Feeding a young bunny

[Sammyp]

Hi all,

I have a new young bunny called Poppy, she's only 8/9 weeks old and a bit scared of me. She lets me pick her up and cuddle her but she doesn't come to me for food etc...

I was wondering if there's any treats I can give her at this age that shouldn't upset her tummy so she might associate me with nice things :lol:

Thanks :wave:

 

[nessar]

You can hand-feed her pellets to her

But I wouldn't introduce any new foods for a couple of weeks at least, and preferably not until she is 12 weeks old.

 

[silverrabbit]

Yeah, I use the hand-feeding pellet trick, it works really well as they seem to be obsessed with pellets! Even my insane Polish bun Ollie will take it out of my hand :thumb:

 

[Sammyp]

Great

Thank you for that, I'll try tomorrow and see if she will take any from me

She seems to really like them so hopefully she will soon be brave enough to come to me for them :thumb:

 

[nessar]

If she isn't brave enough yet, don't worry. You can build up her trust by just sitting in her run with her running about - don't do anything or pay any attention to her, just read a book or go on your laptop or something (beware cables can be bitten by bunny teeth, so use it on battery). By just sitting quietly near her, she will become more used to you. You can then start putting her food near you to eat, and move it closer over time until she is eating out of your hand

If she seems scared, tries to run away or crouches down trying to make herself small when you go to pick her up, it is a sign that she doesn't like it so it may be an idea to not do that whilst she is settling in, so that she trusts and likes you more. Many rabbits don't like being picked up and prefer strokes on the floor instead - this is because the only time in the wild they would be picked up is when they are about to be killed.

 

[Sammyp]

Great thanks for the advice
She's getting more confident every day so I think she's gonna be fine in no time :thumb:

I've never had a baby this young, my youngest was 6 months when I got him and I just want to do everything to make sure she has the best chance of being tame