Bunny hates nail being clipped

[alreeb]

Hello, I have an 11 week old male French lop who will not let me cut his nails. I have watched Amy Sedaris’s video on how to trim nails and followed the techniques exactly, but my french lop simply won’t sit still. He never bites except for when i am trimming. He’ll nip at my hand and then when I let him lose he will start taking his anger out on the nail clippers. I know I am not cutting too short because i am barely clipping the ends and have been using the press press clip technique. 

Is there any hope for our routine? I hate making him that uncomfortable and I especially hate seeing such a happy bunny bite. 

[Mocha]

Dont “hypnotize” him. What I find really works is, if you take a pile of his favorite treats, let him eat them while he is between your legs, and then clip them while he is busy munching.

[alreeb]

Thanks Ill try that! 

[litheandgraphic]

I agree with Mocha, that’s what I do for Theodore — I set a small dish of his pellets in front of him and as he’s busy eating, I clip the tips of his nails. Works pretty well! If the bunny is scared of the clippers, there’s a trick you can do that involves clipping a single piece of uncooked pasta near the rabbit, gently placing the clippers on her paws and slowly allowing her to get used to the feel until they become comfortable with it.

[Stickerbunny]

Mine hate being clipped,handled and other routine care. I just do burrito wraps if I have no help (with bun up high, they behave more if on a counter/table that is too high to jump off) or my partner holds one and I clip them.

Really just have to find a method that works for your bun specifically. Some do better up high, some on the ground, some can be distracted, some can’t, some trance, some don’t. Just work on figuring out how he prefers it.

[Mocha]

Oh yeah. I agree with Stickerbunny. Bunny burritos work great for Mocha. She hates when I lift her paw or back foot to the side to clip it. She’s an angry little fur ball when what she’s doing doesn’t include eating or sleeping

[Krissy]

Does you clipper make a sound? One of my rabbits didn’t like having her nails done either but it was the clipper she didn’t like. It had a spring that made a squeaking sound when I pressed down on them. Once I changed the clipper I had no problems.

[litheandgraphic]

“Trancing” can also be a nasty business, as a “tranced” rabbit is a rabbit in a state of heightened stress and fear (as detailed here), so if you can avoid trancing at all, you should. Sometimes, it’s absolutely the only way. If this is the case, try and make it for as short of a time as possible. C: 

[Author]

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