Rabbit

Training?

I’m a new bunny owner. I’ve had my baby boy for two+ months now. I need some help for anyone experienced in skiddish bunnies ☹️

I got him from a woman for fairly cheap. She clearly didn’t take care of him well… He’s smaller than he should be, (tho he is the runt of his litter, he also was fairly skinny.) was matted and dirty on his back and was insanely skiddish when we first got him. She lied about his age, claiming he was 3 months when he was 1 1/2 yrs.

First few weeks were awful, I felt so bad. If my hands got anywhere near him he would violently flinch and run. He never hissed or anything, never charged. He just hid.

I spent a lot of time doing my best to get him comfortable. I sectioned off a big chunk of my room to give him a safe space (dw, he’s 100% free roam 24/7) and I would lay in it for long periods of time. I sit with him, talk to him… I feed him from my hand once a day at least- Treats, pellets, whatever.

Now, he’s completely comfortable coming up to me and sniffing me, putting his paws on my leg and running around my feet.

Issue is he’s still so scared of my hands if they don’t have food in them and even sometimes then he runs away first.

I want him to not be so stressed when I come nearby. I don’t mind that I can’t lift him up, I’ve been able to once in emergency and that’s all I need… but I want him comfortable. The one day he let me pet him he was so relaxed and was so excited but it only happened that one day.

Is there anything I can do? I’m willing to spend time training and do routines. I really want to bond with him ;(

For reference, he’s a 1 yr 7 month holland lop. Two months with me. He seems fairly happy from what I’ve researched, at night he loves running around and doing mini binkies (he didn’t know how to job more than a couple inches when we got him from the past owner, I’ve tried to teach him that and climbing and it’s gone great so far) and I do plan to get neutered asap, waiting for the vet to email me back.

by https_mina

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