newbie! advice needed

I have a rehomed bunny ( I have put details in the intro's section) she is very affectionate once she is out of her hutch but when I try to get her out she growls and lunges at my hand with her front paws, I have taken to wearing a pair of gardening gloves as I have felt teeth! I question is....how do I go about getting her out? do I just carry on using the gloves? I open her doors and give her a few mins to see me, I talk to her and offer her food, and after a while I manage to get a hand on and stroke her behind the ears and she will after a while let me lift her out....is this a good aproach?
I have vairous books on rabbits and have done quite alot of research into rabbit keeping, the previous owners tell me she is not fond of men....and that they had simular problems with getting her out, I want to put her in the garden run before I go to work in the mornings and not have to worry about not being able to get her out, do you think she will ever let me get her out without the growling and nipping? is it possible to train rabbits to want to come out? other than that she is a joy and I love her very much, we have had her for 2 weeks.
any advice will be appreciated.

Sounds as if something has happened to her to make her be like this,like someone has frightened her or she just is not used to getting out.My rescue bun,from a neighbour was a bit of both.It just takes patience,talking nice and instead of wearing gloves which might frighten her again,wear a long sleave jumper and pull that down over your hand.When she is in the hutch if you have something you can use to clap her so your hand doesn't get bit,just talk to her softly that everything will be okay and try her with wee bits of treats eg piece of digestive biscuit whilst your talking and petting her.Keep petting her etc when she is out to,just giving her reassurance. Patience is important and it may take quite a while but you will get there.All the best.:wave:

I think that your "softly, softly" approach will gain you reward in the end. You are still new to her and as such need to win her trust.

I can't see anything in your post that I would deem "wrong way" - I think it's just going to be a matter of time.

GOOD LUCK!!!

TP

I'm afraid I've always taken the cowards way out - I have hutches and shed opening onto the run so I only have to open the doors, not pick them up

Hi Elve that does work haha,only thing is when you need to check that they are okay or when they need to take a trip to the vets.Patience is the key and even though i'm a crab with my hubby i'm always nice to my wee babettes haha.Don't say a word!!!!:lol:

muffinsmum said:

I have a rehomed bunny ( I have put details in the intro's section) she is very affectionate once she is out of her hutch but when I try to get her out she growls and lunges at my hand with her front paws, I have taken to wearing a pair of gardening gloves as I have felt teeth! I question is....how do I go about getting her out? do I just carry on using the gloves? I open her doors and give her a few mins to see me, I talk to her and offer her food, and after a while I manage to get a hand on and stroke her behind the ears and she will after a while let me lift her out....is this a good aproach?
I have vairous books on rabbits and have done quite alot of research into rabbit keeping, the previous owners tell me she is not fond of men....and that they had simular problems with getting her out, I want to put her in the garden run before I go to work in the mornings and not have to worry about not being able to get her out, do you think she will ever let me get her out without the growling and nipping? is it possible to train rabbits to want to come out? other than that she is a joy and I love her very much, we have had her for 2 weeks.
any advice will be appreciated.

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Hi :wave:

I have a rabbit called Bo. Who i previosuly adopted from pah. (I felt sorry for him). Hes neutered. Anyways hes not a very nice bun, well wasnnt at first. Similar to yours, lunging at me when i go in his hutch, or runs around like crazy, he also growls.

The approach i took with Bo, was to gently stroke behind his ears for a little while each day. I talked to him allllll the time and offered him various treats out of my hand, sometimes he took them sometimes he didnt. Bo was happy for you to stroke his head, although he did look very scared, but he wouldnt let me stroke his body, he used to go crazy.

Ive had Bo for around 2-3months, each day he has improved, then gone one step back and so on. I got to the stage where i was frightened of him and let my o/h do all the work with him (he prefers him, or did). Bo really likes his food so this was something i can could when working with him.

Anyways this last week i would say, hes stopped grunting at me, stopped lunging for me, allowed me to pick him up (it felt great, not having to call my o/h to do it). I even plucked up the courage to take him for his jabs, i pre-warned the vet lol. I got my cat carrier, put it to his cage and he jumped straight in. At the vets she picked him out and he was great didnt kick or anything. He had a full health check, his myxi jab and then we even managed to cut his nails which was great, as i havent being able to do them. He was so well behaved, i even got a cuddle.

So anyways, bare with her, give her time and im sure she will come round. Bo used to be aggressive in his hutch and run with time and patience, fingers crossed i have cracked it. Hes great in the house too, i considered bringing him in, but im not allowed lol.

Is her cage at your level if you get me, i moved Bo's so ground level and this helped. They dont feel as threatened. I also bought him lots of toys as he loves to play and chew them this helped me bond with him aswell.

Now he even comes to the cage when i go in instead of hiding at the back. ITS GREAT!!!

Also maybe have her spayed this could help with her behaviour!!
:wave:

Natsanth said:

Hi :wave:


Is her cage at your level if you get me, i moved Bo's so ground level and this helped. They dont feel as threatened. I also bought him lots of toys as he loves to play and chew them this helped me bond with him aswell.

Now he even comes to the cage when i go in instead of hiding at the back. ITS GREAT!!!

Also maybe have her spayed this could help with her behaviour!!
:wave:

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thanks for your reply, her hutch is up on a garden table, I will see if I can get hubs to make something we can put it on to make it lower....

It sounds like she is being territorial over her hutch. Getting her spayed would probably help with this. For now it seems like you're going about it the right way. You could try using a carrier or box to move her into the run and you'll probably find she's less aggressive in an area she does consider to be 'her space' to enable you to do health checks etc.

muffinsmum said:

thanks for your reply, her hutch is up on a garden table, I will see if I can get hubs to make something we can put it on to make it lower....

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Yeah if you can do that and then say sit next to the hutch and open the door talk to her and tempt her with some food to come out and then you can sit together and try that approach. Maybe in a slightly enclosed area so she cant run away.

Hope this helps....