My Bunny Doesnt Seem Like Me

hi..i wanted to start this thread with a short story about how i acquired the bunny that doesnt seem to like me..Here it goes..

On October 16, 2010, a friend gave me a male baby bunny. I named him Prince.Thinking that the bunny will be lonely, i bought a female bunny from a local petstore to be his companion. I named her Princess.I noticed that there is an abscess on her fore paw, so i thought of returning her to the pet store and ask for an exchange of a new female bunny, however, Princess was so sweet and likes to be petted and cuddled and she hops her way towards me whenever i call her name. So i decided to keep her. 2 weeks after Princess died (because of diarrhea).. it was very painfull for me and to Prince too.And i noticed that Prince became sad and i dont know if its just me, but it seemed that Prince hated me for Princess's death ( he wouldnt allow me to touch him)..

And off i went to another pet store to buy a new baby female bunny. and there i saw a super cute mocha colored bunny..I fell in love with her and named her Mocha, i brought her home, introduced to Prince. Prince likes him right away.. (And i knew he is not angry at me anymore for he let me touch him and hold him and even hugged him)...I understand that Mocha was a bit apprehensive when i first hold her. I got a lot of scratches..whenever she is inside the cage and i will approach to touch her, she will jerk away..she wont even go outside whenever i leave the cage doors open. and when she does, she will just sit on a corner while her partner Prince happily hops around.

Days passed. I didnt give up, I even try giving pieces of treats such as a small piece of cabbage or banana or carrot.. I do that as i am calling her name so that she will recognized her own name and eventually will bond with me.Little by little she responds whenever i say "MOcha.. HOw are you Mocha baby?" (she moves her ears and looks at me). And she hops around the room or at the garden whenever i take them out..BUt never will she let me touch her. I attempted many times to hold her, but i ended up being scratched.
(as of now i have a lot of scratch marks that one might think i had a fight with Wolverine [lol] )and she kicks a lot, im afraid she might injure herself with that very strong kick.and just to add, i can see that she is a little bit temperamental, whenever she drinks at her water bottle, she seems to be dissatisfied (might be at the amount of water that drips in her mouth) that she bites the whole metal tubing as if shaking it to drip water some more...

Sometimes i think that Mocha is a little bit wild., coz compared to Prince and Princess, she acts differently..I mean sometimes, i really do think she doesnt like me..But I love her so much that I am thankful, even if she doesnt seem to like me, she is very healthy. she hops so strong whenever i take them out in the garden for their daily exercise..

All i wish is for her to like me. To let me touch her or hold her... and eventually, i would be able to bath her and trim her nails... :bunny:

Below are their photos..

They are both beautiful. She does look like a wildie with her colouring but I think patience is going to be the key. Give her time, you don't know what she's been through in her short life. I don't know about others but I found my doe to be quite feisty until she was neutered. On that note, I don't know if I missed it in your thread but has Prince been castrated yet? I assume Mocha is too young yet to be neuetered. I would imagine the last thing you want is to have lots of babies. Apart from the physical problem of her having babies and having homes for them this would probably make her even more feisty(protective). Good luck anyway and keep us informed of her progress. :wave:
So sorry about the loss of Princess

hard for you

You have come to the right place - lots of experts here will help you. You don't mention ages, but if Mocha hasn't been spayed yet hormones may be playing their part in her behaviour, and if she hadn't been as well handled as your other female had been, thatwill play a part too. You are doing a great job handling her lots, but it can take a good while to socialise a bun. Spaying and neutering are ESSENTIAL, for health (reducing the cancer risk) and (obviously) the avoidance of breeding. Innoculations are essential too, and it will be worth asking your vet to check her over for any obvious problems. Some buns are cuddlier than others, so personality can be a factor too.

Lots of luck.

This isn't really advice, but empathy!

Our little Badger is a wild thing, as a rescue he had a really rough time, and it might be that little Mocha had a bad experience in the pet shop with people.

We have left Badger to his own devices, knowing that (after a year and with a few second opinions from here) he just isn't that sort of bun.

Some buns don't like to be touched I'm afraid. As a baby, you ought to be able to get her used to it having said that, so make sure you persist with her for a good while yet.

Don't forget the most helpful bunny mantra : a bun will do anything for its favourite food :lol:

Good luck Hope you stay around and share plenty of pics with us all.

Try to get on her level. I find that the absolute best thing. Sit with her in her run, let her explore you but don't raise your hand to stroke her all the time, let her get used to you. My Smudge only tolerates me, and that's because I'm often around him but not constantly fussing him. He hates my Dad because when he sees my Dad it's Dad trying to fuss him so he's just not used to it, like someone's invading his space that he doesn't know.

I'm sorry about Princess, and hope that Mocha settles in time. As others have said, hormones may well be a factor. My bunny Spenser only likes being stroked (a) if he is in the mood and (b) all four paws are on the ground. However, he was seven months old when I got him, so having your bunnies from an early age should mean they get used to you. I'm afraid lots of bunnies are not as cuddly as they look though. Because rabbits are a prey species their instinct tells them that being lifted off the ground is a threat. As for nail-trimming, I'm afraid I chicken out and have Spenser's vet do the job!

susieb1 said:

They are both beautiful. She does look like a wildie with her colouring but I think patience is going to be the key. Give her time, you don't know what she's been through in her short life. I don't know about others but I found my doe to be quite feisty until she was neutered. On that note, I don't know if I missed it in your thread but has Prince been castrated yet? I assume Mocha is too young yet to be neuetered. I would imagine the last thing you want is to have lots of babies. Apart from the physical problem of her having babies and having homes for them this would probably make her even more feisty(protective). Good luck anyway and keep us informed of her progress. :wave:
So sorry about the loss of Princess

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hi..thanks for your advice..well, I guess Prince is too young to be castrated too..i think he is less than 1 month old..or maybe he is already one month old,but not more than that.And he looks smaller than MOcha..Mocha is 25 days old now. I bought her last October 27, according to the seller, mocha is 20 days old that day..

as with neutering and spaying, i dont think its a common practice here in my country..It's really hard to find a rabbit expert vet here...Im afraid they might die during the operation...

Right now, Mocha allows me to stroke her fur and her head..that's a lot of progress isnt it??..

Surely tho if you dont get them neutered you will have an endless supply of babies!

glossta1 said:

You have come to the right place - lots of experts here will help you. You don't mention ages, but if Mocha hasn't been spayed yet hormones may be playing their part in her behaviour, and if she hadn't been as well handled as your other female had been, thatwill play a part too. You are doing a great job handling her lots, but it can take a good while to socialise a bun. Spaying and neutering are ESSENTIAL, for health (reducing the cancer risk) and (obviously) the avoidance of breeding. Innoculations are essential too, and it will be worth asking your vet to check her over for any obvious problems. Some buns are cuddlier than others, so personality can be a factor too.

Lots of luck.

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hi..thanks for posting a reply here.. well,i got Mocha from a petstore last October 27, according to the seller she is 20 days then..so today she is 25 days..its also hard to find a rabbit savvy vet here that does neutering.. Im afraid to have them neutered, they might die during the process..I think your right, personality is a factor..I see a lot of difference between Princess and Mocha..My late Princess is such a sweet bun..loves to be touched and cuddled..

you have a bunny who is 25 days old?!

That would mean less than 4 weeks and it shouldn't of been seperated from its mother yet. Or am i getting the wrong end of the stick here?!

Biscuit's Mum! said:

This isn't really advice, but empathy!

Our little Badger is a wild thing, as a rescue he had a really rough time, and it might be that little Mocha had a bad experience in the pet shop with people.

We have left Badger to his own devices, knowing that (after a year and with a few second opinions from here) he just isn't that sort of bun.

Some buns don't like to be touched I'm afraid. As a baby, you ought to be able to get her used to it having said that, so make sure you persist with her for a good while yet.

Don't forget the most helpful bunny mantra : a bun will do anything for its favourite food :lol:

Good luck Hope you stay around and share plenty of pics with us all.

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yeah i think you're right..maybe Mocha had a not-so-good experience with people in the pet shop before..Or it could be just her personality..This morning, she let me stroke her fur and her head..i hope on the coming days she will let me hold and cuddle her without a lot of struggling...(and eventually no more scratch marks for me ).

i will post more and more photos..I will just look for the right thread to post them.. I like taking photos of them when they are out of the cage..I just dont like taking photos of animals inside a cage..(i really have no choice but to keep them in a cage...i let them out for 3 hours everyday)..

By the way, your bunnies are beautiful..I wish i could have one like them..i mean bunnies with breed.. I see photos of bunnies here, and my favorites are lionhead, lop and angora..

When replying to this thread can everyone please note the location of the poster!!

She is trying really hard to make things right for her very loved buns and the buying/selling and vet care of baby buns is very different in Manilla to here so work with her to help

Schuette said:

Try to get on her level. I find that the absolute best thing. Sit with her in her run, let her explore you but don't raise your hand to stroke her all the time, let her get used to you. My Smudge only tolerates me, and that's because I'm often around him but not constantly fussing him. He hates my Dad because when he sees my Dad it's Dad trying to fuss him so he's just not used to it, like someone's invading his space that he doesn't know.

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well, when she is out of the cage, its really tempting to pick her up and cuddle, she is very cute..i just cant help myself..but i try to control myself..and i sit on the floor, sometimes i even lie on the floor...calling her name while giving out a piece of carrot or cabbage..but today she let me stroke her fur and her head...

What gorgeous bunnies you have, I think you are going to just have a lot of patience and I'm sure Mocha will come round eventually I wouldn't worry

What gorgeous bunnies!!

It certainly sounds like you've made some progress with her.

You will need to worry about being over run with baby bunnies though if you cant get them neutered.

susie bun said:

I'm sorry about Princess, and hope that Mocha settles in time. As others have said, hormones may well be a factor. My bunny Spenser only likes being stroked (a) if he is in the mood and (b) all four paws are on the ground. However, he was seven months old when I got him, so having your bunnies from an early age should mean they get used to you. I'm afraid lots of bunnies are not as cuddly as they look though. Because rabbits are a prey species their instinct tells them that being lifted off the ground is a threat. As for nail-trimming, I'm afraid I chicken out and have Spenser's vet do the job!

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hi..well, I am really hoping that Mocha will eventually bond with me..I tried Bathing his partner Prince, and i was surprised, he is very calm and doesnt struggle a lot. I took back the plan about bathing Mocha, since she wouldnt let me hold her yet..and as with nailr trimming,im gonna try my luck once they are all stable with me holding them.

Aww, I hope Mocha comes round soon - I agree with the other members, just sit on the floor with her/in her run and speak to her softly; wait for her to make the first move

parsnipbun said:

When replying to this thread can everyone please note the location of the poster!!

She is trying really hard to make things right for her very loved buns and the buying/selling and vet care of baby buns is very different in Manilla to here so work with her to help

Click to expand...

thanks thanks.. there are really few bunny owners here..I found a store where they sell bunny stuff.and other bunny owners sell stuff online...I found a vet clinic last sunday just near the pershop where i bought Mocha, and I inquired and they said they do check bunnies.. I am still worried about neutering though..

Tuckerbunnies said:

What gorgeous bunnies you have, I think you are going to just have a lot of patience and I'm sure Mocha will come round eventually I wouldn't worry

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Thank you so much for your support..yeah i am sure she will like me one day..

Grin said:

What gorgeous bunnies!!

It certainly sounds like you've made some progress with her.

You will need to worry about being over run with baby bunnies though if you cant get them neutered.

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Thank you..:wave:
yeah well, i'll consider neutering them soon..im gonna have to find a bunny specialist first..uhmm i just wanna know, could they have babies first, just one batch then i'll have them neutered?? is that possible??