making a shy rabbit less shy?

Hi everyone!

I have two lovely rescue buns from the RSPCA. I got them last August and they are my first rabbits ever! They are both over 4years old and were given away due to the family emmigrating.

Ozzie (neutered boy) is a medium sized lop, comical (bumps your bottom when you are bending down to clean out the hutch) and will hop up to you most times to see what you are up to (or more likely what food you may have for him!).

But Rolo is smaller (an english crossed rabbit i think) and a neutered female. She is very shy though. She tends to sit upstairs in the hutch looking out more. She doesn't as readily allow you to stroke her either. She is very nrevous when you have to pick her up to (although was the best behaved bunny ever when I had to give her bottom a bath the other week!!).

Are there any tips on making both of them tamer, but especially Rolo?

Thanks xx

Hello

Some Bunnies will always be more reserved than others but I have found that the more time you spend with a shy Bunny the more responsive they become. Food is always a good way to win a Bun over. But just as important is getting them used to having you around. This may mean you just sitting in their pen and reading. Curiosity will eventually get the better of them and they will start to approach you, maybe climb on your legs or nibble the book you are reading :lol:
Time and endless patience can bring a shy Bunny out of their shell but some will always be somewhat introvert.


Janex

I have a rabbit like yours. He is a dwarf lop and although he is not nervous, he is vary cautious and shy of me. He grabs food from my hand and runs off with it. If i open the hutch door, he will look to see if there is anyrthing for him before running off. Patch hates being held and i was told to handle him every day until he gets used to it. However, since joining this forum, I have been told not to handle him if he does not like it.

Now that I have stopped, he is less likely to aviod me. Also, I behave the same with him so that I am predictable to him and i move my hands slowly and gently towards him and high above his head (Rabbits can't see very well close up, if you move to his face) so he expects my hand and I feed him fruit that he likes. Patch seems to like his head being touched. In the past, he would get frightened if i touched his body so maybe cancentrate on stroking your rabbit's head. I would also recommend you to get this book "The relaxed rabbit- Massage for bunnnies". You can get it from Amazon. I have only had this book a week and Patch now runs to the edge of the hutch wanting his massages. I feel I have a new rabbit now!! Belive me, I have had trouble bonding with this rabbit and I had tried everything, to the point where I thoughht my only relationship was to feed him!

I have a rabbit like yours. He is a dwarf lop and although he is not nervous, he is vary cautious and shy of me. He grabs food from my hand and runs off with it. If i open the hutch door, he will look to see if there is anyrthing for him before running off. Patch hates being held and i was told to handle him every day until he gets used to it. However, since joining this forum, I have been told not to handle him if he does not like it.

Now that I have stopped, he is less likely to aviod me. Also, I behave the same with him so that I am predictable to him and i move my hands slowly and gently towards him and high above his head (Rabbits can't see very well close up, if you move to his face) so he expects my hand and I feed him fruit that he likes. Patch seems to like his head being touched. In the past, he would get frightened if i touched his body so maybe cancentrate on stroking your rabbit's head. I would also recommend you to get this book "The relaxed rabbit- Massage for bunnnies". You can get it from Amazon. I have only had this book a week and Patch now runs to the edge of the hutch wanting his massages. I feel I have a new rabbit now!! Belive me, I have had trouble bonding with this rabbit and I had tried everything, to the point where I thoughht my only relationship was to feed him!

My two girls used to be very shy when I first got them but now they are both little attention hogs! My advice would be to spend a lot of time around them just reading, watching tv etc. Then start to feed them from your hand and get them used to being stroked. As they become more confident encourage them to sit on your knee while they are eating (let them come if they want, if now dont make them), and try and spend time playing with them. Soon they should become more confident and enjoy spending time with you.

Anna is only 12 weeks old so I'm hoping she will improve with time and handling, but she sounds similar to your girl. At first I thought maybe it was becasue she is female, she is so different to my boy Ivor who is a desperate, attention seeking, hyperactive, extrovert!
I'm starting to think that she is just more reserved and will always be. I just dont want her to be scared of me and though i can handle and groom her, it upsets me that she doesnt seem to enjoy it, especially as I'm used to Ivor.

Thanks everyone for your advice.
I think I will look into the book about the massage - that sounds like a nice thing to do for them too!

I will keep up the stroking of her head so it doesn't frighten her too much and I always try to show her that Ozzie doesn't mind the stroking.
I'll just keep up the time spent with them and maybe she'll be more comfortable with me. I'm glad she's not so scared that I can't handle her when I have to, and also that I'm not afraid to handle her when necessary - she doesn't bite, scratch etc. She is actually a very good bunny. So i really do think it has a lot to do with her natural character. Though it can't hurt to spend more time with them and maybe the odd massage

feeding veggies from hand is a good way to get a bunny to have to approach you too.