Rabbit is known as a sociable creature but given by their cowardly nature, you might have a hard time to make them love and trust you and should you handle it poorly. Rabbit is a high maintenance pet that requires much time and attention to make them comfortable and trust you. Expert Veterinarian said that Rabbit, while commonly seen as children pet, rabbit is not recommended for children to keep. A rabbit can easily get stressed if you handled them poorly. They need to be handled gently, properly and require much patience to keep up with the rabbit pet. Keeping a rabbit as children pet should be supervised and given proper guidance by an adult.
1. Know Rabbit Body Language
Understanding the way of your rabbit communicate to you is important. By knowing its body language, you will know your rabbit’s mood and willing to be handled and be held or should your rabbit is in bad mood, you can adapt accordingly and try to improve its mood to make them love you. Knowing your rabbit mood also can help you to know the symptom should your rabbit lonely or get depressed. See Must-Know Symptoms That Your Rabbit is Depressed to know more about rabbit depression.
For the starter, observe your pet rabbit ears. If you found that their ears are back flat against its body, it means that your rabbit is let its guard down and feel safe in its environment. But should your rabbit ears standing up, your rabbit might hear or notice something that caught its attention that may or may not in its concern. If just one of its ear, it means your rabbit has noticed something but can’t decide that if it’s alarmed enough to required its full attention.
You can also observe how your rabbit lay down and stretch itself. If your rabbit has its hind legs stretch out behind its body, it indicates that your rabbit is being relaxed and feel comfortable in its environment. With its leg lay behind will make your rabbit cannot leap in to run away in a short notice which indicates that your rabbit is trusting you enough to let his guard down.
For more in-depth about rabbit body Language, you can read How To Read Rabbit Body Language Article.
2. Learn Your Rabbit’s Vocalizations
Other than body language, rabbits also have various sounds of vocalization. Learn rabbit vocalization will help you to understand their communication for your rabbit on expressing pleasure, contentment, loneliness, and fear. By knowing the rabbit vocalization, you can adapt your interaction toward your rabbit accordingly to meet its need.
A sign of comfort and contentment. Like the way, cat purrs when comfortable while being petted, your rabbit also might click its teeth while being petted. Your rabbit also clicking its teeth when feeling safe and content in its environment.
Either a cry for attention and affection or an indication of displeasure or distrust. Also might a sign of respiration infection if discharged from its nose. Check your rabbit veterinarian to rule out any illness.
If your rabbit whimpers or squeals when you pick him up, it might be is a sign of pain or fear toward you. you might be handling its wrong, or your rabbit is not trusting you enough.
A sign of pain, illness, or anxiety. Might happen if you held your rabbit in a wrong manner that causes your rabbit to feel discomfort. It also might be a sign that your rabbit is sick and in need of veterinary care. Take your rabbit to the veterinarian if it begins to grind his teeth.
A sign of displeasure or fear. If your rabbit is grunting at you, it means that he feels threatened and does not want to be handled. Leave your rabbit alone to improve its mood or let others that your rabbit accept to handle your rabbit for a while.
Sign of extreme pain or fear of death. Your rabbit starts might scream when your rabbit believe that you are going to harm him in a state of extreme fear. As a precaution, you should have a veterinarian examine your rabbit as it also indicates that your rabbit is been wounded and feeling pain.
3. Make Your Rabbit Feel Comfortable In Its Environment
Your rabbit might be also resistant to your affection due to your rabbit might not yet feel safe and comfortable in its designated environment. Help your rabbit to adjust by creating a quiet, comfortable place for your rabbit.
Make sure your rabbit designated environment is far from commotion but still allow daily interaction between you and your rabbit. It will make your rabbit not feel tense as being in a place which near commotion may make your rabbit always on edge. Keeping its environment clean will also relieve its stress and reduce the chance of your rabbit get sick.
Watch the temperature of your rabbit environment is in a comfortable range for your rabbit. The ideal temperature for most rabbit is around 60 – 70 Fahrenheit degrees or 15.5 – 21.1 in Celcius degrees. Should the temperature is lower or higher than the ideal temperature might detrimental your rabbit health and its mood.
Lastly, make sure the rabbit cage is out of direct sunlight. Providing adequate shade should your rabbit is in an outdoor environment is important to keep your rabbit from getting heat stroke due to overheating. Should you want to build a cage for your rabbit, you can read Steps to Build A Comfy Cage for Your Rabbit article to give you more insight.
4. Provide A Space / Room For Your Rabbit Play
Rabbit is like to have exercise, and playing around is the best kind of exercise for your rabbit. By letting your rabbit have adequate room to play, your rabbit will become happy. Happy rabbit will be easier to be pleased and make easier to be bonded.
Make sure their play space/room is secured and have been rabbit-proofed. Remove any electrical cords and other household objects that might get chewed by your rabbit to keep them safe. If you let them play in the outdoor area, make sure the place is have been completely enclosed by the tall fence to your rabbit unable to hop out from its enclosure. As Rabbit is a curious animal, they then to get hurt or find their way in a dangerous place should the room is not fully secured. Always supervise your rabbit to keep your rabbit safe.
5. Provide Your Rabbit With Proper Diet
Giving your rabbit a proper diet is one of the best ways to ensure your rabbit likes you. Your rabbits need a constant supply of food like of grass hay and many other suitable greeneries like kale, carrot and so on. You can try to do gardening with your rabbit by following the guide in these How to Gardening Your Rabbit
Should you feed your rabbit with pellet, make sure your rabbit pellet food formula contains a minimum of 15-19% protein and 18% fiber. Make sure that your rabbit always able to access fresh, clean drinking water, either from a rabbit bottle or a sturdy bowl of the water dish.
6. Give Plenty of Rabbit Toys.
Rabbits love to exercise hence also like to play. You can buy toys specifically made for rabbits, or make DIY toys for your rabbit. Rabbits need toys for the purposes to allow them to chew, dig, and hide in or underneath it. Empty cardboard boxes make excellent starter toys, but you can get as creative as you want while making or buying toys to enrich your rabbit’s play time. Few examples of DIY toys are like ping pong balls or make a creative castle from carton board (which eventually be destroyed).
Hopefully, these 6 Ways will help you in making your rabbit easier to accept your affection.