More commonly known, a bunny that is not used to human hands will grow into a rabbit with a few trust issues. These are fairly difficult to overcome and require some TLC, time and understanding from you as the owner. This is why I will always stress that when looking to get a rabbit - always adopt and never buy from a pet shop. Always insist on seeing the bunnies beforehand with their mother, a good breeder will always be happy to show you how to hold them correctly and interract with them, plus you'll know that they have come from a positive human-influenced environment.
On this page I'll be conducting various case studies with so called 'problem' rabbits and providing step by step visuals on how I'm socialising them in such a way they will feel like they can approach at their own whim.
The bottom line is - if you feel you have a 'problem' rabbit, and have the urge to want to build their confidence, along with your connection to them - keep reading because it is not the end of the world.
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Case Study #1 - Breeze
Breeze is circa two and a half years old and we adopted her from a pet shop were they stated she'd had a couple of previous owners before us. I'm not too sure of the reasoning behind this as apparently she acted very aggressively towards the household's fellow animals. Firstly, Breeze is such a sweetheart and will always warily approach to say hello, before darting away again and the only violent aggressive behaviour I have seen from her - was directed towards other rabbits, which is completely normal for domesticated rabbits to do this to any other rabbits aside from their cage partners after the bonding is completed.
Secondly at circa one years old, Breeze also wasn't spayed and left to her own devices, which could indicate her supposed violent actions were probably down to hormones and territorial behaviour. So as soon as she was adopted, we got her spayed straight away and bonded to Winston as soon as possible.
Honestly Breeze and I have come to respect each other's space - she will come over and say hello and accept the odd stroke from me and will take food from my hands no problem, but prefers to watch from a distance as a whole.
The biggest problem I have with her is anything that involves physical handling - she will absolutely not tolerate us picking her up at all and will ultimately freak out and kick as hard as she's able to get away, which becomes an issue for checking for sore hocks, grooming, clipping nails, ect. She will become the anti-rabbit and what is more worrying is that she will shake for 10 minutes+ afterwards in pure fear.
So I'm starting a case study dedicated to her and the journey it will take to boost her confidence in me and also herself as well.
Breeze's 'socialising' Schedule
- 'Five strokes' technique. Before I go on I will quickly explain this. I've come to work out with my bunnies that this is a flawless technique for working around rabbits and ascertaining where you sit on their 'scale'. You must approach the rabbit from the side, letting them have a full view of your hand reaching calmly towards it. From this point, extend two fingers and lightly stroke the tip of the rabbit's head, above the eyes and before the ears. If your rabbit flinches or shows any kind of scared or negative response, retract your hand and let it calm down before trying again. If the rabbit moves away completely, give it space and try again later. My goal is to get the first five initial strokes in before Breeze moves away or flinches - otherwise game over and the counting begins once she's settled down. If she allows the head strokes, I will gently move down the nose between the eyes and conduct another five strokes. If that goes well, I'll move up to her ears five times before lasting using a full hand on her entire head and back. If your rabbit does not flinch or move when the sequence is finally done, gently use those two fingers and bring them down to the side of the rabbit and gently stroke around the eyes and cheek five more times, move down to the sides of the body until she is completely still and calm. I've found that not only does she get a nice massage, but she also gets used to the human hand being a positive thing and begins to associate being stroked with being loved and not a thing of pain or punishment.
- Feeding. I don't tend to feed my rabbits pellets all of the time but I always give them an overflowing rack of hay every morning and evening and sprinkle a layer in their litter box. Through doing menial basic jobs like this, rabbits will get used to your hands moving around them and providing nice treats. I tend to find that Breeze is most confident around me when there is food involved - especially when I put down a bowl of fresh veggies. When I have a bag of treats - they instantly hear the bag rustling and know that something nice is coming for them and will begin to clamour all over me to get to the treats faster. I use this opportunity to my advantage and deliberately offer treats a little out of their range to encourage them to climb on me further, putting trust in me that I won't hurt them or let them fall.
- Litter box cleaning. I clean my litter boxes every two days thoroughly and put fresh litter inside along with a thick layer of hay or straw. I purposely empty the trays into a bin liner when I'm sat on the ground and let the rabbits run around and inspect what I'm doing. They obviously won't understand but I find that they can become a lot more interested in you and in general feel more comfortable that you are down at their level.
- Talking. Unfortunately bunnies will never be able to speak our language but I'm a firm believer that they respond better to a softer more positive tone. If there is a lot of noise and loud human voices, Breeze will fold up into herself and retreat into a dark corner until the danger is over. I'm always careful to never ever raise my voice intentionally around her and will repeat certain words and phrases, to enable her to pick up the different pitches and associate them with me as her human. Plus, it sometimes just helps both you and bunny to have a conversation, about absolutely anything. Rabbits have been known to become more relaxed at the sound of their human's voices if heard very often and have even been comfortable enough to even have a quick nap whilst sleepily listening!
- Laying down. Although it's the middle of winter and way too cold to be doing this, I will wrap up warmly and let the rabbits of the hutch for exercise every day. I usually lay down on the ground and concentrate my focus on something else for a little bit. Breeze will come over and say hi almost immediately, dart away and then return again - hence why I firstly ignore her presence whilst she gets used to me being there. When she's feeling more confident and visibly relaxed, I may go in for a cheeky stroke or offer a treat.
- Grooming. First of all before attempting this, please ensure that your grooming tools are not going to harm the rabbit (see Grooming page for more details). Since grooming is an essential task anyway, I will weekly groom Breeze as she is a short haired rabbit and doesn't have too much of an issue with loose hair. I will approach grooming with the same attitude as I do with the five stroke technique, I will test and try out where she will let me groom first and where she is more likely to freak out and bolt. Unfortunately this can differ for every rabbit, so it will be a case of trial and error. Make sure to look for signs of panic, if so retreat your hands from the cage, calm them down and try again. With Breeze, I don't clip her nails at present due to her terrified nature if someone picks her up, which I believe she will seriously be at risk of being frightened to death, an unfortunate throwback of her life before I picked her up. To combat this, I ensure she has plenty of exercise on a concrete surface to ensure her nails are worn down.
- Cleaning. Lastly cleaning the cage/hutch/house is also an important opportunity for socialisation. I start by letting the rabbits out to play for a while, whilst getting the new materials and cleaning stuff out. I've never had a problem with my rabbits being overly aggressive on me in their territory simply because I try and interact with them whilst I'm cleaning. Again I get down to their level and sweep the dirty materials into bin liners and allow them to run around me and inspect as they'd like. This leads me to believe that some owners do have major problems with territorial rabbits perhaps due to the lack of involvement the rabbit feels, thus leading to insecurity and aggressiveness. Bonding with a rabbit who has this issue is a definite must, so cleaning for both yourself and rabbit will be easy going and not stressful for either party.
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Update - 02/01/2015
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