"broke" trust allready

ok, my sister bought a lovely small brown rabbit yesterday. so im the "leave it be, let it get adjusted". what do i do? go and put my hand in the cage, stroke it, try picking it up, but it kicked and scratched me, so i put it down. i was safe, only im extremely impatient and didnt realise i have the next 6-10 years to create a loving bond.

so now that ive put my hand in, what do i do? also, its a really nice big cage we got for it (a dwarf rabbit by the way, female). theres a green plastic folded shelter which it hides in all the time. is this because its scared/nervous due to moving or because the TV is always on, with the family being in the same room? (no other free room). My thought was to remove the green shelter/home and then when we become more used to each other and he can come out, put it back, because i doubt she will ever come out unless its just for food? if i hadnt mentioned, its an indoor rabbit.

thanks a bunch

Hiya,

No don't remove the shelter. Even if she's hiding in it that's just because rabbits feel safe in small enclosed spaces. Making it so she has no where to hide will make her more nervous.

If the room is very busy then you could partially cover the cage to make it more enclosed. Cardboard is probably best for this of a sheet of hardboard - material she might chew on. Try to keep new noises to the minimum while she settles so don't put music/telly etc on too loud.

It's fine to put your hands in the cage - talk to her as well - don't try and drag her out of her hidy hole though. Try hand feeding her while she is sat in her box.

She will come out in her own time to investigate the cage as she realises the new smells and noises aren't indicating anything dangerous. As she gets braver you can stroke her and let her hop out of the cage to investigate you when she is ready.

Tamsin

Hi , i'd leave the shelter in all rabbits need a place to get away and hide , remember she's new to the enviroment so just let her get used to your voices first talk to her and when she comes out praise her and tell her what a good girl she is go slowly with stroking just make sure she knows your voice first and she responds to it and let her get used to her enviroment try and make it quiet for her in the first couple of weekswhen you do begin stroking and picking her up make sure you praise her for letting you stroke her and picking her up she needs to trust your not going to hurt her . Good luck with your new bun :wave:

thanks, you both helped a lot. but will me shoving my hand in there and picking her up not make her untrustworthy. also, before that, i was stroking her and she seemed quite still and submissive. was this because she was scared?

flare said:

thanks, you both helped a lot. but will me shoving my hand in there and picking her up not make her untrustworthy. also, before that, i was stroking her and she seemed quite still and submissive. was this because she was scared?

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Rabbits often go into a daze when they are being stroked - cos they like it so much, so don't worry

thank you for the info

im not sure if i should be doing this at such an early stage, but my rabbit loves the pellets, so i put my hand in the cage and let it eat from my hand. it only came up to me and felt confident if i had pellets, but can anyone tell me if i should have held this off till a couple more days? or does it not matter?