Hello again r/rabbits! I’ve posted Toast here before but now that i’ve had him for about a month i’m just so scared he doesn’t like me. We got him september 8th and he’s 1 year old. We got him neutered at the end of september. When I first got him I felt like bonding was going smoothly and then I had to go dog sit for a week. My partner stayed home with toast but I felt like after I came home & got him neutered he doesn’t like me as much. which is honestly understandable.
I wonder if rabbits get seasonal depression at all or become less active in the winter? The last few weeks it’s been getting colder where I live and I can definitely say i’ve been feeling the seasonal depression creep up. I still get up every morning at 9am to give him breakfast but now I usually go back to sleep until 1 or 2 and then I get up again and hang out with him. I’ve noticed the last week he seems a bit less active. he lets me pet him, he binkies sometimes when he’s free roaming, but he doesn’t really play with his toys much unless i’m playing with him. he loooooves treats, when I give him his hay biscuits he runs around like crazy. he currently lives in a large x-pen but gets supervised free roam of our living room almost daily.
Whenever he’s free roaming he doesn’t really let me pet him but when I sit in his x pen and today he let me pet him til he almost fell asleep. he lets me kiss him and put my face near him and he doesn’t mind. But he never nudges me for pets. closest thing to that is he will nudge my toe out of his way lol. He will stand on my lap when I offer him treats close to me but won’t sit on my lap willingly or let me pick him up. the not being able to pick him up worries be a lot in case of an emergency but usually I can corral him into his carrier if need be (like for vet visits.)
The thing is he never grooms me, runs circles around me, or any other typical rabbit behavior I hear about on here when a bunny loves their owner. He does however do lots of flops whenever me or my partner are in the room with him which I think is a good sign. he sleeps at the edge of pen closest to us. He doesn’t really hide from us or anything. He has a pretty independent and sassy personality so maybe that’s what it is. I wish he would jump up on the coach and hang out with us but he doesn’t seem interested in jumping up very high even though he can do super high binkies.
if anyone has advice on what to do to get him to like me more please let me know! I pet him and give him treats daily, I make him diy toys & get him new ones when I can. I love him so much I just want him to be happy 🙁 the last few days when we open his pen he might come out and jump around for a little bit he tends to put himself back pretty quick. is something wrong? he’s eating, drinking, and using the bathroom like normal. idk I might just be worried over nothing! but i’d love to hear some feedback!
by kataclysmicstar