Hand Shy Bun

Is there anything I can do? I recently adopted Polly from my local RSPCA as a wifebun for my single male Bertie (8weeks ago) They are completely loved up and I have no worries there but she is terrified of human hands! She will not be touched.
If I try she cowers with the whites of her eyes showing
I had to get hold of her the other day just to check her claws and she started to squeak a bit and went a little limp so I immediately let her go and then sobbed for half an hour. She is fine now but is even more aloof than she was before. The odd thing is if I have food in my hand she will climb all over me to get it! Also if she is chewing food she will allow a nose rub but as soon as she stops chewing she will freak out because oh my god there's a hand! It is like she cannot multi-task!
Her history is that she is an ex PAH bun who was abandoned in her former owner's garden so was basically living wild. I realise that I have a long journey with the poor girl but does anyone have any advice? Just sitting near her doesn't seem to work as unless I have food she isn't interested.
Even if I am unable to stroke her I will need to take her to the vet every now and then and I am worried the shock of being handled will kill her. She is a strong girl with big hare like back feet - does anyone have any experience of a bun like this? She has shown no aggression at all, is spayed and is about 18 months old. Sorry for the long post!!

I am sorry that Polly is very nervous of hands, it could be something connected with her eyesight. If not she probably needs more time to come to trust you, it can take a long time! Fortunately she gets along very well with her friend so this could help her to become more confident.

Time time time and patience patience patience. You already have a friend for her and you are clearly fond of her so thats a great start.

Sit by her regularly and talk to her. Keep giving her treats (dandelion leaves, corriander, grass, etc) and she will start to associate the hand with food. Its early days. Some rabbits never like being held (ie all my four) but in time she may allow more strokes and learn that the hand is her friend!

I'm just too impatient then. Time and herbs I have aplenty! She loves her food so I shall keep persevering!
Thank you

I never considered that it might be her eyesight. I will definitely mention it to my vet when I next have to go. Bizarrely if I wave at Polly she comes straight over. She's a funny little girl.

I have the same issue with Peanut Butter. He will happily jump all over me (including my head if I'm lying down! :shock and run towards me but he absolutely HATES being touched. He won't even let me give him a nose rub. I'm hoping that, like you, a lot of patience will eventually pay off. Most of the time I just stretch my hand out towards him without attempting a stroke just so he doesn't see my hand as a threat and he'll give it a little nose bump. Incidentally, I'm not allowed to touch him but its perfectly acceptable for him to chomp away on my legs and feet! :lol:

Good luck with Polly, I hope she comes round eventually.

2 of my bridge buns, Dandy and Beano were the same at first, they did get used to me, I mean I was the bringer of food and fenugreek crunches so they tolerated my presence :lol: Vets visits I did by leaving their carrier in the shed all the time with the door open, and fed them their pellets in there every day. on vet day it was just a matter of shutting the door before they realised. My vet was used to them. I told her they were wild and virtually unhandleable , thankfully at the vets they were subdued enough to allow me to pick them up etc. they never got to being tame rabbits but did get better

It's the sort of thing that I'd expect you can get to improve a lot, particularly if she's happy to hand feed from you. It will just be slowly teaching her hands are good. I'd start by associating food and touching as much as possible so use her meal time pellets and hand feed them so you can get lots of nose rubs in. You could also position one hand to the side (hold it still) and then encourage her to touch it by holding the treat in your other hand near so she has to brush past to reach the treat. Where you've got time, I'd hand feed anything that isn't hay so you get lots of good interaction time.

I know it seems a bit sad that she'll only hang out when you've got food, but just think of it as an icebreaker. She just needs that little extra incentive to interact for now and that will give her time to learn hands be can give nice strokes!

It may well be she associates touching with being picked up, and it's the being picked up she doesn't like. I would train her to hop into her carrier that way you can do a vet trip without needing to pick her up Just pop a treat in the carrier and put it where she can hop in - she'll soon be hoping in as soon as she sees it to get the treat.

If Bertie is up for it, make sure you stroke him while she's around too, it's good for her to see him relaxed about it as bunnies often take cues from their social group.

Lots of great advice thank you. Luckily Bertie loves fuss and will come and demand it so hopefully that will calm her a lot.
I will persevere and persevere. She has only been home 8 weeks ish so I think I'm expecting too much! She is binkying a lot so that's a good sign if nothing else