Did I luck out on a friendly rabbit??

[Missy]

So, I went into this with the ultimate goal of meat production, but a plan to take things slowly. Starting with one doe. Just to get the hang of things, y'know.

No one told me rabbits could be this entertaining, and this snuggly!!

I've only had her 3 weeks now, and she's 11 weeks old. I can hold her on my lap and she'll be completely calm and relaxed, eyes half closed, occasionally grinding her teeth, which I'm guessing is a sign of contentment? The rabbits I've briefly held in the past "vibrated" all the time and were all twitchy, but this one likes being petted.

In fact, the past 5 days I've been experimenting with setting the cage on the floor, opening the door, and letting her race around the room to her heart's content. SO cute!! Tonight was the first night she began actually approaching me to be petted after running around. She'd come up to me and begin sniffing my hand, and when I moved it towards her she'd lower her head under it for pets. And when my strokes go past her head she flattens out, even flopping onto her side so I can get her belly a bit. I'm so shocked! I had no idea they could appreciate touch so much.

She'll race around for a few more minutes and then come back for more attention. Absolutely adorable.

I'm finding it hard to fathom keeping my meat rabbits in cages, seeing just how much they enjoy running around. I know I won't be eating this one regardless, so I'm finding she's morphing more into a pet....and I'm allowing it. Even looking into litterbox training.

Is this behavior normal, or do I have some exceptionally people-happy rabbit? This is the first one I've ever had so I've no idea.

 

[ladysown]

fairly normal in my book. you'll have to see how she is as an adult, but at this point, she seems quite normal.

 

[Dood]

Yup, quite normal. After dogs, rabbits are my favourite companion animal and I have kept practically every species available.

I am specifically breeding my meat rabbits with very little personality so I won't feel guilty if they need to be culled for poor production. Thankfully my AmChins already have cow like temperaments but my Flemish x NZ buck is a total doll and passes his endearing personality onto some if his kits - these are the ones I recommend when people are looking for a large pet bunny.

My Mini Lops on the other hand are little clowns and I've kept the sweetest most affectionate does to continue my bloodline.

 

[TwoAcreDream]

Sounds like a sweet rabbit

I have several that have personalities plus. The holland lop is acting like
she is bred and bouncing around with hay and making preps
I would love to bring her in the house and make a pet out of her.
The hubby would not like it though. And the basset would not leave
her alone. He loves checking out the rabbits. Lots of sniffing. Several
of the rabbits have nose touched with him sniffing back

 

[Zass]

All of my does are sweethearts! But not all like being inside. My favorite doe, Pancake ancake: for example, hates being brought in the house despite the fact that I raised her in here. She loves the hutch life.
A lot of rabbits prefer the sounds of birds, wind, weather and other rabbits over this busy kid-cat-dog-loud music-traffic filled house of mine.

Our V-lop thrives in it though. She would hate to be outside. Rabbits are very individual.

Careful cause some (but certainly not all) change with puberty. It's not always a bad change.

I have had shy does become more friendly with me at puberty, but some friendly does have become aggressive.

 

[ek.blair]

Careful cause some (but certainly not all) change with puberty. It's not always a bad change.

I have had shy does become more friendly with me at puberty, but some friendly does have become aggressive.

About what age do they go through rabbit puberty? just wondering if my 5 mo old does might change at all still, or if what I got is what I got.

 

[Zass]

Careful cause some (but certainly not all) change with puberty. It's not always a bad change.

I have had shy does become more friendly with me at puberty, but some friendly does have become aggressive.

About what age do they go through rabbit puberty? just wondering if my 5 mo old does might change at all still, or if what I got is what I got.

Mine pretty much all go through their puberty issues around 5 months.
Drives me nuts because I'd rather not have them bred yet then, but the poor teenage bunnies are clearly frustrated!
They might change, or they might not.
It's a good time to work with your girls either way.

Are they friendly or shy?

 

[ek.blair]

Are they friendly or shy?


According to the person I got them from they were not handled much, but they do well once I get a hold of them. I bred them for their first time this weekend.
One of them is very shy and does "scared stiff" in the back corner when I am feeding/watering but she doesn't fight when being held. When I put her in with the buck she would cram her nose into the corner and wouldn't lift for him. I ended up holding her up for him and he finished.
The other girl has realized that I am the bearer of yummy carrots :mrgreen: so she will come to the front of the cage till she realizes my hand is in there and then she will go to the back corner. She was more accepting of the buck. After mounting him (made me grab and flip her to double check sex :x for sure it is a she) and then having them both circle trying to mount each other she stopped and gave him the chance and actually lifted for him.

 

[Zass]

I wasn't able to fully "repair" an adult doe who was shy like that, but I was able to fix one of her daughters who acted just like her.
She wasn't responding to my usual attention at 3 months old, so I just brought her inside for a few months and paired her up with a pet doe, to teach her we weren't so scary. Now she's a really nice girl. I wonder if her kits will have better tempers? Still, I'd rather coddle and nurture a shy one than deal with an aggressive doe.

Small pinches of oats fed from your hand are a great taming tool.

 

[luvbunnies]

Their personalities can vary. Some are more energetic and some more cuddly. Most somewhere in between.Even the wilder ones, that don'T like to be pet as much are very entertaining. Those ones surprise you once and a while with affection. Very heart melting . ;-)

 

[countrymomma1991]

fairly normal. I found bunnies are like human lol. They can be sweet and loveable and then i have had some that are completely rotten and bite all the time lol. But the younger you get them and the more you handle them the more friendly i noticed mine to be

 

[akane]

I've found most well bred rabbits can become friendly even if they weren't handled much. Some may never be the pet me, pet me, pet me! types but they at least like running around near you, sitting near you, asking for treats, and occasionally checking in for attention. My current favorite netherland buck was shown for a year and then stuck in a cage for a year with minimal contact because he developped a white toenail. Nice type, nice color, nice temperament, and was having a good show career and then that one fault which can be genetic so he was not used for breeding either. When the breeder was thinning her herd I picked up a trio of such misfits from her. Doe ended up being a horrible illness carrier and I was told she'd never produced a litter successfully so she became dog food but the 2 bucks were wonderful little things. The one I rehomed was even friendlier and he was never handled much because he was born improperly marked for show and I only used him as an occasional out cross when my netherland colony started producing too many seals or got too inbred. He'd beg for graham crackers and peppermint treats every day. I can't sell himis very easy to the pet market because of the red eyes so without extra cage space recently I found him a good pet home. I've brought meat breeds and mutts indoors for awhile and had them all become friendly no matter the age.

The exception was actually some rabbits I raised from 8 weeks old and handled a ton. Both went psycho after 4months. That would include the infamous "demon rabbit". Such a sweet pretty blue doe right up until 4 months and then she tried to kill anything that came within 2' of her whether it was alive or inanimate. I tried all the suggested things for calming down an aggressive doe both from fear and from dominance with no results. Didn't improve with breeding and I had to finish raising her kits by hand so that was my first dog food candidate. Not as hard to start butchering rabbits when they tear through leather gloves and pant legs to shred you. She tore up a sturdy comforter too while I was trying to sit with her. Hormones were way in over drive.

 

[skysthelimit]

Now that I've started selecting for temperament, the buns are polite, and interested. I don't know if I would say they all are friendly, some are not as sociable as others, but I'm not going to get attacked anymore. They all seem to have some sort of personality, except one Silver Fox.