Friend Scares Their Bunnies

[nerevar2525]

Hi people. I don’t own a rabbit myself, but one of my best friends has a pair. They seem healthy, but I am very concerned by the way she treats them. She insists on handling them and cuddling them, and will crouch over with her head on top of them like you would with a puppy. This often prompts them to attempt to run, but she says it’s okay to just hold onto them so they can’t. She constantly gives them apples and carrots when she feels she’s upset them, which is often. Lastly she purchased a string of bird toys for them as she thought the rabbit toys at the pet shop were “boring”, so there are some of those hanging from the roof of their hutch.

I initially wrote off some of my concern thinking that perhaps she knew better, but, her rabbits simply do not seem to like this treatment. Am I wrong? If I am correct, how should I tell her that her treatment of them is harmful?

[Sarita]

Honestly, it doesn’t sound like mistreatment to me….I think if you are concerned you could suggest our forum for her to join and we can help her with any questions.

She may be misinformed but that is not really mistreatment.

[Megabunny]

I agree. I’ve heard bird toys are good for bunnies, but I find mine don’t like them because they are expensive AND they are ALLOWED to chew them, which makes them uninteresting LOL. It sounds like she is a bit too, well, cuddly (?) with them, and if they don’t like it she should take the hint, but I’m not sure it would be considered abusive. Annoying? Probably. Abusive? I don’t think so

[LongEaredLions]

She probably just has the misconception that bunnies are the snuggly, cuddly animals that many people think they are. Make sure she knows that rabbits are prey animals, and you need to build up their trust, staying at their own comfort level. Improperly handing them could even cause them to be less snuggly, as they become scared of being handled. They can hurt themselves if they kick too hard.
Could you suggest she feeds healthier foods as ‘treats’ such as herbs? Bird toys are actually fine for bunnies, as long as they don’t have nuts or seeds.
Definitely refer her to this forum.

[Roberta]

Don’t fret about the bird toys… Mine love their parrot kabobs and have a wonderful time pushing it around making the bells ring etc.

[nerevar2525]

Thanks for the response folks. She definitely does hold that misconception, for instance, she got a new bunny, and told me I could try and pick it up, and that if it tried to squirm or run, to “just hold her tight so she can’t get away”. Which rather bothered me. They seem to squirm quite desparately, and I worry that it’s not wise to just force them to be still, or to be upset at them for attempting to escape. I’ve tried suggesting forums before but she just scoffs and says she already knows what she’s doing.

[Megabunny]

Ha ha I thought I knew what I was doing too before I started on here! So much has changed through the years, so if someone with an old school thought on bunnies is going with that, ouch!

[Author]

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