# New Bunny Owner Needs Advice



## LizS (Jul 3, 2013)

I just bought my very first bunny yesterday and I don't know how to make her warm up to me. Last night she would let me pick her up and hold her at my boyfriend's house, but as soon as I got her home she started running relentlessly around my room all night and morning. She doesn't seem alarmed, just extremely hyper. She will come up to me and let me pet her, but then she's off running again.
Is there anything I should or shouldn't be doing?


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## kmaben (Jul 3, 2013)

Give her a good three days to settle in. It's a new place and they have to learn every inch of their territory and where all the safe places are. They have to get use to the household sounds and smells, comings and goings, and it can be very stressful.

After her initial settle in feed her treats. Talk to her and sit by her pen. If she's already letting you pet her your off to a good start. In general rabbits dont like to picked up. I wouldnt do it too much just yet. She'll have to get use to it eventually for teeth checks and nail trims but for now just let her settle.


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## whitelop (Jul 3, 2013)

She's just exploring her new home, its totally normal. A good method for getting to know her, is ignoring her. I used to just sit in the floor with a book or my laptop and let Ellie come over and say hey to me as she wanted to. She would come up and sniff me and groom my pants and stuff. I got to know her over a few weeks and then it still took months for her to be comfortable enough to flop down in front of me or near me. 

You just have to give her time! Patience and treats go a long way with rabbits. 
They're prey animals, so most of the time they don't like to help picked up or held. You just have to condition them to be held and hold them for a little bit of time each day to get her used to it. But once she gets to know you, she'll come up to you and let you pet her. Unless shes just an antisocial bunny, which I'm sure she isn't. She just wants to explore and check everything out before she settles down to get to know you! 

How old is she? That plays into the treats you can give her. If she's under 12 weeks, then by hand feeding her pellets to her, that is a bonding act. I did that with Ellie for the first few weeks of having her. I would bring her to the couch and feed her her pellets. She got used to it and I think she liked it. If she's over 12 weeks, you can give her some raisins or craisins, but you'll want to watch how much sugar she's getting. So you may way to cut the raisins in half or thirds and give her little tiny pieces, enough to peak her interest. Me personally, I would just hand feed her the pellets, to make sure you're not over sugaring her!


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## DUSTBUNNY-CLYDE (Jul 3, 2013)

don't worry she will!! the boys took a few months to really warm up!! I just sat on the floor and lured them with treats!! I moved super slow and now they don't mind being groomed held and the jump all over me!! best wishes!!!!


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## Ilovemyrabbit (Jul 3, 2013)

I don't have much experience with this kind of thing because my Ash was warmed up to me in a day! He was so quick! But don't worry, she'll warm up to you after time. Just give her time to settle down. I like Morgans suggestion sitting down and ignoring her. They like to come up to you and sniff you and check you out. 

If you want you can read this article: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f28/bonding-your-bunny-29064/ its a super long article but its REALLY good.


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## Nancy McClelland (Jul 13, 2013)

When I let Cosmo out for the 1st time he spent two hours just running around chinning everything and an occasional binky. He's settled in fine now and will lay down by us when he's not putting on a show.


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