Bunny Burrito — Or not.

[Cottontail]

Peter is the anti-burrito-bunny. 

I can’t wrap anything around him without him becoming airborne.  I’ve tried tossing a towel over him, but it results in a flying towel with claws.  If you try to cover his eyes he tosses his head and hyper-waddles away…  And if I manage to catch him on a slippery surface he thinks he’s in trouble and scoots away before I can even attempt.  I can bribe him into the towel, but once he starts to feel confined (his threshold is about 10%) he becomes airborne again and I get upper-cutted by a bunny head or butt as he goes over my shoulder.

 My question for you is whether or not you’ve had a bun that is this difficult, and if so; have you had any success at the burrito? 

I wanted to get him in a burrito so that I can do his nails properly, but that doesn’t seem to work.  The only upside is that he doesn’t blame me for the towel “trying to eat him” and he will sit near me while he calms back down, gets petted, and nibbles on whatever I had to bribe him with.   So far I’ve only been able to do a couple front claws here and there when he thinks he’s getting a treat and he’s got full mobility. 

He’s got an appointment next Saturday to get his nails trimmed, since I haven’t even attempted the back feet yet. I can just imagine the acrobatics…

[LBJ10]

Wooly is practically impossible to burrito. It freaks him out so bad that I think it causes more harm than good.

[Cottontail]

LBJ – I think that’s about where I’m at with Pete. He was completely worn out after a couple tries, and I felt so bad about doing it–especially with no productive outcome! I just wish there was some magic trick to get him to calm down and let me trim his nails so that I can be sure he doesn’t get snagged or get sore hocks.

[JackRabbit]

Do you have to do it by yourself or can someone help you? We don’t have much luck with burritos, but next time our vet tech trims the buns’ nails, I ‘ll get a pic of the way she taught me to hold them for nail trims — even I can hold my bunnies (even wiggly Marlee) the way she taught me!

[Flopsie]

i have no luck with burritos. I can throw the towel over the head, which btw does not stop her, rather, she begins to nip and eat it. If I somehow begin to wrap the towel around Flops, she will squirm and wiggle away.

I’ve only managed to trim her nails by doing it once per day, one talon at a time. I have to wait for her to sprawl out, play with her talons so that she gets used to it, pull out the clipper quickly and snip one off. Then I have to wait another day until I can trick her

I’ve put off going to the vets because i’m not sure what the vet does? Anyone have feedback? The way I see it is she will give the vet a hard time just as well unless she gets knocked out or something

[Cottontail]

JR- At the moment it’s just me by myself. Pete is okay with either me or my husband, but gets highly suspicious if it’s both of us… and lately the hubby’s schedule doesn’t allow for a lot of time for it unless I’m attempting nail trims just before bed. :\

Flopsie– I’ve been doing similar, but Pete will stand up and let me play with his front toes a bit.. that’s when I can get a couple… but I have yet to figure out how to do the back. He’s very protective of his back feet and will roll over and tuck if he’s flopped and sees the clippers. How do you get her back feet? Or does that fall into the clip once and repeat tomorrow category?

My old vet had no trouble getting Pete into a bunny burrito to do his nails… but he only weighed 1-1.5lbs then. Now he’s probably 3lbs and I think 90% of that has to be geared toward making him able to escape grooming sessions. I’m going to try to get some tips from my current vet while we’re there, and let you know what I find out (whether it was helpful or not).

[Flopsie]

ahhh im embarrassed to say this but I have no luck with the hind feet. I’ve had the hind feet cut twice… the first time, my friend, who has had a rabbit in the past and for some reason is really good about holding her, would pick her up and I would clip her hind feet one by one.

the second time was when she got spayed.

It’s nearly impossible right now for me to get the hind feet, i don’t want to risk hurting her to be honest….

[Little Lion Head]

JR–I want to see how your tech does it too!

The only luck we’ve had is putting Pumpkin on a towel on a counter. We still really have to hold her; I really do think she’ll try to jump. But hubby holds her and covers her eyes while I trim. The back nails are the struggle. She fights and I’m afraid I’m going to hurt her

We’ve never tried a burrito. Our vet did it perfectly too….must just have the magic touch!

[Little Lion Head]

Flopsie–for the hind feet I will pull out one foot at a time behind Pumpkin. Kind of like if she was sprawled out with her legs behind her. I’m really careful and don’t pull it out any further than she will let me and if she starts to fight, I let it go and give her a moment to compose herself. This probably isn’t the best way. I think next time I’ll have hubby hold her and cover her eyes and do it while her feet are kind of dangling.

[JackRabbit]

I know this is cheating, but it’s the best way I could think of to get a pic posted fast!  Here’s hubby demonstrating with Kieko’s stuffie JackJack . . .

Body is supported against hubby’s chest, and all feet are forward for nail trimming access.  Once you get used to the upper hand position, you can scoop bunny up like this.  Hold bunny firmly, but no need to squeeze.

Closer view of upper hand position:

Closer view of lower hand position.  Palm supports bunny’s butt and fingers hold bunny’s feet:

[JackRabbit]

I wouldn’t just let her feet dangle – you want to support her rear end and feet so she can’t kick and hurt her back.

[JackRabbit]

Obviously this position requires two — a holder and a trimmer.

[Cottontail]

I would love to be able to do that with Pete, but no luck yet… I’ll have to get the hubby to try with me some time… I just can’t help but have this image in my head as I try to picture getting Pete into any kind of “hold.”

[JackRabbit]

LOL!!

If it helps at all, I held all three of mine like this for their last nail trims and I have to take deep breaths at the mere thought of picking up any of my bunnies!

[JackRabbit]

And yes, Kieko is included in the three . . . The same Kieko that jumped out of the 3rd level of her condo tonight into the box of hay on the desk and back up into the 3rd level . . .

[Cottontail]

lol. JR, that does give me a glimmer of hope.
Pete actually discovered today that when I open the top of the condo to mess with his platform and bowl that he can get “On his roof!” It was cute, and I wish I had my camera. It was the highest that he’s been without being held.. and he just kind of crept to the edge and looked over at the floor, then tried to figure out how to climb the wall. Because, you know… he could be “more up!”

[bunnluff]

Both of mine hate nail clippings! But since I live alone, I’ve had to learn to do it myself. I sit on the floor with my legs straight out in front of me, I quickly flip bunny onto her back and settle her into the space between my legs. Usually her head will go back a little, then I put one hand on her tummy to hold her while I quickly clip the nails with the other hand. I’ve got it down to a science. The towel thing never worked for me and I kinda don’t get how it’s supposed to work either. If your bun is all bundled then how can you get to the nails?

[Whobott]

The way i do it is when hes in his cage (he feels safer) i will pet him and kind of keep him from moving while my dad clips them, i dont know if its possible for you thoguh because my bunnys whole front of his cage opens up so we can easily get to him, then once we are done he gets a treat.

[LBJ10]

I think part of the problem may be that we bunny owners are a bit afraid to grab our bunnies. When, say the vet grabs them, they pick the bunny up with a firm and confident grip. I’m always thinking I need to hold more confidently, but then I’m afraid I’m holding too tightly. =\

[JackRabbit]

LBJ — you are exactly right. When I finally get the right hold on my bunnies, I can feel them “relax” in my hands. Its that “fear” of whether or not my hold will be right the first time (usuallly not!) and fear of hurting them.

[Author]

Messages