Regaining rabbit’s trust?

[Noodles]

Hi everyone, I recently adopted Cinnabun a couple of days ago (Friday) and things were going pretty smoothly. I haven’t been approaching her, I’ve been letting her approach me, and she’s sniffed me and circled me and shown quite a lot of interest! She also let me pet her and hand feed her. She just got spayed on Monday so I’ve also had to give her medicine orally through a syringe, I let the boyfriend pick her up instead of me as to not associate me with that, as she’s not very fond of being picked up (or at least because she still doesn’t trust us 100%…) she definitely has not liked it but she has tolerated it. 

Anyway, last night while hopping around, Cinnabun managed to get a large piece of duct tape stuck to her foot.  We honestly have no idea where it came from, until checking that it came off near the AC box wire in a small corner of the room. I’m super angry with myself that I didn’t know it was there…my poor bunny! My boyfriend and I tried to remove it without her noticing at first, but it was on there pretty good so we had to pick her up to take it off. He picked her up (she REALLY did NOT want to be picked up, grunting and lunging beforehand) finally after 3 hours. I could tell she was really bothered by the tape and I really didn’t want her chewing it/eating it. We finally removed it all very carefully and slowly with scissors and water, but poor Cinnabun was scared to death the entire time, and it took a little over 5 whole minutes!! Many poops were made… after we put her down, she rushed to her cage and laid down by the door. I placed a small piece of apple near her since I didn’t want to anger her/scare her, she lunges if your hand enters her cage area. This is kind of her safe space, we never enter it when she is inside. She wouldn’t come out for the rest of the night. This morning when I woke up she was in her favorite spot behind the sofa, just kind of chilling, but she won’t really come out from hiding, which I totally understand.

I feel like she no longer wants to trust me (and I definitely understand that), how can I regain the trust we were establishing the past couple of days? I’m not approaching her and I put her greens in her food bowl instead of hand feeding this morning, as she did not look very keen on coming out of her favorite spot. 

[Deleted User]

Since it’s only been a couple days that you’ve had her, I would just give her some more time. Since that experience, she is probably upset and in fear of something like that happening again. With time, I do think it will resolve and she will trust you again. Some buns are more comfortable than others, and you just have to give them their time and let them decide when they are ready. My Ophelia took about 2-3 weeks to warm up to even letting me attempt to pet her, but Quincy I have only had for one week and he just absolutely loves pets and kisses and will lick you and love you at any given time. Just be patient, try always hand feeding veggies/ treats so they associate you with something pleasurable, but don’t force contact if she is not receptive. I used to always just make kissy noises while hand feeding/ petting and now Ophelia will come to the kissy noise most of the time.

[Noodles]

Thanks BunNoob, that’s very reassuring! It seems she has gotten over the incident and is now more out and about of her cage.

Another problem has arisen with her curiosity, however, she is litter trained but now she is pooping EVERYWHERE! I’m not really sure why, I feel like it’s a dominance thing. Again, she was just spayed last Monday, so I don’t know if her hormones are just out of whack. Her pooping habits were so good before, though… I thought it was because the litter box was dirty so I changed it, but she still continued to poop everywhere, and even peed on the carpet. -_- I’ve blocked off most of the area of my apartment and gave her less space to jump around in until her litter habits are back in order and she’s only using her litter box.

[Deleted User]

Good thing to reduce her space. I’m sure the pooping all over must be a frustrating thing to deal with, however, over time she will return to her litter box habits. After the spay it can take up to one month or longer for the hormones to dissipate to levels where they no longer display behaviors associated with the hormones from sexual maturity. She may still be marking her territory so I would just reduce her space and within the next few weeks she should go back to normal litter habits. Are there any other animals in the house? This could cause her to feel inclined to mark areas as her own. I have a second bunny but he is not yet old enough to be neutered so I keep him in my bedroom and Ophelia will often leave a single poop at the bedroom door lol. She has managed to run in the room a few times and when she gets in there with him it’s poop everywhere!! She is 3 weeks post spay and she still leaves some poops in places that she is not normally allowed, so I am chalking that up to that hormone driven need to mark territory. She does it with only a few poops though and I am sure in about a week or two it won’t really be an issue. Some people have rubbed a cloth or towel on the bun then rubbed that all over the items in buns area so that it smells like them already and they don’t feel the need to mark it.

[Noodles]

Came home today to poop and pee outside of her cage and litter box  I do have a hamster and she was peeing/pooping in the area which I keep my hammie, but ever since blocking off that part of the apartment she’s been fine in that aspect. I don’t know if I should reduce her space any further however, it’s already relatively small. 

I will definitely try rubbing her blanket around places in the house, thank you for that advice! 

[DanaNM]

Hi there! Welcome!

A couple suggestions! For brand new bunnies (old or young), it’s good to reduce their space to just their cage or pen for a few days so they can learn where their home base is, and feel safe and secure. 

Your hunch about her hormones draining is most likely right about her loss of box habits. If she is otherwise acting healthy (eating and pooping normally), it’s prob a combo of the hormone changes, plus feeling a bit threatened due to the tape ordeal. 

Don’t feel bad about the tape thing, because things happen, and sometimes you just have to scoop them up and deal with it. She will forget and forgive over time. 

I recommend restricting her space for a few days, and then continuing what you were doing before to earn her trust. Ignoring her, laying on the floor near her, and hand feeding all work great. 

One other thing, not sure if you meant chasing continuously for 3 hours? But if so, that must have been very stressful for her. Prolonged stress can give a bunny a heart attack or cause other problems like GI stasis. Another reason to have a restricted space that is her home base that you can more easily capture her, in case of medical reasons or an emergency (such as a house fire). You can also consider training her to go into her carrier with treats.  

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Noodles]

Hi DanaNM! Thanks for your post In regards to the “chasing,” we weren’t exactly chasing her, but it was more like we were sitting around stressfully waiting for her to come out of her cage. She kept running in and out and we didn’t want to reach in and grab her from the cage since I’m assuming that it’s supposed to be her territory or “safe space”, she also grunts when you try and reach into her cage anyway lol, the boyfriend tried this and she was not thrilled.

We’ve moved her to the kitchen and made a section of that her space, I live in a studio and we don’t use the kitchen that much anyway (we’re not much of cooking people). So far no more pee outside the litter box, but a few poops throughout the evening. I hand fed her some cilantro earlier which she seemed to enjoy, and she hopped into my lap and back off while I wasn’t paying attention and sitting on the floor. Another thing, should I be sitting within the space I’ve restricted her to, or just near it? I assume it should be within her space so she can come up to me and sniff me if she wants but just wanted to double check – not sure if she would not like me being in her territory/area for so long.

[DanaNM]

Sounds like you are already on the road to forgiveness!

I think while she is restricted, don’t sit in “her” area. Only feed her, etc. Once you open up her space, then you can sit in the larger space with her. But then again, she hopped in your lap, so it may not matter!

A few poops here and there is to be expected, and if her full space is large, you might end up needing to add a second litter box.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Noodles]

Oh, I see! Do you think I should just be restricting her to her cage during the day then? It’s a large dog crate and she has some room to hop around, and I want that to be her space, but I’m concerned it’s not big enough. I could let her out in the morning and for the evening when I get home until bed time, but I’m not really sure if it’s okay. Right now she’s taking up most of the kitchen, but she is still peeing/pooping everywhere despite all my attempts to get her to use her litter box. When I wake up in the morning there’s a ton of poop/pee, same thing as when I get home from work. She peed and pooped right in front of my face!!!

[DanaNM]

Try restricting her to just the crate for a few days. I know it feels small, but it is only temporary.

Things should also improve as her hormones drain. It can take a while in females, so be prepared for some hiccups.

When you clean up her accidents, mop up the pee with a paper towel and add it to her litter box, and neutralize areas she’s marked with white vinegar.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Kristen]

I’ve made my bun mad plenty of times…whether it was catching her to put her back in her hutch, restricting her to a smaller pen area because she eats carpet, etc. Usually it takes a few days of sulking, and then she warms up again. So just give her time. And healthy treats.

She may be having accidents on purpose as a cry for attention. In addition to DanaNM’s excellent tips, try spending more time with her. Maybes it outside her crate if she doesn’t want to come out. Try talking to her in a friendly voice. Eventually she’ll come around and show you the love, but also it could help get her routines more back on track.

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