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Bonding

johannapage

Warren Scout
Does anyone have any ways to bond with their rabbits,

Rosie never seems to want to come for cuddles on my lap etc and puttng her away at night is a nightmare!!

Its really upsetting me as I love her so much but she dosent seem to care,

all I want is to tips to keep her calm and placid when having her cuddles etc
 
Some rabbits just don't like being cuddled :( It's a shame for us hoomans, but that's the way it is. As for putting her away, do you have a carrier you can use to transfer her so as not to distress her?
 
I think some buns jst don't like bein held, harly will come out to be picked up and will let me cuddle and stroke him for a good while, then he'll nip my top to let me know he's had enough - but for a while Honey was running from me whenever I went near him, always knew he didnt like being picked up too much (but was usually ok once had him up) so thought this was because he thought every time I went near him Id pick him up. Sstopped pickin him up, gradually built his confidence back up (by hand feedin, jst sitting beside him in run etc) over a few nights. The first night he hid at the back of the run. and I jst left him. Then the next night he came right over, but I didnt touch him, jst let him sniff me. Now he'll lie for ages and let me stroke him, but still doesnt like being lifted.

Can't help with puttin her away at night - mine are in a hutch/run combi so I jst cover them up with tarpauline and board and they go in when they please.
 
My Dougal is like that too. He only comes near me when I have food!! :?
I know how you feel, I feel like a bad mum cos he wont come for snuggles etc, but now I know that it's just his personality. I just let him be as long as he is happy I'm happy.
 
hmm,

She used to stay for ages being cuddled when I first got her, once ive picked her up she is fine, its just the getting her, im worried she will assoiate me with chasing her (not fast just moving after her) and not like me,

Ill try the let her come to me approach, i suppose she still is a baby
 
You tend to find that when they are babies they will want snuggles and stroked, but when there grown up they don't like being snuggled so much.

This is why so many rabbits end up in rescues. The owners dont realise this.
 
Does she live in the house or are you trying to pick her up to take her outside? If she's in the house, it's fairly easy to train them to go home by using food :wink: Move dinner time (or treat time) to the time you want to put her away, make a noise she can associate with it, like rattling a food tin, and put the treat in her house (or pet carrier if she's going back outside). Then leave her alone to work out where it is. Once she's in - close the door and voila! Over time, she will associate the rattling tin with dinner/treat time and will more than likely hop into the house/carrier voluntarily and almost straight away!

I agree with the others on the cuddling - much as we might want a cuddly bun, it's just a fact that buns are prey animals and very often don't want to be cuddled - it's likely that now she's getting more teenage, she's getting brave and strong enough to make that known, which she wasn't able to as a youngster. It's not that she doesn't love you, it's just that she's a rabbit, and that's what rabbits are like!
 
She is only 15 weeks, is this teenage time???

She must have heard what I have been saying as she just had a 15min cuddle!
 
I had the same thing with Mia.. when she was going through rabbit puberty (lol) she went from this cuddly little bundle of fluff to a nightmare with teeth, scratching, biting and doing anything possible to avoid being held..

Grin and bear it, and get her spayed when she's old enough. Mia is now a lovely affectionate bunny again, very independent tho, she likes to come to you not the other way round. The change back was pretty quick after her spay.

As someone else has suggested, I put her food in her pen just before bedtime and she was pretty quick to jump in! Now she's older (14 months) she will do it pretty much on command :D
 
Neither of my buns like to be picked up and as they cannot be out in the run at the same time they have to go back in their hutches at change over time. I usually feed them when they need to go back in, but they got wise to this and unless its something really yummy like banana, they just look in the hutch and then hide underneath it! If they are not in the mood to go away, I have to put cardboard around the bottom of the hutches, so they have nowhere to hide, then I only need to threaten to pick them up and they hop in.

They were both rescue bunnies and about a year old when I got them and I don't think they were used to being handled at all, but I've gradually weened them onto stroking. Scratch will sit happily on top of her hutch for 10 or 15 minutes while you brush and stroke her. Suzi will still only put up with a couple of minutes. Its taken about 8 months to get to that stage. I can't see either of them ever liking being picked up and cuddled! I have a pet carrier that I put out in the garden for them to hide in when they are running around. This has made it easier to catch them if they need to go to the vets or go away because they are used to the box.
 
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