rabbit afraid of boyfriend

[catstar27]

I have had my rabbit Cosi for a year and a few months. She's a sweet Netherlands dwarf. Up until recently, I lived with my parents, but I moved about a month ago with Cosi to a new apartment with my boyfriend. He is a big animal lover and has been very gentle with her.

She's more affectionate with me, which is understandable since she's known me longer and I'm the one who feeds her. But for a week or so she's been really scared of my boyfriend. When he tries to pick her up or pet her, she runs away from him and snorts or squeaks. She bites him more than she bites me.

Could she be afraid of him because he has a cat at his mom's house and she smells the cat? Or maybe she fears him because he's male and a male vet clipped her nails a couple weeks ago?

Any thoughts? How can we get her to trust my boyfriend again? He's very sad and kind of hurt by her fear.

[special]

Hi, welcome to pet lovers. I don't think we have any active members with buns these days, but maybe someone will have some ideas. You might also try a rabbit specific forum.

My tentative advice would be: he should not try holding her. Instead have him sit on the floor with her every day in a quiet non threatening way. Have him offering her treats while doing this, have him talk to her, but he should not reach for her or try to force himself on her in any way, let her come to him.

Was the nail trimming traumatic for her?

Perhaps, before he does his bonding sessions with her he should make his hands smell like her, by rubbing his hands with her bedding.

Hopefully someone else will have more ideas.

I look forward to hearing more about Cosi.

[catstar27]

thank you for all your pointers, especially the idea to make him rub his hands in the bedding. i think that will be helpful. i agree he shouldn't pick her up; he's a cat lover, so he thinks she'll just sit on his stomach forever and ever. i keep trying to tell him she gets antsy!

yeah, unfortunately the nail trimming scared her pretty bad. she was terrified, and was kicking so much that the vet's clippers slipped and nicked a nerve. she was physically okay, the bleeding stopped, but for several days after, she squeaked in fear whenever i reached into her cage. poor thing.