how to make my bunny not mind being held.

[EmilieMaria123]

 I got my bunny 3 weeks ago and I want to hold her to let her outside and just to pick her up in general in case of an emergency. she will not let me hold her no matter what does she always squirms and get scared whenever I try to. I want to be able to hold her but I can do so and it’s very frustrating. I don’t know what to do I just want to be able to hold her without her freaking out. And I feel like if I try to teacher how to be held she’s just going to be scared of me.

[Sarita]

I’m moving this to behavior.

[EmilieMaria123]

OK. I’m new to this I just joined so I’m not too familiar. Thank you

[Sarita]

No problem – I deleted your second post in the Bonding section since you are asking the same question and it belongs in behavior as the bonding section is for bonding rabbits to rabbits.

Really you just need to be patient with her – she’s new to you. Rabbits do not like to be held. Get down on the ground with her and allow her to interact with you on the ground and come to you. It takes patience to get her to trust you. You don’t need to be scared, she will eventually get comfortable around you.

[EmilieMaria123]

Oh alright, thanks again haha. When do you think she will start warming up to me. I try to spend as much time with her as possible.

[Deleted User]

I think you are going to need patience, its probably going to take a while. From what I understand some rabbits never handle being held well, but of course there are times when it isn’t optional, … nail clipping comes to mind. My advice would be to try to pick her up/handle her as little as possible for the moment, let her come to you! Lie down or sit with her, let her explore and sniff you and hard as it is mainly keep your hands still. Give little head strokes, from time to time, and if she likes that then keep it up, rub around her ears. In other words make sure she builds a positive association of being close to you and not thinking you are going to grab her. I’ve had my two current rabbits for just over a month, and last Friday was the first time they repeatedly came and walked and hopped on and off me. As trust builds it will be easier to pick her up when you have to, … but she may always squirm and want to be let down, only time will tell if she likes being cuddled. Oh and when you are holding her I noticed with my last one, once he was used to the idea of being held holding him on my shoulder the way you would to burp a baby seemed to make him more comfortable, better view I guess.

Good luck!

[EmilieMaria123]

Thank you !!! I have been doing exactly that but i guess I may be getting a little impatient also. She always jumps all over me and licks my hands so that’s why I thought I might be able to be trustworthy enough to pick her up. But I will defiantly be more patient with her. thank you

[Deleted User]

Sounds as though you’ve made a great start! Remember it may not be lack of trust in you, she may never enjoy being held, … that said I’m sure strengthening that trust can only help reduce the stress of being held when necessary. Since she is already being affectionate with you maybe try feeding her from your hand (if you aren’t already) while she is out of her cage? I know these two ate from my hand a couple of days after they got here if I reached into their condo, but sit down with a treat and offer it to them while they are out exploring and until the last few days the treat and I didn’t exist. If she is willing it can encourage her to climb into and stay in your lap, hopefully for longer periods which would lead to it being easier to lift her, … always provided she is a cuddley sort.

Do let us know how it goes.

[EmilieMaria123]

I will defiantly try that! Thanks a bunch. I’ll be sure to let you know how it all turns out

[BinkyBunny]

I agree with Grey Dove that she may never be comfortable with you picking her up. I think most who have had bunnies for years know this. I have had Vivian for 4 years and she is an expert squirmer. The moment I try to pick her up she tries to turn into a snake! Then even after she settles in, I can’t let me guard down as she will act like she’s settled in and then try to suddenly leap out of my arms. I have to let the vet techs know about this as she could really hurt herself! If I don’t pick her up too much, she seems to actually be much better about me picking her up (ironic) It’s just that the few times I do have to, like to clip her nails, she just seems to know it’ll be over soon enough and she’ll get to go back. However, when I have to pick her up more often, she gets even more feisty!

And so again, I agree with Grey Dove, since your bunny is new to you and vice versa, I would just establish some more trust first. But then you will need to get comfortable with picking her up so that you can be secure and not accidentally drop her. So the practicing of picking up is really more for her safety. When you practice picking up do so kneeling or being close to the ground. (I know this may make her squirm more as she sees escape so near, but you will need to know how to securely and safely hold her during that anyway.)  

How do you pick her up now? Also, you mentioned you have to pick her up to take her outside. Do you mean outside of her cage, or to go outside to a outdoor pen? I’m just trying to get what the transitions are.

I can tell you how I pick up Vivian. She is a squirmy one and will try to leap out of my grasp right away. I have to be quick, confident and have a secure grasp, but not so tight it would hurt her of course. I use my right hand (i’m right handed) to secure her shoulder down to the floor – that way she can’t escape when I use my other hand to quickly scoop up her backend (this is when she tries to squirm or kick) so I am make sure to have her back feet secured as well during this scoop move. I then bring her quickly to my chest. My other bunny would bite me when I brought him close to my body, so I made sure to have a towel over the part that his mouth would be close to.

Some bunnies though are much better with being handled. My bunny Bailey and Forrest both didnt’ enjoy being picked up, but once they were up, they didn’t try to escape or bite. Some bunnies got more comfortable with more practice (though most never enjoyed it) while other bunnies like Jack, Rucy, Vivian would get more agitated when they had to be picked up too much.   Due to their health issues and having to have meds etc, that may have been the real issue –as for them, being picked up meant meds or something negative. 

Edited for typos

[LBJ10]

Bribery. Any time you do pick her up, make sure she is rewarded for her “ordeal”. Leopold is much better about being held now, largely because he would get treats when he got picked up. He doesn’t like it necessarily, but he knows the treat is coming so he just sort of tolerates it until he gets what he wants.

[EmilieMaria123]

Thank you that helped a lot! When I pick her up, it is to just place her in a basket to go outside, then to take her out once we get outside. ( I’ve used a basket because she is upstairs and I don’t feel comfortable holding her that long of a period) also, I really can’t bribe her too much either since she is under 6 months, I can’t give her yummy fruits or veggies.

[Sarita]

You can start introducing greens at 12 weeks…one at a time.

[EmilieMaria123]

OK !

[Author]

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