[tiny rue]

;) hello,
My rabbit is called dillie dolli and she won't let me put my hand in her cage. She lunges for my hand and it's the same when I am feeding her .
What shall I do ?
Also can I cliker train her to do stuff. :rolleyes:


Thank you Tiny Rue:cool:

[mrs.pennell]

Dillie dolli is lunging at your hand out of fear. Curbing this behaviour will be a slow process that will require time and patience. First you will need to teach her that you are not someone she needs to be afraid of. Let her out of her cage in a room where you can close the door. This should be a room where she cannot run and hide under a bed or some other large piece of furniture. If she hides away you will only scare her again by having to move things to get her out. Once she is in this room with the door closed, you should sit in the room with your back to the wall and let her hop around. Talk to her while you do this so that she gets used to the sound of your voice. Don't try to pet her, or reach out to her. That will come later. When it comes time to put her back in her cage, try to let her go in on her own. If she won't, you may have to pick her up. Do so slowly and carefully, supporting her bum with one hand and her front paws with the other. Put her back in her cage and then feed her a treat. Because of the lunging, you may have to just drop the treat into the cage.

Continue doing this at least everyday. You will notice your bunny will start coming around to sniff you while you are sitting on the floor. Don't try to pet her right away, or she may get frightened and bite. Once she is comfortable with you and realizes that you are not a threat she should eventually allow you to touch her. The more time she spends out of her cage, the better adjusted to people she will be. And that will mean less lunging. All bunnies are different though, and she may never like being picked up. Right now I have two bunnies, and they are both very very different. My older bun (he's nearly ten) loves to chase my two cats around the house and rip holes in the carpet if no one is looking. The little guy just loves to hop around and mark every piece of furniture as his own territory!

Remember the bunnies are voracious chewers and you will have to keep all electrical cords and anything you value out of reach of Dillie dolli. Also, it has not been my experience that you can clicker train a bunny. I have managed to train my guys to use a litter box exclusively, and they will stop chewing on something if I say "NO" but that's about it.

Have patience with Dillie dolli, she will come around! :D