Rabbit taming?

[Nao57]

Question;

So yesterday I went and saw someone's rabbitry. Their rabbitry was amazing. This lady had them tamed so well that some of the rabbits would come right up to her and be fine with it. They weren't shy or afraid (mostly).

The rabbits I bought previously are like the opposite, very afraid and skiddish. And bolt if you even come close to touching them.

I'm wondering what it takes to tame them, and what kind of window of opportunity I'm looking at for that?

I don't necessarily need them to be the most tame, but it would at least be nice if they wouldn't try to run for the hills at the first sign of a hand gesture.

And is it easier to train them to accept humans when younger? Or do they have better human acceptance when older? Does the window of opportunity close when they are getting older also?

I wonder how much you can bend their personality away from being easy to bolt from humans also?

 

[Baymule]

It is their instinct to run, they are prey animals. They know you are a predator. Predators eyes are set in front of their face. Prey animals eyes are set on the side of their faces so they can see predators slipping up behind them. It takes time, patience and some of them will never be at ease. They can become quite tame, it just takes time.

 

[Nao57]

It is their instinct to run, they are prey animals. They know you are a predator. Predators eyes are set in front of their face. Prey animals eyes are set on the side of their faces so they can see predators slipping up behind them. It takes time, patience and some of them will never be at ease. They can become quite tame, it just takes time.

Thanks for your reply.

I hope so (regarding it taking time).

I sometimes wish it were easier to work with animals in terms of gaining their trust.

I get that they would see us as predators. My brother's terrible breathe in the morning confirms you should run from humans, even as a human. So good heck, it must be worse for the animals!

 

[secuono]

Partly breed & genetics. But also, if all you ever do is yank them out to be bred, posed & trimmed, they'll naturally avoid you. Most rabbits are curious & easy to win over with grass.
If you come across a very afraid & aggressive young rabbit, do not feel sorry for it & leave it behind. They only get more nasty & dangerous.

 

[Nao57]

Partly breed & genetics. But also, if all you ever do is yank them out to be bred, posed & trimmed, they'll naturally avoid you. Most rabbits are curious & easy to win over with grass.
If you come across a very afraid & aggressive young rabbit, do not feel sorry for it & leave it behind. They only get more nasty & dangerous.

That makes sense.

How smart do you think rabbits are?

With ducks they are very smart sometimes. (Although goofy). And I guess this sort of affects what we're talking about.

 

[Nao57]

Something else came up also...

I suddenly wondered if it does more harm than good to try to pet and hold rabbits at night?

What do you think?

This came up because I get busy during the day ... like most of you.

 

[Niele da Kine]

Bunnies are active in the morning and evening, so they may want to interact with you in the evenings.

How much they may want to interact is their temperament. If they're bred to be docile & friendly, that's a good starting point. You can 'tame' them quite a bit with bribery. Tasty leaves, grasses, whatever their favorite foods are.

Not all bunnies want to be held, they're frequently happier to approach, get something tasty and maybe some ear scritches but not picked up and held.

When you get litters of babies, start socializing them as youngsters and it will be easier to have them friendly as adults, but an adult can be trained so they.