Problems with being picked up

[evabeee]

I just rescued a 3-4 month old, female Holland Lop who’s name is Honey Bun, yesterday. She was very scared when she first arrived, she didn’t really want anything to do with people. Period. But today I spent a lot of time with her inside (She sleeps outside in her protected Hatch) and she has gotten so much more friendly. She seems so excited to explore the couch and loved hopping around. Everything is great, she even gave me what I call a “bunny kiss”, so I am very excited, except there is one problem. She is petrified of being picked up. Yesterday I picked her up without wrapping her in a towel and my arms got scratched up. She just goes into panic mode, and I can understand why, but it makes it hard to transfer her from her hatch and into the house. So I wrap a towel around her, make sure she is firmly secured, and then I pick her up. Last time I did she flipped out WAY less than before. She only kicked a couple of times. I know you might say “well just don’t pick her up”, and I am only picking her up when NEEDED. I don’t just pick her up for the fun of it. Anyways, she is improving a lot because i have gained some trust, but do you have any more tips on helping her chill a but when being picked up?

[Hazel]

Welcome to BB!

It’s totally normal for her to hate being picked up. Because she’s a prey animal, being picked up means becoming someone’s dinner, in her mind. Now I’m not saying she actually thinks you plan on eating her but her instincts still tell her to try to get away. Most rabbits react this way.

I understand how this makes it hard to transport her in and out of the house. On this forum we advocate keeping your bunny inside full time for various reasons, have you considered making her an inside bunny?

[BunnyLady1989]

Welcome to you and your girl! It may take some time but it sounds like she is already getting better.
And I agree with Hazel. Are there restrictions in your house for having to keep her outside to sleep? I’ve had two bunns in my lifetime, one lived in a hutch and our house, and my current bunn lives inside with us and she seems much happier than our previous bunn was. Not saying that yours won’t be happy though! I’m sure she is happy and grateful to have a wonderful human like you to take care of her

[evabeee]

Thanks for the welcomes, guys! 

Yes I do have reasons on why she can’t be kept inside. I do bring her in the basement to get her daily exercise though, so she does come inside for 3-4 hours a day. She sleeps outside in her hutch, and when not playing, she stays in there too. 

She is improving so much, today I was able to pick her up without her squirming, which is a big deal. 

[LBJ10]

I think you would find she would be much more comfortable being allowed to hop out of her enclosure on her own and come to interact with everyone in your house on her own terms. That would mean she would have to be an indoor bunny. I’m with the others, have you considered it at all? We do believe bunnies are much happier when kept indoors. They live longer too. If your bunny must stay outside, perhaps using a carrier to transport her inside would make things easier.

[evabeee]

Yes I have already said that I have reasons on why she can’t be kept inside.
Thanks for the help tho.

[Ellekke]

I don’t keep my bunnies inside either, but neither are they outside. Wanna check out the mystery? check the picture in my profile

I would let her get used to a carrier to transport Evabee. I’m planning to transport my bunnies in a carrier whenever they can play in the garden. The carrier is just standing in their roam free zone so they learn to associate the carrier with safety.

I think you can also train her slowly to get used to being picked up. I’m hand feeding my little buns their daily pellets. I put my hand under their belly and they don’t freak out –> pellet! I’m putting my hand under their bum —> pellet!
You can use the clicker but I also just say ‘good girl’ or ‘good boy’ in a certain way and then give a pellet. First she needs to learn to eat from your hand though.
Right now they already run to me to check out all the yummy stuff I got hidden in my hands Or they run to me if I say their name or they see I have my hand in the ‘I got food’ position (as if I got a pellet between my thumb, index and middle finger). They also jump on my lap and if they do that it is easier to pick them up too (although I’m not doing that yet).

I got my inspiration here: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=P6lv1vOAneA

Hope this helps! Good luck!

[LBJ10]

Ellekke is offering some good advice. A carrier would probably make transport much easier. You can also work on getting her to tolerate being held for short periods of time by offering her rewards for being held. I have done this with my rabbits as well. But I don’t carry them for long distances, so it seems a carrier would be the safer option in that scenario.

[BunnyLady1989]

Ellekke I went and snooped and your setup is awesome! It gave me some ideas of my own
I agree with the carrier option. Not too sure how far you need to go from house to bunny house, but eventually she could also be trained to tolerate being held for that distance especially if she knows a treat is soon to come. Ellekke has some great advice in training to handle them. Pellets can be used as a treat or craisins, which is a huge favorite to every bunn I know of!

[Ellekke]

Thanks BunnyLady!

Something funny happened yesterday. I was hand feeding Arya her pellets. And she was so frantic for food that she somehow jumped on my hand that I had streched out. Lol! She was balancing on my hand and my lower arm and she’s getting pretty big!

So I can definately say that hand feeding your bunny their daily dose of pellets makes them litteraly jump into your hand. I think that’s what you want Evabeee. Lol!

I think you should have a good area to train her if she’s allowed in the basement. Let us know how it goes! I’m very interested in sharing experiences.

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