New to the Bunny Forum

[apankow]

Hi our names are Allison and Annie and we have three adorable baby girl bunnies (Don't let their names confuse you, they are all girls
Wendy - dwarf bunny, Smee- holland lop, Peter-jersey Wholy

Once I figure out how to post pics, I will.


Question: Both Smee and Wendy are extremely sociable bunnies. They run right up to us and hop into our laps. But Peter is more introverted. We were wondering whether it is best to give her space, and let her be her own bunny. Or whether it's better to hold her and pick her up even when she runs away (which happens all the time), in an effort to increase her social skills? Any feedback or help ya'll have would be much appreciated!

Thanks so much! Hope everyone's hoppers are happy and healthy!

Annie and Allison

[Guest]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

I have a somewhat frosty 5 year old rex cross who also doesn't like handling or even being touched. I have taken the route of letting her get on with life unimpeded by me. I have had her since she was a dot and she has always been this way. I handle her to check her over occasionally and to do nail cutting but other than that I don't really. She is not frightened of me - she will full on mug me for a fenugreek treat, but she just does not want human contact for any other reason. If I am sat on the floor she comes and nudges me sometimes or will come and have a sniff, and very occasionally she will almost let me give her a nose rub (but in reality she headbuts my hand!). She is very vocal especially if you approach her. I strongly suspect that if I tried to handle her more that she would become quite agressive - mishandling is the no1 cause of aggression in rabbits. The trick is really to allow Peter to come to you and be in control of the level of contact you have. Remember that rabbits are prey animals and they do not need putting in their place in the same way as dogs, to do so will just make them more fearful. The way to encourage rabbits to be more secure is to provide lots of food and make sure they have a good experience of contact with you.

And don't worry about the name, you should meet Sparky and her extended family of unusually named rabbits. And Sparky herself used to be a boy!

[Sparky]

Hello and welcome to you and your bunnies

I agree with Cheryl, as usual

Some bunnies are quite sociable with humans, and some just aren't. Part of the challenge and appeal of buns is that humans need to learn to interact with them rather than forcing the animal to behave in the way the humans want. Bear in mind that most times when bunnies are 'handled' it is by a predator and as such is a threatening and frightening experience. There are 12 of us, and some will happily approach our hu-parents and be petted, or climb all over them, and some of us want as little to do with them as possible.

My Daddy, Jack, was always wary of the humans as was his first wife-bun. But his new wife-bun is very sociable and Jack is learning that contact with the hu-parents can be nice too. He used to thump and run if he was approached but now he periscopes in the hope of a treat, and happily settles for nose-rubs and will put up with being stroked for as long as the humans are willing to do it

Having said that, a pocket full of Fenugreek Crunchies and banana chips can win most buns round, at least temporarily. We are very food-motivated

And don't worry about the name, you should meet Sparky and her extended family of unusually named rabbits.

You mean my sisters: Graham, Reggie, Ronnie and Poirot?

And Sparky herself used to be a boy!

Tried it, didn't like it

[KatieB]

Hi There,

Welcome to HH!

I have a boy named Daisy!

I have never met two bunnies who have the same personality. Sometimes they are just buns who dont want to be picked up and are just happy being in bun company.

It is important that you can handle her as you will need to be able to do bum checks (for flystrike) and there may be times when medicine is required for example. However, if she is a bun that just doesnt like it, id keep it to a minimum. There is a danger if you force her to have cuddles that she doesnt want that she will become more frightened and withdrawn.

Let her come to you in her own time, buns love to do things in their own time. Some patience and love and she may surprise you - or she may just be a bun who is happy with the company of other buns and doesn't need lots of cuddles.

Any questions you have at all please let us know - we are all here to help and we have a wealth of experience here - from people who run rescues, to people who have lots of buns to people who have one house bun..... there is usually always someone about that can help.

Again - Welcome

Katie x

[apankow]

Thank you all for the feedback. It's really nice to know that just because little Peter isn't the cuddliest of bunnies, it doesn't mean she is unhappy with her life or parents. Just shy. Forcing her to get cuddles really didn't seem right, so I'm glad you all confirmed this for me.

Maybe one day she will be ready for a handle or two..i'll keep you updated!

And thanks again everyone!

Ok, I have one more question: We are litter box training the buns. And they are doing quite well except for a few accidents. The only thing is they don't seem to be able to control their pills (poopies). Potty is ending up where it should; but we are still having trouble with the other. Any suggestions. Also, Smee is having more difficulty than the others at litterbox training. She's the only one having accidents at this point. Should I confine her to her cage for awhile until she gets the litterbox down more fully? I feel so bad about doing that because they usually run around altogether in the pen, and poor smee would be all alone in her cage. Sad bunny.

Any thoughts on how to encourage success, both for little smee, and all the bunnies with their dropping problems.

Thanks again for answering my other concern. Super, super helpful. :O)

[KatieB]

Hiya
Its never a good idea to separate one of the bunnies off from the others unless its for medical reasons, especially with girls.

You see the bond between them is a very special and very fragile thing...A separation could break the bond and once broken, very difficult to rebuild.

If you are going to reduce space you will need to do it for all three of them.

Litter training is a tricky thing.

The best thing to do is this....

When a poo is done outside of the litter box, show bun the poo, put bun and poo into litter box and fuss the bun. Over and over again

Like everything with buns patience is required.

What size litter tray do you have and what litter do you use?

[Sparky]

How many litter trays do you have, how big are they, where are they, how often do you clean them out and what do you use for litter?

Buns are fastidiously clean and may refuse to use a dirty tray (that's dirty by our standards, not human ones).

Buns can be fussy about what they toilet on - I refused to use Megazorb but went on newspaper, so Humum put a layer of newspaper on top of Megazorb and gradually used less newspaper until I was going on the Megazorb.

Do you put some hay in the litter trays? Buns like to nom hay when they toilet.

[Tuckerbunnies]

Hi Welcome to HH

I agree with Katieb it is important that you handle them so they can be checked for flystrike and for giving them medicines. We have one at the moment who has been abused and will not let you handle him at all and we are spending hours just sat in his play pen with him giving him treats off a very still hand as he hates hands but we will continue to do it as long as it takes as we will need to handle him in the future. We have a few that don't like being picked up but they have no choice I'm afraid.

Can't wait to see pictures of your girls

[KatieB]

Oh yes I forgot about that......Layer of hay on top is very important....they do like to eat and do their business at the same time.....(delightful)

[apankow]

I have two litter boxes at the moment, one cat litterbox made for a large cat, and one cage v-shaped litterbox for bunnies that fits in the cage. I use carefresh litter, and cover the top of it with hay. I clean the pans out once a day.

Good to know about separation. Won't be trying that then.

I think it might just come down to proper training, then. Because they are just fine with going potty in their boxes for the most part. It's the pills that are EVERYWHERE - not just one corner, they drop them as they please. So It sounds like I just need to sit with them, watch them closely, relocate their poop to the litterbox when they do have an accident and then praise praise praise.

Thanks again for everyone's responses!

Annie

[KatieB]

Any time - whatever you need, just ask.

Sometimes the litter training does take a while - and occassionally you will find the odd escapee, but so worth it in the end.

Please give them all a nose rub from me x x

[gentl]

GREETINGS
ANNIE & ALLISON
WELCOME TO
HAPPY HOPPERS!

[Thumper2001]

Hello

Welcome to HH!!!

I wish I could help you with training them to poo in the litter tray, but I am having the same battle with my two

They are nearly 6 months old and they are peeing in the tray with very few "accidents" but I am having no joy getting them to poo in it. They are not too bad in their pen, I maybe clean up 6 or 7 in the morning and in the evening, but when they are free ranging they poo everywhere.

I've tried everything that has been suggested, I even removed my rug at the weekend because I think they were associating it with pooing. Things have improved since but are still not great.

When they are free ranging I am watching them constantly so I can catch the poo's immediately and put them in the tray.

My female, Molly, seems to poo constantly every time she moves

Here's hoping we both get there in the end

[Rachel&Nibbler]

Hello welcome to HH. There's a lovely bunch of people here I'm sure you'll love it

[apankow]

Thank you for all the warm welcomes! Everyone is so kind and knowledgeable!

Thumper: that's exactly the same thing that's happening with my bunnies as well. When they are running around in their pen, they constantly poo. I'm not even sure if it's possible to train Ms. Smee because she would have to live in the litterbox at this rate - she just poos entirely too much.

6 months is still pretty young. My bunnies are three months. Maybe as they grow older their little metabolisms will slow, and they will eat and poo less...and we will have better luck training them!

Good luck with your buns, give them a pat for me!

[jolovesbunnies]

Hello love and welcome to our hoppy happy family.

Buns are all different, the ones I have had really vary in personalities because they are little individuals like us. My Mr Snuffles does not like being picked up and only wanted a fuss on his terms. Since he has become older however (10) he is really friendly and snuggles up to me on the bed.

Some great advice on here dear, you will love this place.
Hugs

Jo xx

[fall3n-ang3l]

hello and welcome,the ladies have given you some fab advice,my two dont like been picked up,so i just leave them,when i do pick them up to check them over,i give them a fenugreek to try and bribe them but they will be in a huff for a few days my two live outside,they have 2 litter trays and they do poo in the litter tray but they is loads of stray poo in the cage but they do wee 99% of the time in there litter tray and that suits me fine

you will love it here,its very friendly

[apankow]

A number of you have mentioned fenugreek. I am curious what that is?

[KatieB]

A number of you have mentioned fenugreek. I am curious what that is?

I think you can buy them here

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Natural+Treats+%252526+Herbs.7/Fenugreek+Crunchies.359.html

Most buns love them.....one of mine doesnt (and well the other two will eat anything at all!)

They are often good as a treat - and good for bribery!!

[apankow]

wow. cool. Should they be fed sparingly like fruits? Or a couple times a day? Is it important to get it in that dried, chip form, or do buns like the fresh leaves of the plan too, provided I can find it at the grocery store?

[KatieB]

Fresh leaves will be fine. They should only be used as a treat really,

Buns should have at least 80% hay 10% nuggies (not meusli) and 10% veg.

There is a list somewhere of veg they can and cant have. Ill see if I can find it later for you :-) Spring greens and Kale are staples for many buns. Fresh herbs (esp parsley, kale and corriander) are real hits with bunnies and you can feed them more of them as they are good for them too.

Mine have a bowl of kale and spring greens with a small amount of broccoli with parsley and kale mixed in most days.

Fruits and carrots should only be used as treats.

They also love pear and apple tree leaves (they should never have the seeds - so always remove them from the fruit) pear and apple twigs (very good for teeth) and plantain is another good one. You can often find it out and about too, and I quite often pick it wash it and give it to them....they love it.

You can buy dried plantain too from the same place. My Daisy LOVES plantain he goes nuts for it!

Another tip is to avoid treats with corn in them as they are really bad for buns bellies and can cause problems.

Hope all this helps.....sorry its garbled....

Katie x

[apankow]

so so so helpful! thank you times a million.

[Dotdot]

Welcome to the forum to the both of you

[Josephine]

Hello Allison and Annie, welcome to the forum. x

[apankow]

Thank you again members, for all your information!

Just wanted to update you: peter, the little shy one, has come out of his shell. Not in a huge way, but enough to notice a difference. He now hops to me to get some pets, along with the other buns. He can stand a good pet session for about two minutes. That is a vast improvement! I am so excited that he is being more social. I think giving him his space is crucial, as you all stated, and letting him decide when he would like to have a pet or two.

Proud and happy parent to Wendy, Smee, and Peter

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