The Truth About Rabbit Personalities

A very common question we get here at Breadbox amongst rabbit owners, people looking to adopt a rabbit, or simply somebody coming to cuddle a bunny is why their bunny doesn’t want to sit on their lap or be pet and cuddled all the time. The answer to this is very complex, but with lots of observations on many different rabbits we have had at Breadbox, we have an answer.

What influences rabbit’s personalities is a variety of things they are exposed to when growing up. While they are young, think of them as extremely flexible. Whatever you teach them to trust or see as an enjoyable experience, they will, and vice versa. At our farm, we try to give our baby bunnies as much of a positive experience as possible around socialization and interaction of people of all ages, so that when they get adopted their new family can have a very calm bunny they enjoys their presence. However, sometimes this can’t seem to shake away timidness.

Our babies learn a lot from their parents, including tolerance of other rabbits, hygiene habits, and most importantly how they interact with people. All of our breeding rabbits that grew up at Breadbox are extremely well socialized, but some of them are just more secluded by nature than others. Some of our babies bunnies respond well to contact with our employees and the public, but other tend to follow the lead of their parents more, especially since they learn from them in their first few weeks of life. This can lead to a bunny that is by no means scared around you, since they grew up with people, but is instinctively quite shy. Rabbits are prey animals and often carry this quality with them even through centuries of domestication.

The simple answer is, your bunny does not inherently hate you, they simply have a more reserved nature. If you make an effort to show them, especially when you first get them, that they are safe around you, then you might be able to get them to come out of their shell and enjoy spending time around people more. Some of these methods include having them in a room with you so they get used to your presence without you having to handle them for socialization time; listening to them when you do try to handle them, if they give you signs that they are not interested in having contact with you that day; giving positive reinforcement, like a treat, when you are spending time with your rabbit so that they associate you with things like like.

Stay patient, and your bunny will eventually learn to trust you!