Ambrer
Young Bun
Hi there guys! I wanted to make a kind of online diary here for bonding with my rabbit, Chappy - as well as ask you for advice, if that's okay! Chappy is my first rabbit and to be honest, I'm really struggling with her - I got until September when I leave for University (I'm moving to Manchester to study Zoology) to make her...tameable. My parents have agreed to look after her while I'm away, but here's the catch - she's got to be less wild before then; so they're able to handle her as well as take her out for hutch cleaning, etc.
Okay, so Chappy is a female (It's an Anime related name...I'm considering changing how it's written to "Chappie" to make things seem more girly, as everyone thinks she's a boy...) and she has just been neutered, today marks the week after she's been neutered. She's pretty much almost healed up and everything went great! Chappy is 6 months old, currently.
When I first brought her home at 8 weeks...she was the most tamest, sweetest, little rabbit I could ever ask for. Always wanting attention and demanding me to pick her up! She was handled daily; so I'm really unsure if I've gone wrong somewhere.
She hit 4 months old...and literally, in the space of a week, she became an unhandable demon who would bite everyone, including me, when I went to try and stroke, handle or even feed her! I took her to be spayed but the vet insisted we wait until she was 6 months...so I struggled with her for 2 months, trying to bond with her. By the time she was spayed, she was able to be stroked (mostly, she was still snarling at me) and was willingly taking treats from me. I actually got her breeder in to have a look and she decided to tell me only NOW that Chappy's mother is also like Chappy (very wild, she can't be handled) so I feel sorry for the school that got the other two from the litter!
That's all gone out the window now, which, I can really understand why. I keep trying to get her out for bonding, but she's having none of it - I've been taking her out to give her medicine and to change the bedding, but she's only got half the space she usually has (she lives in a two-story hutch; she's confided to the bottom floor currently while she heals; but I'm getting ready to re-open the top floor for her today so that she's got more room!). As well as no veggies currently, as the Metacam dose she's on messed up her tummy... Anyway, ever since her spay, she's been completely unhandable. I've had to use a method of throwing a towel over her head to lift her - and she knows that game now and likes to swipe the towel away. I've tried getting her to go into her carry-case, too, for easier removal without having to pick her up, but she's having none of it. I've also tried leaving the door open so she can come and go and she pleases, but she's not having any of that, either.
Anyway, since Chappy is my first rabbit...I guess I just need some advice on how to re-build the bond I had with her, and how I should correctly go about it. I've tried hand-feeding her treats to trust me again, but quite rightly so, she's having none of me at the moment. Been researching into the matter but...not really helped out that much.
I guess I really need to start from Square 1 with Chappy, and hopefully her hormones should start to die down within the next couple of weeks, I really hope it makes things easier. But..have you got any advice? She's just...I can't even go near her at the moment, and I feel so guilty - I can't get her out to go in the run, she's just stuck in her hutch. Which I know is probably not helping the matter, either.
If you guys have any tips, even small ones, which I could use as a starting point - any easy way of picking her up, or getting her back to being able to at least feed her treats and petting...I really would be grateful. I don't want to fail her as an owner - I want to be able to keep her, not rehome her because I wasn't able to get her properly handled. I just...I really need help.
Okay, so Chappy is a female (It's an Anime related name...I'm considering changing how it's written to "Chappie" to make things seem more girly, as everyone thinks she's a boy...) and she has just been neutered, today marks the week after she's been neutered. She's pretty much almost healed up and everything went great! Chappy is 6 months old, currently.
When I first brought her home at 8 weeks...she was the most tamest, sweetest, little rabbit I could ever ask for. Always wanting attention and demanding me to pick her up! She was handled daily; so I'm really unsure if I've gone wrong somewhere.
She hit 4 months old...and literally, in the space of a week, she became an unhandable demon who would bite everyone, including me, when I went to try and stroke, handle or even feed her! I took her to be spayed but the vet insisted we wait until she was 6 months...so I struggled with her for 2 months, trying to bond with her. By the time she was spayed, she was able to be stroked (mostly, she was still snarling at me) and was willingly taking treats from me. I actually got her breeder in to have a look and she decided to tell me only NOW that Chappy's mother is also like Chappy (very wild, she can't be handled) so I feel sorry for the school that got the other two from the litter!
That's all gone out the window now, which, I can really understand why. I keep trying to get her out for bonding, but she's having none of it - I've been taking her out to give her medicine and to change the bedding, but she's only got half the space she usually has (she lives in a two-story hutch; she's confided to the bottom floor currently while she heals; but I'm getting ready to re-open the top floor for her today so that she's got more room!). As well as no veggies currently, as the Metacam dose she's on messed up her tummy... Anyway, ever since her spay, she's been completely unhandable. I've had to use a method of throwing a towel over her head to lift her - and she knows that game now and likes to swipe the towel away. I've tried getting her to go into her carry-case, too, for easier removal without having to pick her up, but she's having none of it. I've also tried leaving the door open so she can come and go and she pleases, but she's not having any of that, either.
Anyway, since Chappy is my first rabbit...I guess I just need some advice on how to re-build the bond I had with her, and how I should correctly go about it. I've tried hand-feeding her treats to trust me again, but quite rightly so, she's having none of me at the moment. Been researching into the matter but...not really helped out that much.
I guess I really need to start from Square 1 with Chappy, and hopefully her hormones should start to die down within the next couple of weeks, I really hope it makes things easier. But..have you got any advice? She's just...I can't even go near her at the moment, and I feel so guilty - I can't get her out to go in the run, she's just stuck in her hutch. Which I know is probably not helping the matter, either.
If you guys have any tips, even small ones, which I could use as a starting point - any easy way of picking her up, or getting her back to being able to at least feed her treats and petting...I really would be grateful. I don't want to fail her as an owner - I want to be able to keep her, not rehome her because I wasn't able to get her properly handled. I just...I really need help.