As you might remember harvey my rabbit was returned to me after 2yrs which i was very pleased about :)
since him coming home he arrived with rearly over grown nails which i had to cut,his indoor cage damaged at the side but didnt think much of it because its 3yrs old the cage.
harveys been quite nervous since we got him bk & will not come out of his cage wen the side door is left down.
were hoping he will improve once hes settled in as its only been 1 week since we had him back.
he did have a bad habbit  wen we used to have him,
which was because he was so used to coming out of his cage as he was a house rabbit,he used to bite on the bars of his cage and make load of noise if he was shut in and wanted out.
he hasnt done this once since ive gotten him bk,weve come to the conclusion that the damage at the side of his cage may have been done with a foot as in theyve kicked his cage to shut him up wen hes been makin noise wen hes wanted out :(
It would explain his nervousness,i know its harvey because we had harvey castrated and this rabbit aint got nuts lol :).
he aparently had run of 1 of the bedrooms in the house but if he did surley hede be wanting to come out
Im sat here watching him with his door open and hes just layed down and gone to sleep,this isnt the rabbit i rehomed :(
I feel so bad for rehoming him now as he dusnt seem to of had the life they told me he had,i only rehomed him to give him the life i wasnt able to give him at the time :( .

am i just jumping to conclusions ?

is this normal behavour for a 3yr old rabbit?

will he go bk to the way he was?

do you think from wat ive told you that he has been treated badly?

Sad thing is ,you will never really know,all you can do is give him time and patience,you can't turn back time so you just have to try and deal with  the here and now.
I m sure if you show him love and affection,it will turn him around,we all know people can be cruel to animals,hard to understand I know,but at least you have him back,I have said this before,and it might seem a bit mad,but,
I often used tell my two rescue dogs peg and daw,that they never have to look back,all the bad times are over and they will never have to look for another home, because this one is forever,so try talking to him,because I think he'll know what your saying.
Ash

As with all animals a change in territory causes behaviour changes, he has been away for 2 years (in rabbit years that is a looooong time) with different people, different smells, your room isn't just another room in another house to hop around in, it is a different world.

I dare say he can smell the dogs too, and is not comfortable at present to come out and explore, the cage is his sanctuary and he won't want to leave it, remember rabbits more than any other mammal are prey to most of the planets larger animals a built in instinct will tell him to stay put.

He will eventually pluck up the courage to explore, when he has decided that he wants to.

Just give him time. :-)

I took on a 'rescue' rabbit that when the people cleaned her out they would just turn the hosepipe on the hutch with her still in it. She was very nervous when we got her, but my husband made a run attached to the hutch and I just sat in their until one day she just came over and gently nudged me.  Everything was great after that and she would always come for her stroke when we were out with her.  However she didn't like being picked up.  Its just a case of waiting.

I agree with everyone else, just give him time and he will come to trust you. From what you've said I would be asking the same questions if it happened to my rabbit, it does seem that he has been neglected. People think that you can shove them in a tiny hutch at the bottom of the garden and thats it.
We had our black rabbit (Fred) given to us when he was 1 year old as his owner used to tease him and he got aggressive with her. He used to stamp at you and scratch at first but I found that if moved my hand slowly round him and didn't make any sudden movents he was fine. He built up his trust with me and he's the softest rabbit you could meet, he even gives my dog kisses!
He'll be 12 years old this year bless him.
I'm sure your rabbit will be fine after he's got his routine and got used to his surroundings.
Best wishes
Emmax

What a brilliant age for a rabbit!

Im hopefull hele come around and if he dusnt ill make sure he has a good life and im never gunna be rehoming him again,even wen i get him out he scratches at my clothes on my lap & nips me :(
he wasnt like that wen he left so ether it is just because its all new to him or hes been neglected,or not handled very much. at the moment hes in an indoor cage but wen i move into the new house hele have a run and hutch to go in of a day in the garden ,so im sure hele be fina as hele only be spending the nights in his indoor cage in the house as the night are getting chilly.
its just sad seeing him be like this :(
do you think if i get another rabbit/guinnepig as company for him it might make him more confident?
or because hes always been on his own it wouldnt wrk?
he is castrated :)

Don't put a guinea-pig in with a rabbit - it's invariably bad news for the guinea-pig. :(

Very true, my friend's guinea pig ended up with an amputated leg after the rabbit broke it very badly :(

was just going to snap what JG and Isabel have said! No guineas and rabbits together.... Rabbits can damage them very badly without meaning too and quite often will nibble on the piggys ears etc. I know PAH tend to keep them together :-( and they have been spoken to at my branch and various other branches about this problem!
To be perfectly honest i would keep him on his own as he will eventually come around and will be a more affectionate bunny to his human friends if he is on his own!! Good luck with him and I am sure with gentle care and patience everything will turn around