Can I ask an honest ... question?

As I said this is my first bunny and i'm still learning. . The thing is Miko is just not affectionate. I love him to pieces but he's not really affectionate. When i pick him up he squirms out of my arms and when he was a baby he wasn't like that I was able to lay down with him for hours. But now he doesnt seem affectionate I try to put him on the couch with me to sit, but he runs off the second i put him on the couch. i try to lay down on the floor with him to get down to his level about 80% of the time Miko is unresponsive or just moves away from me.


I understand bunnies are not dogs/cats ... is this normal or is there something i can do to make him more affectionate? will getting him spayed make him more affectionate? I love him to pieces and i just want to show him affection it kind of hurts me that he wont let me. it seems like most of you have affectionate bunnies so is there something i can do to help Miko along with this??

hes probably just hit his teens... nothing we do is right when they are in that stage

alvin is just over a year old he was neutured at 4 months, and only now he seems to actually like me... so yup for some of us its very normal not to have snuggle buns..

good to know but i seriously thought it was just me & its soo depressing because i love Miko sooo much!

Probably getting him neutered may help and most buns need time to come out of their shell so to speak.
Hand feeding and rewarding him for coming over to you etc with a little treat may also help.
However, and sorry to say this, but it is possible that he may not be a snuggle bun, some just aren't...they appreciate you in their own way but not just the way you want them to.
However, don't lose faith in him, continue to give him time and lots of attention and in time i'm sure he will see you as fun

i think once you realise youve not got a snuggle bun, the sitting back and watching can be just as rewarding... i used to get so upset that alvin would hide under the sofa all day.. but now im trusted he lies in the middle of the floor, he grooms and happy flops (even climbs in my fridge to get his own veg) and its beautiful to watch. ill sit in his cage and hell sit in the room with me but just out of reach, im allowed 5 mins each morning worth of fuss to say hello after the night then its back to avoidance... its taken a whole year but we have a nice understanding and i love him all the more for his independance if that makes any sense

Awwww hun, I know it can be hard when you love them so much and they don't seem to show it back ((HUGS))

It's quite normal, and yes, getting him neutered might make him less grumpy And it would be fairer on him as at the moment his hormones are probably raging and he could be sexually frustrated :roll: But just because they don't know how to show affection doesn't mean they don't like you If he really didn't like you maybe he would spray in your face or worse! :shock: :lol:

Patience really is the key and instead of picking him up to put him on the sofa see if you can lure he there with a tasty treat This will help gain trust, rather than him just worrying that you are picking him up and trying to get away straight afterwards :lol:

He may eventually come and sit on your lap. This is what I did with Bobbin and he's quite happy to sit on me, not for long, but he does :lol:

Good luck with the taming progress, keep us updated :wave:

I think tasty treats, lots of patience and keeping still will help a lot. We have a couple of our outside buns who don't want to be touched. They'll come and have a sniff, but that's as far as their affection towards us goes. :lol:

thank you guys so much!!! as always you guys have been so helpful to me! sorry it took so long to respond but today's a holiday here (4th of july) had to spend sometime with the fam & of course my precious miko.

Honestly, you'll probably find that he never really likes being picked up and certainly not cuddled in a way that restrains him (even in a nice way). However you can probably get him to interact with you more

Is he a full time house rabbit? My suggestion would be from now on he only gets pellets and any other of his favourite foods direct from your hand. Don't feed him extra treats as he'll get fat just feed his normal ration but hand.

Call him over to get one. Just start when he's at arms length and hold it out near him and call him - you can make a clucking sound like you do with a cat or use his name - so long as it's the same each time. He'll soon learn the signal and come sprinting when you call - though don't expect him to be quite as reliable as a dog, bunnies get easily distracted :lol:

Sitting/lying on the floor is a great idea. It sounds like you're being too boring though That's a great way to get a nervous bunny to come close and get used to having you near but once they are confident they start treating you like part of the furniture and you get shown about as much interest as the couch does! Not great for the ego :lol: Try doing interesting things like screwing up a pellet in a sheet of newspaper and batting it about gently, playing with some bunny safe toys or put some bunny/human shareable food like apple in a packet and eat it. Bunnies don't like to miss out on things so if you are playing intently with something he'll come along to see what is going on to make sure you don't have something he wants :lol:

You need to give really good grooming when he's hanging around too. Most bunnies like their head done - stroke from the nose to up between the ears. Also some like their cheeks done. He might not be patient about this and hang around - some bunnies are more interested in social grooming than others.

Good luck!

Tam

I can't say either of mine can be picked up and snuggled but they love attention on the ground. My two have just strated to climb on my lap when I sit on the floor (they're 4 years old nearly:lol, it's very cute and probably as near as I can get to a cuddle.

If you get him neutered, as others have said, it will probably calm him down a bit. Also, if he's neutered, you have the option of getting him a bunny girlfriend too!

FriskyClover said:

If you get him neutered, as others have said, it will probably calm him down a bit. Also, if he's neutered, you have the option of getting him a bunny girlfriend too!

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thats how i got a snuggle bun... pearl hates being picked up, and thumps when shes back on the ground but shes a right fussy little thing. she will lie for ages while i stroke her and alvin just flops close by, but far enough away not to be touched :lol::lol:

hope you had good 4th of july celebrations :wave::wave:

we have 3 buns who all dont like being held..but if we sit on the floor they will come upto you .our male mr butties (parsley buttons really!) will lick you!
i find it rewarding just to watch them binky and relax with legsout the back!

Well Boris is more than 1 year old and neutered and he still hates being picked up to sit on my lap. He doesn't really jump away but he acts somewhat like a statue,it's pretty obvious that he isn't very comfortable with it at all! He does love cuddles but he wants to decide where to have them.

i really appericate all your help!! i'm going to try the bunny toys! yeah he is a house rabbit. i'm way to afraid to let him out here. lol i live in New York City and it's constant traffic and we don't have such a big yard so i don't wanna risk losing my baby because i love him soo much!! but i'm going to look into the toys idea

Scruffy is JUST letting us stroke him when he is next to us on the sofa. He used to just jump up, take a pellet and then jump off. With weeks of this he is now sitting on lap for a pellet and now having strokes. Its taken 6 months though... patience is what you need most of.

He does not love being picked up, but as he is long haired he has to be to get his grooming!