Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a question, I figure it might be easier than asking a bunch of probably normal novice questions. I've had a Havana for about a month, and I got him when he was 10 weeks old. The question is: is it okay that he seems cool with me when he's been out of his cage for a while, but still pretty much hates being picked up, and only doesn't mind being pet (that is, he doesn't like it at all). I've picked him up from about 2 or 3 days after I brought him home. He seems to like being out of the cage and in his pen, but really doesn't like the trip to and from (because I can't let him walk the whole way or anything). Sometimes I can get him up gently, but I can never find a way to put him down without him squirming and otherwise being terrified.

Well anyway, thanks in advance to anyone who maybe can help. He's adorable, even if he doesn't like me.

Hi, Welcome, I think if he likes to be out, maybe you can spend time with him while out, sit down with him, maybe lure him over with treats, gets him to trust you and learn YOUR OKAY.

Then maybe in awhile he will be less freaked out when picking him up. I would continue to per him often, even if its just a quick hellow pet and leave. Just get him to know your voice and touch and smell.

Odds are after he's with you longer he will be more calm.
Others on the forum will probably have more to add,

Best wishes with him. Post some pics for us Sorry about the later reply, it's just a busy time of the season for everyone.

Let us know how he does!
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PHEve/ Eve

Contact PHEve

Welcome to the board! I wouldn't say he doesn't like you,most buns aren't all that thrilled about being picked up. Right now I have four rabitts. One won't let me hold her at all. I intereact with her on her terms. I sit down and she'll come up to me and I pet her then. Two will sit on my lap but spend most of the time digging or chewing.I usually keep a blanket on my lap for them to play with. One loves to be held. He will sit on my lap through an entire movie. Ironically, I had to fight with our animal control office to adopt him. He was supposed to be euthanized because they said he was unhandleable. They all stress out to a degree when carried around. I seem to have better luck if their faces are covered. I hold mine agianst my body, with their face toward me, cradled in the crook of my elbow. It also seems to help if I put them in the cage back end first. Otherwise they try to jump away. Good luck! We'd love to see pictures!

Thanks for the welcome!

Wow, four bunnies. That must be cute! I guess our rabbit's "skittishness" is just more than I could have imagined, even for such a timid creature. Even when he's been out in the pen for a while, and has seemed to have gotten comfortable with being out and with us (we sit in the area with him), he will still get freaked if we make the slightest movement. And then once he gets freaked, it's like starting over again, because he'll go into scared bunny mode for about 5 minutes, before starting the exploring process again. I should say though, that in the midst of this, he seems like a very friendly litte bunny. Just the other night my roommate nodded off in the pen, and he not only hopped over her a few times, but jumped onto her (there was a blanket over her), and kind of hung out there for a minute. But then that same night (the last time we took him out) he was the worst I have ever seen him about being picked up when it was time to stop playing. It was actually quite hard for me to grab the little guy, and he even let out a sort of whine at one point. So I just don't know if he's warming up, or if I need to step up the interaction with him to make sure he doesn't turn into a loner bunny who doesn't want anything more from us than to feed him and clean his cage. Well, thank you very much for the response, and I will try some of the suggestions you mentioned. And of course, more advice is always welcome! (even if it's just to reassure me that my case is not peculiar)

Hi, thanks for the welcome!

Well, I'm not exactly sure that he likes to be out. Honestly, most of the time, he's not as playful as I would expect. We (my roommate and I) always put out a few toys, his litterbox, and an empty tissue box with some hay in it, but he never really touches any of them. He is usually pretty active when he's out though. The only problem is that by the time we've wrangled him back to his cage, it seems the experience ended up being more bad than good, because he seems grumpy toward both of us for a while. And that is further aggravated because about half the time, he squirms so much when we are trying to put him back in the cage that I think it scares him more because we don't have a good grip on him. I will try the suggested methods for carrying and putting him down, though, and see if that works.

One strange thing is the first week after we brought him home, he was very friendly. I think the second day we had him we opened the door on his cage, and he just hopped right out, and didn't mind me petting him (on his nose and also on his rump) while he was eating hay. I am not sure what happened, but something at the end of that week seemed to spook him, and he would not come out from under his nesting area (we have a blanket under an overhang in the cage for him where he seems to feel protected) as long as we were around for about 2 weeks, and still will not come out if we open the front of the cage. So in order to pick him up and not pull him out of his secure little area, we've gotta kinda get lucky and hope he "gets stuck" (for lack of a better phrase) on the top ledge.

A question: should we pick him up from inside his cage or nesting area? Honestly, it seems to me like he wants to be more active and explore, because he often perks himself up on his back legs when we walk in, and he hangs out in the open areas of his cage almost all day (especially when we haven't let him out the past two days), but if we approach the cage, he will scoot back under his ledge. He usually doesn't seem to mind at all if I pet his nose (which I do quite a few times a day), and he often sticks his head out, looking curious.

I'm just not exactly sure which guidelines to follow. From the various books and internet sources, I've come across the following "don't"s:

-don't hold him when he doesn't want to be held
-don't take him out of his box

Well, it seems impossible to follow both of these, because he will not come out (and if he does, he runs or seems to freeze in terror if we motion to pick him up), and there is no way to get him from the room his cage is in to the main room for him to play. I just don't know which line to cross, because it seems that if we just leave him in his cage, nothing is ever going to get accomplished (including cleaning the cage--I know he hates it when I reach in to clean his litterbox or otherwise mess with his stuff).

Well, thanks very much for the help and hopefully I didn't scare you off with an overly long reply haha

What is the area of the house your bun is in like? Is it noisy? Sometimes noise from tv's etc. can make them a little on edge. I know everyone says not to reach into their secure area. I used to try to follow that guideline but it can get you nowhere with a skittish bun. Most rabbits, especially young ones are very curious and into everything. It is kind of odd that he doesn't want to play with the things you give him. Is he otherwise alert and interested in his surroundings? If I remeber correctly he is around 3 months old. He may be starting to mature sexually. It is a little young but I have had females start going into heat at that age. If so hormones may be attributing to some of his feistyness.