Rabbit hyperventilating?

[SassyBuns]

My oldest bun is obviously very shy, I don’t know the exact reason why, I did get her off craigslist so I don’t know what happend when she was not with me, but anytime i go to touch/pet her or pick her up to look and see if anything is out of place her breathing becomes really fast, or its like she is hyperventilating, the confusing thing is I don’t think she is scared because i cant see the whites of her eyes, so is the a normal recurring thing for rabbits?

[sarahthegemini]

It’s not normal for a rabbit to hyperventilate when being touched. If she’s hyperventilating, stop trying to touch her. You need to build up trust with her.

[SassyBuns]

It’s not really when I touch or pet her, it’s just really when I pick her up. I don’t know why I put that in my description. And I’ve been working to gain her trust more for a little over a year, and nothing I’m doing (like sitting with her without touching her, putting her in a small room with me ect.) but nothing seems to be working

[sarahthegemini]

Ah okay. Well don’t feel bad because most rabbits actually don’t like being picked up. It scares them. It doesn’t mean she doesn’t trust you – It’s just very uncommon for a rabbit to enjoy being picked up. If you think about it, in the wild if they were to be picked up, it’d pretty much symbolise being eaten by a predator so it’s built in their dna to want to stay on the ground.

[Sr. Melangell]

SassyBuns, this is Olly rabbit, II don’t like to be picked up, some bunnies like to be picked up, but everybun, I don’t let my mummy pick me up, the vet has a way to pick me up, but because I don’t like being picked up I enjoy other things like having a book read to me, letters in the post read to me, I allow my mummy to sit next to me and stroke me and give me a very gentle massage until I fall asleep, mummy describes it like this. ‘Sometimes a human child will visit somewhere and Uncle or Auntie might be there and try and pick up the child, the child doesn’t like it, if they continue, the child won’t like that Auntie or Uncle and not trust them.’ Its also like when a baby is in his pram (Pushchair) all nice and warm and someone picks up the baby and it cries a lot, but really wants to say (But can’t) “Oi you, put me back, I was nice and comfy.” My Mummy has only picked me up twice, that was when I was very ill, but we have our own way of checking I’m OK, Mummy might say “Teeth” I let her look in my mouth, or she will say “Bottom” I let her look there, Mummy has accepted that I won’t let her pick her up, us rabbits are not ‘Pick up when you feel like it’ items, when you and your rabbit understand this rule you will be very good friends, trust me, you could train bunny to go in her carry box on her own when its time to go to the groomers or vets, we know vets make it look easy to pick us up, but we always give our owner a look as if to say ‘Can we go home now to play? You just have to accept the bunny golden rule ‘Don’t pick me up’ and your bunny will show you love in other ways.
I do wish pet shops would stop showing pictures of a bunny in a child’s arms, that’s not what happens with all bunnies, you could train bunny to go in a carry box so you can carry her about, I’ve been trained by special people (Well I showed them what to do) because even though I’m not a cuddly rabbit, I am Mummy’s assistant, she is almost blind and can hardly walk, but don’t feel bad, if you follow the golden rule your bunny will show you some tricks and might even get you the post or let you know post has come through the door, I get the post, but if your bunny doesn’t don’t worry there will be another things bunny will do to show you love, if you want you can message us or reply here if you want more information.

[Fluffykins]

I always go against the grain in these sorts of posts but I firmly belive a bunny can be *taught* to not fear being picked up.

It’s an incredibly slow and long process though, especially if you don’t have some understanding of psychology and it’s branches more applicable to animals. If you were serious about putting in the long physical man hours, mental frustration of slow moving progress then I’d advise you to read up on behavioural conditioning and go from there. Like most things, before you can do the physical stuff you have to understand all the theory behind it.

Just an example of my point above, I specifically trained my fluffykins to being picked up (and have his paws and bottom touched). I barely worked on the paws so he will tolerate it but I can tell he is sensitive to it. Being picked up – he literally barely bats an eye lid now. He’ll just go to sleep right in my arms. HOWEVER, when I was working with him, I concentrated on the picking up and putting down motions, as well as the motion of being walked with.

What I failed to do (doh) is focus on sitting with him on my lap. Now whilst I can have him on my arms, sitting upright on the couch and rocking (so he thinks I’m walking) I can’t just plonk him on my lap and sit back on the sofa. When I do that – he just runs around. But keeping everything exactly the same, only, having my arm under him rather then my lap, and rocking a bit, he won’t jump off at all to play (even though he has the same freedom to do so because he can see he is only a few cm from the couch).

My point is, this is how slow moving and *precise* it is. Just because my fluffykins can handle being picked up and cuddled and walked with, didn’t mean he learnt chilling out directly on my lap too, was possible haha.

You also have to be able to understand your bunny and pick up on the very little cues he/she will give. NEVER terrify any animal to achieve any kind of conditioning because it does not work!

Once they feel terror, you’ve lost them and you’ll have to work a million times harder to form a trust bond again.

As you might be able to tell this is a really massive field, and it’s not surprising mostly professionals are called upon to take people’s pets through these “training” courses – but then the trust bond is with the trainer and not the mummy or daddy at home

[Wick & Fable]

Every rabbit will be different, but it would be ideal to heighten your rabbit’s threshold for fear, because right now it’s quite low and scares easily. Positive association is important, and being non-invading is also important.

Some rabbits will need to only be picked up on an as needed basis, while others (a small minority) don’t care, like Wick, who I pick up probably a dozen times a day.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[SassyBuns]

I understand rabbits don’t like to be picked up, and the only time i really have to pick her up in when i’m bringing her inside or if i’m checking her over for any fur mats or sore hocks. Even after i set her down her breathing is still really fast.

[Wick & Fable]

Based on my observations of Wick, I suspect rabbits hold onto fear until they are distracted by something else or they’re assured that they are safe.

Have you had her looked by a vet? It could be an actual respiratory problem.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[LittlePuffyTail]

My Olivia used to do this. She was a very high stress bunny that I suspect was mistreated before I got her. She trusted me and adoread attention on the ground but was easy to handle when picked up but actually picking her up was very difficult, any grooming, nail clippings, etc she would get really upset and start breathing really fast and flaring her nostrils. The few times I had to take her to the vet, I was terrified she was gonna die she was breathing so fast!!!

We never fixed this problem, unfortunately, as she has no gone to Rainbow Bridge. I think some buns are more highs stress than others

[Dee]

Luke does the same thing- I only pick him up to do nails, to put him in his carrier to go to vet, or when he’s sick. A couple times I’ve thought at the time that he was sick enough that I might lose him, when in retrospect, he was more terrified. Once he began squeaking in fear- made me so sad. I also worry about him having a heart attack, especially on car rides. It has really interefered with him having a bunny wife. I feel like I’m torturing him to take him bunny dating plus he is too scared to react normally to other bunnies, and when we were trying to bond him at home, I would pick him up to bring him to neutral territory and it would traumatize him so much I,couldn’t catch him for the rest of the week. So much for daily bonding sessions!

I agree that ideally, rabbits should be taught to tolerate being picked up so that it’s not as upsetting for them, but I know I don’t have the heart to condition him by picking him up any more than absolutely neccessary.

[Deleted User]

I can’t even lift two paws off the ground before Asriel has a fit. I have to have the vet techs do the nail trimmings because he kicks so much. Even at the vet his heart rate and breathing are like rapid fire, poor guy. Our last vet visit was to get mite treatment and a nail trim, and she the poor vet got kicked in the face and then he tried to jump off her shoulders. It was stressful for all involved

[Fluffykins]

Awe little Luke. Dee, conditioning isn’t just to pick him up and hope one day he gets used to it. It is an incredibly slow process.

Think touching the top of all 4 paws for a month with treat straight after. Then touching the bottom of all 4paws (on the ground) another month. Then holding one paw for a second for a month. Then holding it for 10 seconds. Then 20. Then 30. Doing that with all feet. All the while giving treats with every touch. Now you can imagine how many months of work you’d be doing before even getting close to picking him up as part of conditioning!

The whole point is to desensitize him to whatever you’re *about* to do – not do it repeatedly hoping for desensitization.

Done the correct way it can’t not work and I belive it’s working closely together like this that’s cemented my bond with fluffykins. Some rabbits will have a limit that stops before you can pick them up and some you’ll get to the point you can run with them haha but i feel all rabbits can have that terrifying fear minimised to some extent.

[Author]

Messages