Is holding bunny like a baby OK?

[Deleted User]

I have a very gentle, loving bunny. We have been cradling her on her back like a baby and she calms down, closes her eyes and falls asleep. I heard today from someone who has bunnies that it is very dangerous to hold a bunny on its back. She said it slows their heartrate down and is not good for them. Is this true?

[LillyBear]

I am not sure if it is true.. I know lots of people trance their bunnies in this position.. but my Lilly is untrancable.. I do hold her on her back allllll the time though.. I have been doing it since she was a baby, so she lets me walk around with her like that…but she never closes her eyes or falls asleep.. when she doesn’t like it.. she will let me know.. she will start getting antsy, and if I dont release her, then she will just jump out herself.. so I need to make sure I have a good hold on her if I am not sitting down where she could jump onto somthing.. usually I just put my second arm (not the one that is cradling her) on top of her on her stomach long ways.. so my arm is parallel to the cradle arm, that way, if she does struggle I can hold her tight enough that she wont break her back..

I am interested to know about the heartrate though.. Im sure BinkyBunny has the answer : )

[MooBunnay]

Hello Doreen, welcome to Binky Bunny!

I myself am not to sure about the heart rate, but I have not once yet in my rescue work heard anyone tell me that I should not trance the bunnies.  I have even had some very experienced volunteers tell new adopters how certain bunnies really like to be held in that position.  Also, we always put our bunnies in the "baby" position for nail trims, and when we are just carrying them around, so I really do not believe that if your bunny likes it, that it is a bad thing!

We did discuss a bit on another post I remember reading that since your bunny is tranced, sometimes that time spent is not as quality bonding as if the bunny is really aware of all that is going on, so make sure to spend some time with your bunny upright, petting and grooming and such to really enforce your bond with your bunny!

[cookie627]

yeah i put my bun on his back. never tried cradling Cookie on his back though. but i could imagine how cute it would be

[x liddo bunny x]

my buns refuse to be on their backs…..

[Deleted User]

Picking up Luey just is near impossible … never mind putting him on his back.

[BinkyBunny]

I am not aware the actual trancing is dangerous (I will ask a couple of vets), but trying to put a rabbit into a trance and a rabbit coming out of a trance can be dangerous if you are not prepared – the struggling can lead to dropping or some injury.

One of the things I have just recently learned(as I was researching this question further) is that trancing is not pleasurable for rabbits. It may help us clip nails and do things that we need to do for their health, but trancing is not recommended if you’re just trying to cuddle your rabbit.

I have been told this my a a couple of rabbit experts (including the owner of SaveABunny) as well as I have read this in the book "Why does my rabbit…" by Anne McBride. (pg 179)

I’m summarizing what was stated:

Basically they say that trancing is a prey response to being caught. It is stress or freeze behavior. So what we may interpret as a blissful relaxation as muscles relax and the heart rate decreases, it’s really a way to play dead, A rabbit is thoroughly awake and aware during the trance. This "playing dead" allows them to fool a predator so the predator will relax which may give the rabbit an opportunity to escape.

So ultimately, now I’m changing my tune regarding trancing – even if I confirm it is not physically dangerous,(I’ll keep you all updated with that) I will discourage trancing unless absolutely necessary.

[MooBunnay]

Hmm, thats very interesting! My bunnies are not so good at playing dead, they always kick right out of it, haha, I guess my conclusion that they wouldn’t last long in the wild is correct!

[PeterRabbit]

Iv’e always held my French Lop in the baby position and honestly he prefers it to any other way of holding. Most rabbit don’t genrally liked being picked up so when I need to that is the best way for him. Hes never hurt himself in this position and if he’s had enough he will let me know and then I just lift him up and put him down. If rabbit are in pain or upset they genrally will let you know.

[jerseygirl]

Hi PeterRabbit
This is a thread from 2007. We ask that members do not reply to old topics. It brings them up with the current topics list and gets confusing. I will lock this thread now so no further replies can be added. You are most welcome to start a new discussion on the topic.

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