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new rabbit owner

mayhemzz22

Young Bun
Hey everyone, got my first rabbit 3 weeks ago, he is called brain, he was lovely tame and we bonded very quickly. my gf and i made a huge huge mistake putting his hutch outside, we went downstairs the other day to find him lay on his side bearly able to breathe.

we rushed him to pets at home who opened 20 mins early for us. the vet looked at him but there was nothing that they could do. we took him home an buryed him.

pets at home said they would cover the cost of having him put down and offered us a new rabbit as a replacement. we took a while to think about it but after brain had been such a good pet we thought we should give it a go.

we got our new rabbit Rogan and he is very shy, i am the only one who handles him at the moment and we have moved the hutch indoors to prevent cats freaking him out.

Rogan is super shy. they said he is an english rabbit, he looks lovely white with random patches of black and he is already playing in the living room which is nice 2 see.

i dont think he has been handled alot tho as he wont let anyone near him and wont sniff my hand if i put it on the floor infront of him. i have tryed laying down on the floor an he ran over an sniffed my knee. i understand its going to take a while for him to get used to me but does anybody have any tips?

thanks for taking the time to read this
 
Hi and welcome to RU :wave:

What i would personally say is that you and your new bun getting to know and trust each other can be a long process and just to be very patient with him.

I found that the best time to stroke my bun was when she was eating :)
 
thanks, yea i have done alot of research so i know it could take months for us bond, that not the most important thing tho i just want to make sure he is happy at the moment. im going to move his hitch to my room an sleep next to him for the next few weeks, i think he is 10 weeks old but he hasnt really been handled
 
also would it be better to have a buddy for him or wont be mind being alone? i had him sat in the house withme for about 5 hours today so its not like he is just left in his hutch
 
also would it be better to have a buddy for him or wont be mind being alone? i had him sat in the house withme for about 5 hours today so its not like he is just left in his hutch

Hi :wave:

Welcome to the forum :) I personally feel it's better to have rabbits in pairs, as then they can have company 24/7, with a creature who speaks their own language :)

I had a single rabbit for a long time and thought I was giving her a lot of attention - but even if I was with her 8 hours a day, that still left her alone for 16 :(

It's also so lovely to see two rabbits snuggled up together, or grooming each other. :love:

A reliable pairing is a neutered male with a neutered female - male/male or female/female pairs can work, but they're more prone to trouble and fighting.

You typically need to introduce them gradually, under supervision, in a neutral area - i.e. one which neither rabbit regards as its own "territory".

If you adopt a rabbit from a rescue, they will usually perform this process for you - I always opt for this as I'm too fainthearted to do it myself!

I wanted to add that I'm so sorry Brain passed away - but congrats on having Rogan and I hope he comes out of his shell soon. :)
 
thank you, it really sucked having brian die but at least i was with him till the end, he knew i was there but just to far gone. I dont know what people on RU think of pets at home but they couldnt have helped more tbh. We also made a little grave for brain today and we are going to plant a tree at the weekend.


Its abit hard going for a rabbit who loved to cuddle to a rabbit who hates humans but im hoping he will grow out of it.

do you have any bonding tips that will help him like me?

regards, lloyd
 
thank you, it really sucked having brian die but at least i was with him till the end, he knew i was there but just to far gone. I dont know what people on RU think of pets at home but they couldnt have helped more tbh. We also made a little grave for brain today and we are going to plant a tree at the weekend.


Its abit hard going for a rabbit who loved to cuddle to a rabbit who hates humans but im hoping he will grow out of it.

do you have any bonding tips that will help him like me?

regards, lloyd

I'm not sure really - it tends to just be a matter of time. It helps to be on his level though, so sit on the floor and stroke him, rather than reaching down from above.

Always remember that rabbits are prey animals and even though they've been domesticated, they will still ract with alarm to things they think show danger. So looming over a rabbit from above can seem like a predator about to strike. They tend to be reluctant to be picked up and carried too, as they think they've been "caught" - although this does vary between individual rabbits. Feeding him from your hand might help too - once he realises you're a source of delicious things, those nerves will disappear :lol:
 
I have always found food to be a good motivator! :wave:

Yes, if they only get a small amount of pellets they tend to go mad for them!! My Pebbles now tries to climb my legs when he thinks I might have pellets in my hand! I am using this method to get my very shy Chloe to let me touch her. It's going very slowly, and I have to stroke her very slowly or she will run away. If I don't do it for a couple of days, then I'm back to square one again with her.
 
oh right, we put his hutch so it was level hight with our bed lastnight and put him in, he ran right into his bed bless him. this morning when we woke up he was out looking at us which was sweet.

he tends to get abit more freaked out by my girlfriend at the moment, i really like him he just seems mega shy.

going to put him in the living room with me today an watch telly for a few hours an hope this helps, he is only 8-10 weeks so i dont want to start with the treats just yet.
 
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