How to brush a bunny who refuses?

[hamsterkeet]

Hey BB!  Grooming question here.  I have a bunny who refuses to be touched in any way — petting, holding, and brushing.  I can refrain from petting and holding most of the time, but she’s shedding now and needs to be brushed.  When I approach her and try to brush her, she runs away.  When I try to hold her to brush her, she kicks and wiggles away.  I’ve tried using treats too (in theory: show her the treat, touch her with the brush, then give the treat).  But she’ll even run away from the treat when the brush appears.  So yes, she’s been running away from me a lot lately, hehehe.  What should I do?

Thanks!

[LoveChaCha]

Does she allow you to pet her?

I wouldn’t arrive with brush in hand, lagomorphs are so smart – see brush – RUNNN!!!!!!!!!

What I do is – before I am going to groom my bunny, I put a bath towel on the bathroom counter. I set the brush on the side. I pet my bunny (if she lets me at the time) and I say out loud “Mommy is going to groom you now.” I proceed to pick her up. She doesn’t even try to run off the counter as she is very high up (some rabbits are daredevils though, so beware) and lets me groom her. She is freaked out of course, but grooming needs to be done.

Be sure to give her a treat afterward for her participation

[Monkeybun]

Definitely try the bathroom or kitchen counter. It works for my bun Monkey, and she is a No-Touchy bunny

[GrumpyBun]

I have two no-touch buns – I too have to get them up high on a towel surface and make sure they can’t see the brush coming. Is there someone else who can hold bun while you brush her? I can handle Bisto on my own but my husband holds Oxo as he would jump from any height to get away. I always offer a treat after, but have to just leave it in front of them. They’re big on sulking!

[AbbyGirl]

I’ve been wondering about this too. It’s not that I can’t hold Hugo. He’s just so big that you can’t hold and brush him at the same time. My husband held him one day for me to brush him but he didn’t like that. He got bit and scratched. I’ll have to try the kitchen counter. I think he’s so big that he would just jump off the bathroom counter without a second thought.

[Monkeybun]

I use my body to block Monkey from seeing the floor. Sometimes just being in the new scary place will make them not jump.

[AbbyGirl]

I put Hugo on a towel on the counter and all he did was run around while I tried to brush him! He’s such a stinker sometimes.

[Elrohwen]

We just try to brush them a bit during feeding time either in the morning or evening. They don’t really like it, but they keep returning for the food and we’re able to get a few brushes in. Hannah can be such a pain though! She loves pets, but is so much worse than Otto about being brushed.

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