New bunny behaviour?

Hi everyone :wave: ,
so I just adopted a little lionhead and dutch cross buck (he is really cute!), he is about 15 weeks old and absolutely adorable. When I went to view him he was really chilled and all the staff said he was really friendly and relaxed. The guy got him out for me to hold him and when he put him pack Blu (the rabbit) hopped after him as if he wanted to come out again. So I bought him and took him home. For his first day he stayed in the carrier but was very chilled, he flopped all of the time and happily ate hay in there, when he came out he would explore quite freely. I took the carrier out the next morning. When I'm not in the room he is fine, exploring and playing but when I enter the room he just goes into hiding. He has been here for three days now so I decided to take some fresh veggies and sit in his cage. I sat there quietly, didn't look at him and held out a vegetable, he ran to a corner of his cage under a hammock sort of thing far away from me, I moved a bit closer to him and he just ran away. I understand that building trust can take a very long time but i was just wondering if anyone had any tips. I should also add that he dosen't mind being picked up and he likes being held. I know he is still settling in and that every rabbit is different but my female mini lop, Poppy definitely didn't go into hiding and she is a rather stressy rabbit, no where near as relaxed as him. Do you think that he just needs to settle in properly and then he will become less scared?
Anyway, sorry this has been such a long post I am just really worried about him.
Thanks, Stella.
P.S. I adopted him for Poppy and their cages are next to each other but he doesn't seem bothered by her at all.

welcome to the forum, it sounds like he just needs time, I would just leave him to come to you, maybe have food on or near you but no hand contact as soon as he approaches as to not startle him, talk gently, no sudden movements, once he gets used to that you can build your relationship up from their and he may let you touch him with an object or your hand, some bunnies do take alittle longer

mini lop1 said:

welcome to the forum, it sounds like he just needs time, I would just leave him to come to you, maybe have food on or near you but no hand contact as soon as he approaches as to not startle him, talk gently, no sudden movements, once he gets used to that you can build your relationship up from their and he may let you touch him with an object or your hand, some bunnies do take alittle longer

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Hi, thank you for the advice, I thought the answer was quite straight forward but sometimes hearing it from someone else is just really reassuring. Thank you again!
P.S your bunnies look really cute!

StellaPoppy said:

Hi, thank you for the advice, I thought the answer was quite straight forward but sometimes hearing it from someone else is just really reassuring. Thank you again!
P.S your bunnies look really cute!

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aww thanks, no worries, I once had a netherland dwarf and it took a while to gain her trust, but the work paid off

It sounds a bit odd but actually giving him more places to hide will help him feel more confident about coming out. As rabbits are prey animals they rely on having a burrow entrance near by in case anything scary comes along, so if they have a bolt hole nearby they are confident about being out and about because they know they can hide quick. So I'd pop the carrier back in and/or use some cardboard boxes to make a house/tunnels.

Sitting next to him and not doing anything can help too, e.g. read a book/watch TV etc. so you are near him and he can sneak out and check you out but you aren't interacting with him.

It's a lot of changes for a little bunny so you'll find time makes a big difference as he settles

Tamsin said:

It sounds a bit odd but actually giving him more places to hide will help him feel more confident about coming out. As rabbits are prey animals they rely on having a burrow entrance near by in case anything scary comes along, so if they have a bolt hole nearby they are confident about being out and about because they know they can hide quick. So I'd pop the carrier back in and/or use some cardboard boxes to make a house/tunnels.

Sitting next to him and not doing anything can help too, e.g. read a book/watch TV etc. so you are near him and he can sneak out and check you out but you aren't interacting with him.

It's a lot of changes for a little bunny so you'll find time makes a big difference as he settles

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Thank you! He has a tunnel and log tube in his pen as well as a hammock thing for him to hide under but I will try and find some card board boxes for him. In an effort to start bonding with him I have attached a run onto his cage and put some of his nuggets out (he is very food orientated) and he has come out and sniffed my foot which I am very happy about because I didn't think he would even leave the cage but he actually seems quite relaxed about eating around me so that is good. I'm going to try and do this everyday to try and build up a good relationship with him. Anyway, sorry for rambling.

That sounds like a great idea! Bunnies love food so it's a good way to make positive associations