Question:About a year ago I adopted a rabbit from a resue shelter. Before the shelter resucued him he was abused&neglected. He has scars from dogs attacking him, limited vision due to retinal detachment,&he has a compromised immune system making it easy for him to get sick. Because of his life history the shelter was debating on putting him down. I had been volunteering at the shelter& had developed a bond with him. I couldn't beir to see him go. Although he was very untrusting he eventually let me pet him, then hold him and so on. I decieded I would adopt him and I couldn't be happier. I have loved having him in my home and life. I consider him my baby. I am wondering however is there anything I can do to help him with his fear of other people and not be so skiddish? I try to expose him to positive situations with people incorporating treats as rewards. I understand he was abused and it takes time to overcome that if he even is able to. I just want to do what I can to help.Any suggestions?
Answers:
We consider our bunnies our Fur Babies. They are part of the family, I know how you feel. Our household is made up of 5 special needs bunnies.
One of my bunnies never overcame his fears. He did allow myself and my husband in his life. But no one else. He would become very stressed when anyone else was around. He would run like mad and hide. He would stay hidden for 30 minutes after the perceived danger was gone.
What did help him was other bunnies. He was comforted having other rabbits to talk to. Have you considered another adult bunny? A very quiet one. It is possible he can learn to trust another bunny and then start to trust others after watching that bunny interact with others.
You have the added problem of poor eyesight. Bunnies being a pray animal really depend on there eyesight. I am sure every little movement to him is a danger signal. I would spend a lot of time on the floor with him, at his level. And announce my presence before I entered his room. Are you sure he can hear?
This is hard to type... You mentioned he had been attacked. It is possible he has some brain injury due to trauma? If so, it may take months, years if ever for him to come out of it.
Try having soft music playing. Have it playing when you are interacting with him and when he is alone. When guests come over keep it playing. It will be a constant and that might help him to feel secure. He can associate the music with pleasant memories.
I would keep working with him and rejoice at every little accomplishment. Treats, petting, love and soft words can do wonders (and spoil with toys). Special needs bunnies can be such a joy. They have so much to teach us.
You are the lucky human he chose to trust.
Rabbits are very complex animals. No one really knows how there brains work. I think what you are doing is good, but you want to make sure that you are not making the rabbit anxious when trying to introduce it to new people. It needs to be a gradual process or the rabbit could start to resent you. A good way to help rabbits not be so skittish is to let them roam around in a controlled environment. Let them investigate new things and have little mini adventures. Continue to love your rabbit and he should get better over time.
Just give it a lot of love and make sure he doesnt get out of his kage
Just be patient with him. It sounds as if you are doing the right things, but rabbits are very slow when it comes to developing trust, especially after bad experiences. I have a rabbit that was abused when she was a baby, and she is just now getting to the point where she doesn't flinch when I try to pet her (I've had her for nearly 3 years).
Be careful that you don't push him too quickly. If he isn't ready for other humans and you try to force it on him, it could set him back and cause it to take him longer to learn to trust again. Give him plenty of time to learn to trust you. Once he gets to the point where you never scare him anymore, that would be a good time to slowly introduce new people. Do it one at a time, and give him time to adjust. Let the new person offer him a treat, but don't let them hold him. Then next time, after they offer him a treat, let them scratch his head a bit, but still don't let them hold him. After a few sessions like that (over the course of several days, or even a couple of weeks), then let them hold him while sitting down (so that he doesn't feel unsafe). If you introduce each new person to him in this way, it will be less likely to scare him and he will learn that humans are his friends.
Hi may remain SKITTISH forever. They are not known for their high intellect but can be lovely pets, as you know.
So keep doing what you are doing and it will live a fine life.
Do you take him into the sunshine? I am sure he would like that.
First off, thank you SO much for adopting a rabbit at a shelter! I adopted my male dwarf rabbit from our local animal shelter too! Well, what works with my male dwarf rabbit, is that if he has the people let him sniff their fingers, or their hand(s). Then, they slowely move to pet his back. I think that it's best that you are the only one who holds him.
I hope that this answers your question! Thanks, and good luck!
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