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Rabbit scared of someone's scent

KoShiatar

Mama Doe
When Maia was tiny, she had some diarrhea and we needed to give her meds. At the time she was completely wild and trusting no one, so we literally had to have a bunny rodeo because there was no way to have her come out of her cage on her own.
The one charged with the unhappy duty was my boyfriend, he held Maia while I syringed her.
The result was, of course, that she never trusted him afterwards.

Now that we have two bunnies that at some point are intended to live together, he would like to make peace, but we have a major impediment: she's not afraid of him as much as of his scent! This was very evident to me one day when he wasn't around and Maia sniffed his house slippers, then suddenly ran away scared. She also refuses to come near me if I've been wearing his blanket. It's most definitely a problem of smell. She will even go near him only to run off once she's smelled him.

How can we change this? BF is partial to Mango because the little one adores him and grooms him for ages, but I would like him to be able to love out little Attila.
Any advice?
 
Put the blanket in with the buns and let them get used to the smell? Or put something of the buns that they love with your boyfriend and then return it to them?
 
You could try a dab of vanille just above her nose. Maybe try having him wear your clothes or stuff.

Do you and he live together? It may not be his scent, but something that scents his clothes, like if he lives apart but has a cat or a dog, that might do it.
 
Our buns definitely identify us by our smell no matter what other "perfume" we wear.
I think the best thing is for your B/F to regain your bun's trust. Doing something "interesting" lying on the floor with a few bunny treats hidden away is a good start. Curiosity usually wins the day. I admit that it sounds totally crazy to someone who isn't used to bunnies though.
Better show him the posts perhaps?
 
Your BF wears a blanket????

Hahaha, we have some we use while at home on cold days. You know, couch blankets and so on.
We live together, and there are no other pets, so most definitely that is not the problem. I think the advice about leaving the blanket with Maia while she gets treats from him could work, altough she's very territorial lately (5 months old so raging hormones) and she will probably pee on it, lol.

I think the worst part of this is that BF has very little patience... seeing how Mango loved him from the first day, I can't say I blame him for not trying hard enough to win over our little grunting monster. I can't wait for the spay...
 
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