How Do You Earn a Timid Rabbit's Trust?

A beautiful girl bun named Tuesday is in the process of joining my family, but I'm so worried about her. She is VERY timid. I was thinking that she had started to make progress since she seemed to feel more secure in her new pen and was taking food from me but not too long ago she had a panic attack. She's settled down but has regressed to not feeling safe in her pen. I'm not sure what scared her as she seems to think everything is a potential threat. I wish I could comfort her.

So far I have made a conscious effort to speak softly, walk slowly, and keep things quiet. I'm trying to get her used to my presence more by sitting on the far side of the room and simply typing on my laptop or reading a book. Then every once in a while I try to give her a treat. She will not let me pet her yet and sometimes freaks out when I refill her water bowl. She spends most of her time now hiding in her box.

What are some things I can do to earn her trust?

You can read more about the situation here if you like: http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=216778

hi
some buns take longer than others and im afraid you just need to keep doing what your doing sit near her cage with door open and allow her to see your not going to hurt her she can hide if she wants or take a peek, if she does come to peek just ignore her carry on reading your book otherwise shell freak.
read your story allowed to her and each day shell get a little more used to you. allow her to see you stroking picking up your boy bun and shell learn from him its not scary.
if she does have a fav treat then leave it for her at door and gradually she should come nearer, when she does then start holding the treat, perhaps do it through bars at first so she sees you cant get to her.
above all just keep telling her shes safe and loved very much here and you have all the time in the world for her to like you so she doesnt have to worry!
good luck

You're doing all the right things sitting near her but it will take time to rewrite her experiences so she knows for sure that is how you will always behave. Do you know how long she was at the fosterers? If it was awhile how did she settle? You might find that she feels more confident once bonded too.

What's her setup like? It might help her to have extra places to hide like boxes and tunnels as well as somewhere she can sit on to look around. I know it seems weird to give her more places to hide but it means she can move around between them.

I know walking softly seems like it would disturb her less but she'll probably feel more comfortable hearing you approach. Don't stamp but don't sneak either. If you do everything to quietly you could startle her

A quiet radio station might help her get used to background noises and voices.

With the water bowl, are you taking it out to fil or using a jug. I would take it out and fill it.

How does she react to food. I would sit next to the cage while she feeds if she will come out. Just ignore herr but associate yourself will food. You can also give her an old item of clothing, eg wear a t-shirt in bed then pop it in her cage and she can investigate your smell in her time.

The other thing to investigate is whether she has hearing or vision problems but I would see how she settles before you stress her out with a vet trip. I'm presuming she'll have had a recent checkup with the rescue anyway.

Try to do things at the same time each day so she gets used to the routine, that's also why settling takes awhile, at the moment she can't predict what will happen when.

I'm afraid I don't have much to contribute but to confirm what the others have said, patience is the best medicine. You are doing all the right things but a vision/hearing checkup would be a good plan. I find that talking/background noise can help a nervous bun, then a sudden noise dosen't startle them as much. If she gets used to your voice she will eventually recognise that you're the one to trust.

I had the exact same situation with my Vin, it took a good 6 months for her to tolerate a quick stroke and grab some food as she was badly abused previously. She used to run and hide and box at the entrance to wherever she was hiding, even when I was nowhere near her. Now she will cuddle up, take treats and loves nose rubs but is still very wary of strangers and I think she always will be. Once you have gained a rabbits trust they can come on in leaps and bounds, the time after that first six months Vin came on dramatically. I encourage you to persevere, it is all worth it in the end.

sing to her as much as u can, make up songs that make you giggle, she will get used to your voice and pick up on your good vibes. buns can be frightend of hands that pick them up and our scary eyes, i have made the first bond with some of my buns by only putting the top of my head at the cage or hutch door, i can feel them sniff my head and take in my scent without encountering the scarier parts of us. i know it sounds quite odd but has worked for me. good luck and patience.

Thank you for the suggestions. The radio idea was especially good.

Today I opened her pen door and lied in the background paying no attention to her. To my surprise about an hour later she came out!! She briefly investigated, then thumped, and ran back to her pen but I'm so proud that she did come out. Hopefully things will go well tomorrow.

I learned today that when rescue found her she was in a box dumped at the side of a freeway where it can easily reach temperatures above 40 degrees in the summer (I live in southern California). With that kind of experience I understand why she is naturally distrusting of people.

rabbits learn so much from each other. the only time my tabby wanted to be cuddled, as a youngster, was when she'd seen me cuddle daughter's bunnies, then her brother. she's a cuddle-fest now, loves nose rubs (and very gentle hairtugs on the forehead) and shoulder massage. snuggle bun.

Well done I think your patience will pay off, she's obviously got that little bit of curiosity that will hopefully let her overcome her nerves in time. Even though she ran back she learnt nothing followed so next time hopefully she'll be a tiny bit more confident. You can try leaving small bits of food next to you. Just a mouthful at a time so it's not worth running off with but it will give another positive association.

:wave: Hi nothing really to add as you have already had some great advice, I particularly agree with the softly softly thing not being too quiet, there is a fine line between it becoming a bit unnerving I think and I can recommend singing or whistling softly if you think you might startle her. It will take time but, I think your going to end up with a really strong bond when she finally trusts you and it will be so worthwhile, best of luck to you and well done for rescuing her.

The complicating part of the situation is that the adoption won't be finalized until Tuesday and Buddy have been bonded. In the meantime the adoption agency loaned us an x-pen for Tuesday. Today is Tuesday's 4th day with us and I feel like the adoption people (who double as foster moms) are starting to get impatient with us. Today in an e-mail, one of them volunteered to come over to do the bonding for us. :? Is 4 days really too long to get started with bonding? Here on the forum I was advised to give Tuesday a week just to settle in. I really don't want to accidentally traumatize her and lose what progress we have already made.

I've also read about 12 different articles about bonding as well as pointers on this forum and it looks like the average time for a successful bond is about 2-3 weeks. I've been given the impression by the foster moms that we should already be done by now. At the same time they said, "We are glad you are taking things slow."

Hi, I've read this story with interest and I'm so impressed that you are such a caring, loving owner.

There are lots of different methods of bonding and contradicting rules about how long to leave it. Some people adopt rabbits and bond them the same day, and other people leave them a week to settle then gradually introduce them to each other over weeks and months. It seems that your rescue is advocating fast bonding, and most of the opinions on this forum are advocating slow bonding. Well, both are right, and it's up to you to decide which one you want to do.

Tuesday won't necessarily react to your male bun the way she does to you. You may find that she's extremely confident around other rabbits and just timid around humans. This would then mean that fast bonding wouldn't affect her psychologically very much at all. On the other side, if she is timid with other buns too, being bonded in a fast bond now could make her come out of her shell more.

If I were you (and it's only an opinion) I would put them together in a neutral area (you said the rescue had given you something to do this with) and see how they react to each other. Expect there to be a little chasing and humping. If there is fighting or biting, separate them. Then report back. This way you will immediately know what kind of bond it's going to be, whether it's going to be possible and how long it might take. Then you can make your decision about fully rehoming her or not with more confidence than you would have if they pushed you into a decision without you having seen the two buns together.