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Milly - very nervous bunny still! Help!

jay

Mama Doe
I have tried everything I can think of to help Milly overcome her nervousness. She was a rescue bunny who from what I was told when I got her had a awful start in life. Anyway now she lives with (and adores) Jack and is quite happy and relaxed living in the dining room. I have got to the point where I can lie or sit on the floor and she will come up to me albeit for a quick sniff or nudge and then hop off to sit or lie somewhere else.

However...if I try to get near her she runs away. I can get to a foot away from her. I can hold her but she hates it and I can tell she is terrified. Anything new and she has her ears forwards and tiptoes towards it.

I have tried hand feeding everynight - works with pellets but with anything else she just drops it and runs off until I have gone or if Jack is there she just steals what he has got.

I have tried picking her up all the time to get her used to it - result, she ran and stomped everytime she saw me.

I have tried not picking her up at all and not showing my hands when near her except if I had food in them.

I have laid in the dining room ignoring her whole afternoons and evenings and she just ignores me.

I want to get to the stage where I can pick her up to move her as neither bunny will walk on the laminate to get to the living room and they have fun when in there - Milly did her first binky whilst playing in the living room!

I would love to be able to give her a nose rub to.

Jack wasn't very friendly when we first got him - now he loves to be picked up and cuddled and sometimes even gets annoyed when you put him down!

I just feel Milly is missing out because I have got to the point where I will take Jack with me upstairs or into the living room and he has so much fun and she is left on her own in the dining room.

Help!! There must be something I can do. I have had her about 10 months now!
 
I have one bunny who HATES to be handled and still runs away from me despite my best efforts.
I now work to her terms! She will let me stroke her when SHE feels like it and I don't push it. When I take her to the run etc I move her in a carrier which I get her into by gently cornering her then bribing her with pellets.
She just gets so stressed out and she is happier if we keep it like this.

Could you try carrying Milly in a carrier so that she can come with Jack when you bring him into the living room?
If she is happy with Jack and has his company then I'm sure she is probably quite content. :D
 
How big is the patch of laminate? Could you get a long thin runner type rug, or some of those beach mat type things that you can lay down or roll away depending when you want the buns out? That way they could come and go as they please without worrying about the laminate. That in itself might help her to become more confident and less wary of you :?
 
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