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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

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Forum BEHAVIOR Picking up rabbit.

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    • Lunathehollandlop
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        Hey guys, me and my girlfriend have a Holland lop that’s about 5 and a half months old. She’s been sweet, is progressing in her litter box training and is decently affectionate and comfortable. Regularly falls asleep while head rubs and the such.

        We don’t really pick her up unless we have to, as she seems a little skittish about it and does try to run if we give her time. Reading up on this over the 2 months we’ve had her, it seems rabbits will at most only tolerate it. So me and the gf are pretty comfortable with Luna being the way she is.

        However, I see people online etc just going on about how their rabbits love to be picked up and you just need to keep doing it to get them used to it. Which conflicts with everything I’ve read and experienced. Also they advocate trancing, which is another thing we only do when absolutely necessary. Thoughts?


      • vanessa
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          Stick with what you’re doing. I totally disagree that rabbits love being picked up. I think those people are completely misreading their rabbits.

          That being said – 1 of my bunnies has spent a considerable amount of time ill, with me nursing and caring for him. He was paralyzed for a while, and is still weak in his hind legs, incontinent, blind, and deaf. So for him – touch and smell are really important. I touch his head to signal food, and I stroke him down his spine to signal that I’m about to pick him up. I try to be repetitive so he learns to understand what I’m doing. Anyway – I’ve had to handle him a lot – he still gets weekly baths. While he was paralyzed, I was taking him with me everywhere including work and leisure travel. He was in a diaper, I was syringe feeding him, and turning him over so he didn’t get pressure sores. I believe he came to understand that I was helping him. He started grooming me just like he grooms his stuffie, or his pal-bunny. When I have him on my lap, he relaxes ad falls asleep. I can tell he doesn’t like the act of being lifted up or placed back down. Having his feet off the floor is not a good feeling for him. But once he is on my lap and I’ve petted him and wiped his eyes (he enjoys an eye-wipe with a warm damp cotton ball), he relaxes. In his baths, I put a cloth in the basin so he has grip, and a cloth over the edge for his front feet. He sits and grooms himself while I bathe his rear end. So in cases like this – I believe it is possible for a rabbit to become so used to being handled, and trusting of the handler, that there hare parts of the experience that can be relaxing. But I don’t believe this is a general rule. Rabbits who are “still and don’t struggle” are actually frightened. This can be misunderstood for being used to it. My little guy doesn’t freeze up. He continues with life as usual – napping, grooming, sniffing, that’s why I think he is relaxed, and not just tranced. I cut his hair every time I bath him. Now that it is a weekly routine, there isn’t that much hair to cut. but I’ve been known to spend up to 2 hours grooming him and cutting his hair. If it takes that long, he will start to chatter his teeth, and then I’ll call it quits for the day.

          So I believe he is used to it – although I know he doesn’t like the picking up/putting down part, and never will. On my lap, he relaxes coz we have a bond and he trusts me.

          Keep doing what you are doing, and don’t believe all that other stuff. Luna sounds like she is in a good trusting spot with you two.


        • SeeShmemilyPlay
          Participant
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            I seriously doubt 90% of rabbits people say love being picked up actually do. The buns probably tolerate it, and just because they don’t struggle people think they just love it like a cat or dog. It’s true, the more you pick them up the more used to it they get, but I don’t personally see it as worth it to try to do that since I can already grab my rabbits if needed and don’t really have any reason to pick them up unless I’m trimming their nails every 4 months. So why make them uncomfortable if it’s not necessary, is how I see it.


          • Jessica
            Participant
            349 posts Send Private Message

              Most buns don’t want to be picked up. My previous bun did not like it all, she would jump up on the furniture to sit with you, but hated if you picked her up for any reason.

              Only pick him up when you absolutely have to, and make sure he feels safe and secure when you do. Consider clicker training him so he can lean an “up” command for when you want him to jump up somewhere


            • Bailey
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                I think it’s important to be able to pick up your bunny. What is there is an emergency or danger to him and you need to move him quickly? Will you have 10min chasing him around the house? I trained my bun to pick up. I spent 3 weeks in tiny increments and giving a treat with each step. He only likes to be held high near my chin. To tell if he is just tolerating it or actually comfortable offer him his favorite treat. If he takes it he’s good. If he doesn’t than he’s uncomfortable.


              • Azerane
                Moderator
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                  My rabbits hate being picked up. The let me do it quite easily, but if I’m holding them for longer than about 20 seconds, they start to struggle. Fortunately, that’s plenty of time for me to get them either in their carrier or onto a table for grooming/nail clipping. I don’t pick them up for anything other than health checks and grooming. It’s simply not necessary. However like Bailey mentions, I do feel it’s important to be able to pick up and handle your rabbit when it is needed, as you never know when you may have to pick them up in an emergency and have to be able to get them first try.

                  Some people seem to be fine with trancing, quite popular I believe in the breeding community for grooming and clipping etc. However there is evidence to suggest that it is actually very stressful to rabbits. I just avoid it altogether. Unless there was something I was treating for that was difficult and required them to be in that position for their own medical benefit, it’s not something I would use.


                • vanessa
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                    I think Bailey and Azerane’s comments are spot-on.


                  • sarahthegemini
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                      Posted By Bailey on 2/20/2017 10:19 AM

                      I think it’s important to be able to pick up your bunny. What is there is an emergency or danger to him and you need to move him quickly? Will you have 10min chasing him around the house? I trained my bun to pick up. I spent 3 weeks in tiny increments and giving a treat with each step. He only likes to be held high near my chin. To tell if he is just tolerating it or actually comfortable offer him his favorite treat. If he takes it he’s good. If he doesn’t than he’s uncomfortable.

                      I’m trying to get my bunnies used to being picked up for this very reason! At the moment, Peanut doesn’t really enjoy being pet so it’ll be a long road for him but it’s important that I’m able to pick him up if needed. I’m not going to overdo it tho, as I don’t want to stress him out. I must go at his pace!


                    • vanessa
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                        I have 2 very different sets of rabbits. Guin and Lancelot are easy to pick up. With Avalon and Morgana, it has taken years just to be able to pet them. So getting them used to being picked up – I just don’t see it happening. So I’ve gotten to where I’m quicker at scooping them into the cat carrier. It has become a swift operation – I can now corner them and scoop them into the carrier just as quickly as I can pick up Guin/Lancelot. Makes trimming their nails way easier. I’m not even going to try to get them used to being picked up without the carrier. Once they are in the carrier, it is easy to lift them out. I saw another post about trancing. Once I have them on my lap, I don’t trance them to clip their nails. I hold them upright in a sitting position, wrapped up in a towel of course.

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                    Forum BEHAVIOR Picking up rabbit.