Yeah, I gave him a stick of dry hay and he chewed a little. We adopted him half of a month ago. But I got a question: how do I make him not afraid of me? How do I make him think that I'm friendly? Maybe he sees me as another bunny sometimes but also sometimes he runs from me while free roaming. He rarely aproaches me, sniffs sometimes and usually refuses to take food from my hands. He sometimes lays close to me when I'm laying close to him at his level near the cage. He almost always allows to pet him by the way. Am I in the correct direction? How do I make him treat me as equal?
by lpperl7
3 Comments
Good boy Simon! 💜💜💜
Keep offering food and pet him when he is comfortable. Bunns show affection by mutual grooming. Petting is us grooming them. In time he may reciprocate (not all bunns lick their hoomans) and he will likely seek out pets from you. Offering food by hand is good.
Awww, what a cutie.
My go-to is just laying on the floor. Bring a book, watch a show, or just lay there. If they come over, just let them explore, maybe offer treats or give them a gentle forehead rub. Just keep it low pressure, and let them initiate. Sometimes they’ll just come lounge in the same general area, and that’s a good sign too.
Adorable bunny. It takes time. I bonded by sitting and laying on floor doing my own thing like cleaning out my purse, taking online training on my laptop, reading a book, watching TV, etc. When laying on floor, I let him come up to me and sniff and stand on me without trying to pet him at first to get used to me. Then, I started petting him and giving him treats. He would try to steal paper items when I was cleaning out purse so I started having paper items specifically for him. It took several months, but he came around. Now, he climbs in my lap to get a treat but doesn’t sit in my lap. My bun sits next to me or on floor by my feet and nudges my ankle when he wants attention. I sit on floor with him every night. I also found sleeping in same room and letting him free roam in that room, he will sleep by my feet. Saying that, after 3 months he was completely free roam even when I’m not home. He still has his xpen where his potty, hay, and water is. I give him greens in the xpen as well but the door is always open. Hope this helps.