twilightpagan said:
Iv had floppy for about 7 months now and hes still very shy and frightened when i get him out of his hutch he runs and i have trouble picking him up,he looks so afraid you can see it in his eyes,hes a beautiful boy,will he ever be not afraid??
From your point of view: You've picked him up to give him some cuddles and fuss.... maybe a run around indoors?
From his point of view: A scary monster broke in to his warren, snatched him up and held him tight in it's paws. When he tried to escape he was chased and couldn't get back to his warren and safety.
That's not a critism of you, just some bunnies see things quite differently to how we do. Another bunny might see the same thing as his friend came to play with him and he had fun playing chase and getting his nose rubbed. The hard part is getting a bunny that see's it as a scary experience to start seeing it as a fun one
Bunnies have good memories for bad things as that helps save them from future trouble. It takes time for them to relearn something as a good experience and not get scared everytime they think the bad experience is or might happen.
So, what can you do to change how he feels? The first thing is to change the bad associations for good ones. He see's you open the hutch and thinks "Yikes, the scary moster has come back to attack me again". You need to do the opposite to what scares him so that he starts ignoring the scary monster coming to visit because it's stopped being scary. Even better he starts being pleased that the scary monster is visiting because it means good things and before you know the scary monster is actually his best friend.
How you go about changing things depends a bit on your setup and how your bun reacts. I'll start from the beginning and you can ship over a few stages if he's happy with them already.
1. He runs and hides whenever you go near his hutch
You need to go near his hutch without doing anything threatening as often as you can. Announce your presence so you don't startle him "Morning Bunny", humm, sing whatever your comfortable with. Walk past the hutch half a dozen or more times a day, don't look at him and in general pretend you don't care what he's doing.
What you're teaching him: scary monster walking past his hutch isn't anything to worry about. Give him a bit of time and he'll start ignoring you back and stop hiding.
2. He runs and hides everytime you open the hutch
Same as above but this time open the hutch and ignore him. Keep up with announcing you're there so he know's who is visiting. Open his hutch, rumage around a little, leave some nice now and then (a new toy/treat/dinner) and totally ignore the fact there is a bunny in there.
What your teaching him: scary monster isn't interested in him, it visits now and then but doesn't cause any trouble so he might as well ignore it.
Rumaging in his hutch and leaving things makes scary monster interesting. Bunny's are very curious... use it to your advantage. Don't look at him (your ignoring him remember) but after a bit of time you'll probably see a nose peek out to see what's going on. Then a bit more of him and eventually he'll start ignoring you hanging around in his hutch when you're there.
3. He comes to see you when you open the hutch but runs as soon as you try to stroke him
Is he running because you go to stroke him or he thinks that it will lead to being picked up? Picking up (next part) is scary, you need to visit him just for strokes and not only when you want to pick him up. Hand feed him pellets, veggies.. whatever he usually has for dinner. Dinner is a good time to interact, food is a very positive association for a bunny. Associating the scary monster and something yummy will make the scary monsters visits something to look forward too. Get him used to having your hands near him so holding the other end of a carrot, a toy or just resting on the floor near him. In fact if you stick you hand down near him he may come and sniff/nudge it. If so, without lifting your hand you can use a finger to rub his nose.
If he backs off, don't chase him with your hand. Bunnies are curious, he'll be back again. If he knows all he has to do to 'escape' the hand is to take a step back, the hand is much less scary.
4. He'll let you stroke him but runs as soon as you go to pick him up
How would like it is a giant plucked you up off the ground and swung you through the air in a slightly procarious grip several times you height from the floor? Probably even worse if your instincts were screaming the result of that would be the giant eating you.
Some bunnies are never keen on being picked up. You can improve it but in the mean time it's much better to use cat carrier to move you bun from place to place. They can hop in/out themselves.
For more information on picking up see:
http://www.rabbitrehome.org.uk/care/handling.asp
A note on the scary monster: I know you're not a scary monster, you know you're not a scary monster, you're not a bad bunny owner either. Some bunnies just are as brave as others so need a bit more work
Time & Patience
You'll need to give you're bun plenty of this, it may takes week/months to see improvement but you'll get there
Goodluck,
Tamsin!
Ps. Phew, that was a bit of a long post :lol:
