Newbie worries

[Lue]

Hi, I just purchased a 10week old Holland Lop 3 days ago and he’s my first rabbit. At the breeders, he was calm and friendly but ever since he’s been here, he’s been very nervous, won’t let me pet him and will fight when I pick him up. I realize that he need to get used to his new surroundings but I worry… Should I keep picking him up or should I leave him be for a while?I have read both opinions online.

Also, I made sure to get the same foods as the breeders was giving him. It took about 24 hours, but he finally started to eat some veggies and drinking but will not touch the hay or the pellets. Should I worry about that?

Any experienced advice would be appreciated!

Lue

[Dface]

Rabbits really dislike being picked up, the only thing that picking him up will achieve is him fearing you, the best thing you can do with any new pet is to let it adjust to its new home with as little handlin as possible for the first week. Careful offering of treats and pets is recommended but no forceful grabbing at him.

Not eating hay is a very large worry as it should be his primary food. Is he still pooping and peeing? If he isn’t eating any he may need to go to vet.

[Deleted User]

Let him come to you. My Asriel was thr exact same way. He came right up to me at the breeder and loved being pet. Home was a different story. It took weeks of being at his level and basically ignoring him. Then he lightened up, and now he loves pets.

Don’t pick him up. Bunnies don’t like to be picked up. He’s probably scared of you if you’ve done it too much. You can also break his spine or a leg of he kocls too hard while struggling to be picked up.

Food, stop giving him veggies for a while. He’s a Holland Lop (like my boys ) so he should get maybe a full cup of greens at that age. One cup for every 2 pounds. Take away the greens and see of he eats the hay. Also try different hays. My boys will only wat oat hay. You can try orchard or oat or even a blend of hay.

It does get a (little) easier!

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Lue on 7/26/2017 3:48 PM

Hi, I just purchased a 10week old Holland Lop 3 days ago and he’s my first rabbit. At the breeders, he was calm and friendly but ever since he’s been here, he’s been very nervous, won’t let me pet him and will fight when I pick him up. I realize that he need to get used to his new surroundings but I worry… Should I keep picking him up or should I leave him be for a while?I have read both opinions online.

Also, I made sure to get the same foods as the breeders was giving him. It took about 24 hours, but he finally started to eat some veggies and drinking but will not touch the hay or the pellets. Should I worry about that?

Any experienced advice would be appreciated!

Lue

You’ve only had him 3 days and you’re wondering why he doesn’t want to be pet and picked up? Firstly, he needs time. He’s a little prey species that has been taken away from his mother and siblings and put in a new environment with a scary human. Of course he isn’t going to trust you to pet him yet 

Secondly, stop picking him up. Him fighting you could very well lead to injury – to himself. 

Thirdly, he’s a bit young to have veggies. Was the breeder giving him veggies? 

[Deleted User]

As the others said, he needs time to adjust. But if it’s been 3 days you really need to get him eating hay. Are you feeding alfalfa? Alfalfa hay is very nutrient rich, which is important for growing buns. Plus, they find it really yummy so you can probably get him eating that! It’s very important that they constantly eat hay, so you should always give an unlimited amount of hay.

Rabbits don’t like to be picked up. It’s very scary for them. Contrary to what some people may say, you should not pick your rabbit up unless it is absolutely necessary (such as they get themselves in a situation that could harm them).

Also I agree with the others on veggies. I believe you can start to introduce veggies at 3 months. Unless he was already being fed veggies by the breeder, I wouldn’t continue.

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