New House Rabbit - Is his Behaviour Normal?

Hi (this is my first post, be gentle :shock

My boyfriend and I just bought our first rabbit. He is a black silver fox and is 8 weeks old. We bought him on Friday and we mostly left him alone for Fri evening and saturday during the day so he could settle in - the only interaction was sitting in his room talking, we didnt try to pick him up or play.

He lives in a large cage with a covered area at one end and hay at the other end. The floor is covered in newspaper and then sawdust. He keeps ripping up the newspaper - is this normal?

he is very timid at the moment, but as we've only had him a few days we're trying to gain his trust. If we leave him in the cage while we're in the bunny room, at first he is very still, then he hops around his cage, or has a wash or rips up the paper - he rarely goes in the covered bit. When we get him out to play however, we can get him to take food from our hands, but once he overcomes his shyness he gnaws at his gnawing block, sniffs around and then sniffs about the bars of his cage, and if he find the door open, he'll hop back in and wont come out again. Are most babies this antisocial? Will he ever enjoy being out of the cage? We hoped we could eventually let him roam around most of the house once he settles in properly.

We've looked it up loads on the net, but there doesnt seem to be much information about how to act with your bunny for the first week or 2?

Thanks loads

Hello. :wave:
Congrats on your first rabbit.
I am not a very experienced owner but here is what we did ...
we just sat and talked to the rabbits until they came to us - it took 5 weeks and a new rabbit friend for Fluffy to first sit on my knee - when I was sitting on the floor. He climbs on me and the baby puts her paws on me now and is less timid - after 1 week (she is 12wks old).
The best thing to let him get to know you is spend time, time and more time just sitting near him in the rabbit room and leave the cage open - take a book in, talk to him - bear in mind they are most lively first thing and last thing of the day - we only get a few minutes during the day of company even now - they prefer to rest and do their own thing - in the morning it can be playing and running and skipping and the occasional cuddle for about an hour and then a couple of hours each evening.
I still sit with them though for company even when they are resting.
Sorry this turned out so long.
Good luck with everything.

His behaviour seems normal, he is just getting used to things.
Ripping the paper is totally normal, buns get up to all sorts!

Since he is a house rabbit id suggest no need for sawdust in his cage, its not really needed and it just gets everywhere. Its also not very good for bunnies breathing.

He will trust you both more soon and start coming out more.

I look forwards to hearing more about your bun and seeing some pics!

It can take awhile but just keep going and be patient

As others have said just spending time with him will help - sitting on the floor (or anywhere he can come to you) and letting him approach. I always found a small heap of carrot pieces near me quite handy - when he came close, I gave him one. (Small pieces so you dont give him too much carrot.)

Shredding newspaper is quite normal - it's play for him. Old yellow pages make good 'toys' (although they are horrible to clear up!).

And yes ditch the sawdust - you'll find you track it through the house :roll: When Muppet still had a cage [which was always open], he had profleece one end and his litter tray the other (lined with newspaper and with a paper-based cat litter) at the other.

Hi,

I have two house rabbits, the second i only got recently. She was eight weeks old when got her and had never been in a house.

The first 24 hours we left her alone and on the second day we took her out. She was quite happy to explore the room. By the third day she had figured out she could hop back in, and then hop out of cage. We now have all on keeping her in when we dont want her to get out.

Some rabbits are more timid than others, our other house rabbit we have had a few years was no were near as confident and still wont go into our halfway, its like no mans land even though hes free to go in there.

As other people have suggest give it time, once it realises its in a safe environment it will be running round the room like the clappers.

I would suggest getting a litter tray and some rabbit friendly litter, placing that in the cage. Leave the paper in as they love to chew, once it is using its tray you can either keep the paper in, or you can use an old towel for it to lay on.

Ive never had this problem really as all my buns have been very chilled or absolute nutters when we got them,especially the frenchies!Will was so laid back you could have moved her around with your foot & she wouldn't have cared.B ran around the room for 8 hours solid when we got her home & she wore me out-she would sit for a few seconds to get her breath,then she would be off again!
Then we got Dill,my 1st rescue bun.He was approx 10 months when we got him,had had abit of a past & clearly not into humans.We've had him 4 months & hes still not into being touched though he will run to us at feeding time.He loves B which is why we got him,for her not us,but it is a shock to the system having a bun that doesn't want attention.So any answers you get,I will be greatly interested in.

I got my two babies two weeks ago (they were eight weeks old). I wasn't sure how they would behave never having had baby rabbits before. For the first two days they seemed terrified whenever I was in the room and would stay very still. We kept them confined to their cage for the first couple of days but then let them have free run of the room. But I have tried to spend as much time in there as I can. I've been sitting on the floor beside them and gradually they have been getting more and more used to me - now they will put their paws on my legs or lick my toes :lol:. They will also accept pellets of their food from my hand.

But maybe it's different when there are two, as one often follows the other around and the snuggle close to each other when eating and sleeping. I've got lots of tunnels and toilet roll tubes and things around for them to play with. They do run around mad and seem to be constantly on the go (eating, chewing or exploring).

Good luck with your new bunny too!