Tame my bunnie :-( ????? HELP!!

[tikeyas_mom]

As most of you know I got a rabbit on friday the 21, 2003 of february. She is an angora dwarf not altered *that I know of* .. She likes my mom, but hates me?? Why?? She is my rabbit I spend all my days with her when I am not @ skool, My mom never sees her without me in the room.. I think it is because I brushed her mats out the first couple of day I got her.. She had such bad mats and I just couldent leave them so I cut and combed them all out, Now they are all gone.. Why doent she like me?? She is soo spoiled I brush her 1nce a day and give her carrots and apples *apples not that much* .. Please help me !! I want to be her friend .. But whenever I try to pick her up or pet her she scrambles away.. When I try to cuddle her she scratches and struggles.. :( :( :( :( :( :( please help, thanks ...



Sincerly, worried owner...

Take it easy , ... . There is no use to hurry up things !! Your bunny is still feeling a bit uncomfartable , I think! be patient , and you will see ; she/he will be your friend in no time!!!
Know what I did to comfort our Billie ? While watching tv , i put Billie on a towel on my lap . Of course , she peed there sometimes , but she felt welcome !!
Success !

[jenluckenbach]

don't rush her to be a lap-bunny. Rabbits feel safer with their feet on the ground. So sit on the floor with her and pet het, talk to her, feed her, but try not to pick her up too much. I'll bet your Mom doesn't pick her up, right? so that is why it may seem that she likes her better.

[Karen]

Exactly. Don't try to pick her up, at least not right now. You are still pretty new to her, and she needs time to adjust. Just spend time with her, sit on the floor so she can hop up to you and be comfortable being near you. DO this for a couple weeks, petting her when she's near you, then you can try picking her up later.

A couple weeks from now, when you pick her up again, make sure you instantly settle her feet on your other arm, on your chest or somewhere. To a rabbit, being picked up is instinctually bad - only predators pick you up, and that's to eat you!

[Aspen and Misty]

My baby Bun girl, Jillian, didn't like to be picked up. I would definitly wait for a couple of days to a week to pick her up and hold her. I know the one of the ways me and Jillian bonded was by me sitting on the floor and feeding her things like Raisons. Now she runs circles around me trying ot get my attention. She follows me from room to room. I was able to clicker train her, teach her her name and I was able to teac her In your room where she goes back into my room and the only way I could have acomplishished all of this was to have the bond we have, definitly take it slow.

Ash

[Daisylover]

Great advice everyone!!!!!! They are right, you cannot rush a bunny.

[tikeyas_mom]

ok, my mom does pick her up though. She cratles my rabbit like a baby and my bunny loves it, When I try to even pick her up she scratches and struggles to get away .. :( .. I guess Ill just keep on trying to get her to like me :), even though it seems imposssible.. :(

[Brie]

This isn't to be rude... but

are you a hyper person? Are you really active around her? Do you talk loud (remember some people are natural loud speakers and may never be aware of it) Or even listen to music or the TV turned up?

Quick and sudden movements can very easily frighten a small prey animal, like a rabbit. And rabbits have better hearing than humans, so loud noises can also be intimidating.

Try talking very softly, coo-ing her, like a small child (this might or might not make sense). Go slow, don't run around her. Talk softly. Pet slowly.

So some of the things I do with my bunnies for the first couple weeks: I DID EVERYTHING ON THE FLOOR!!!! and I mean everything. Sat to watch TV, typed on the computer, ate dinner, lunch, breakfast, read. Rabbits are natural very curious animals, so, I ignored them while I do these things. They get curious and come to me. I kept treats on me at all times so when they came to me they'd learn to associate me with good things.

Again, to mimic what's said above. Most rabbits HATE being picked up. This is one reason rabbits are not good pets for young children. Give her time, if she doesn't want to be held and cuddled, then don't force it.

[Karen]

Rabbits DO distinguish between people. Miss Hoppy lets ME pick her up, no problem, and I have done so since she was a wee baby bunny. But Paul is a different matter. She does NOT like it when he picks her up, and looks completely miserable, though she obviously loves him very much and demands petting from him every day. Again, just take it slowly, hang around on the floor with her, brush her, groom her, sneak her a raisin now and then (not too many, Miss Hoppy only gets three a day) and soon you will be dear friends with a very sweet bunny!

[tikeyas_mom]

<posted by brie...
are you a hyper person? Are you really active around her? Do you talk loud (remember some people are natural loud speakers and may never be aware of it) Or even listen to music or the TV turned up?

No I am not a hyper person .. I humm to my rabbit for hours to get her to fall asleep.. I am always doing crap on the floor as well. When I pet her or talk to her I humm and wisper and I never have my music on EVER!!! When I pet her Or talk to her I am always on her level of confert /.. At eyes view for her.. I have a T.V in my room but it is never loud it is always really quiet because I have 20 brand new baby syrian hamsters right next to it and Disturbing the dest with loud noises or whever can cause the mother to eat her babies.

[RockyRoad]

Your bunny does't "hate" you if you say you are doing all these nice things for her. I cannot read her mind, but it is most likely that she is just getting used to the house, and is scared and does not know who to trust.
Floppsy scratches when I pick her up, and boy are her nails long! From that, she is telling me she does not like to be picked up. I would guess that if your rabbit is kicking and scratching, she doesn't want to be picked up either. To be honest, I actually do not know many rabbits that like to be picked up, but that's just me.
Just give her some time to get used to you, and always make sure to let her know you will not hurt her. Sudden movements scare rabbits, and as someone said before, so does loud music and hyperactivity.
Floppsy will not let me pick her up, but still loves to hop around and play. Sometimes if I gently move my hands under her paws and lift her, she will let it slide, but only for a little while, i.e. bringing her up onto the bed.

Good luck helping your bunny adjust!:)

[Jessica12345]

Originally posted by FloppsyLadySally89

Your bunny does't "hate" you if you say you are doing all these nice things for her. I cannot read her mind, but it is most likely that she is just getting used to the house, and is scared and does not know who to trust.
Floppsy scratches when I pick her up, and boy are her nails long! From that, she is telling me she does not like to be picked up. I would guess that if your rabbit is kicking and scratching, she doesn't want to be picked up either. To be honest, I actually do not know many rabbits that like to be picked up, but that's just me.
Just give her some time to get used to you, and always make sure to let her know you will not hurt her. Sudden movements scare rabbits, and as someone said before, so does loud music and hyperactivity.
Floppsy will not let me pick her up, but still loves to hop around and play. Sometimes if I gently move my hands under her paws and lift her, she will let it slide, but only for a little while, i.e. bringing her up onto the bed.

Good luck helping your bunny adjust!:)


Sunny didnt like to be picked up either. She loved to be around us and get attention from us, but no matter what she would "flip out" if we tried to pick her up.

We never picked her up after those incidents, but she was still fun to be around.;)

[tikeyas_mom]

ok I am happy im not the only onewith a stubbron bunny :)

[Jessica12345]

lol:)

[popcornbird]

My friend's bunny is like that too. She doesn't like it when people pick her up and kicks and scratches until you put her down. I think most bunnies are like that. They don't like their feet off the ground! :eek:

[tikeyas_mom]

My bunny loves me now :D I am happy it only took a week to get her used to me lol... ONLY~!!!!!!!~.. but ya She still doesnt like to be picked up and handled... She likes to be brushed and she loves cuddles :).. I love my rabbit

[RockyRoad]

I'm so glad that your bunny loves you! :D Have fun!

[Jessica12345]

horray! congrats! do you have more pics??:)