boxes, a phone book, and lightweight chewable balls to chuck around) and even though I’ve only got the one I make sure to spend AT LEAST two hours a day sitting with him whether we’re playing or he’s snoozing. Sometimes he will be extremely extremely affectionate, licking my face, hands and toes (whatever he can get to) binkying, nudging me to groom him and even following me if I turn to leave or get up and go into the kitchen, nudging me that he still wants to play. Sometimes he will not even look at me if I’m in the room, sat with his back to me and keep himself at a distance from me. If I give him treats he’ll come eat them out of my hand then go back to the distance.

Today, I’m working from home and came to sit with him with my laptop. He immediately jumped out to play but wouldn’t let me near him and quickly went back in the cage but then started chewing at the bars (one side of it was open) and digging/biting incessantly at the plastic but would not let me pet him to soothe him. I got him some broccolli and he jumped up onto my lap to eat it and licked my hands and fingers after and now is sat with is back to me again refusing to acknowledge me.

So basically, do I just have a really contrary rabbit? Sometimes he loves me doing things that at other times piss him off. He has a lot of space, toys and attention but will sit alone in his cage a lot even when people are around sat on the floor that he knows and trusts. I get pretty worried I’m upsetting him a lot too and wonder whether he’s just picking up on my stress.

Thank you in advance from me and Rumi

Best,

Anxious bunny friend

[ThorBunny]

Is Rumi neutered? Sometimes hormones can contribute to a rabbit’s “contrary” nature, and he is about the right age for those things to be kicking in!

Other than that I would say that he sounds normal compared to my experience My mini-lop is mostly sweet and friendly, but sometimes she will just get in the mood to be on her own, or be destructive. She is free roam in the apartment all the time, so I don’t think its about exercise time or boredom. Over time, I have gotten better on picking up subtle signals she is giving me so I can avoid pissing her off more. But sometimes it is still a mystery.

This site is gold for understanding your rabbit: http://language.rabbitspeak.com/

[Ramble]

Many thanks. Yes Rumi has free roam pretty much all the time (unless he’s having a time out for chewing the furniture). He hasn’t been neutered yet am planning on taking him to the vet soon to get it done – did wonder if that was it. Thanks. Yes I have seen that site it is incredible.

[Author]

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