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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 DIET & CARE Never getting used to being handled

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    • Autumn's Dad
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        This is just getting ridiculous now, Autumn has compleat trust in me, seeks affection from me, has lived virtually every day/night around me for almost a year but yet she WILL NOT be touched in any way she could perceive as handling (stroking feet, hand under stomach, hand under neck and head). I’ve just gone along with it, figuring I’ll  do what she wants in order to not scare her and that’s just great… until the vets, until nail clipping, until moving her or stopping her from getting into danger. I have done everything to give her the best life I can. I have made so many sacrifices for her comfort and wellbeing but my patience is not a endless piece of string, I have a limit and this is it. I’ve tried everything- frequent handling (in the past) which left her deathly afraid of me, tried positive reinforcement, tried easing into things- she wont have any of it and now I am frustrated, as well as the vets when she cant even be handled for a simple check up at home or the vets and god forbid you try to cut her nails, she practically gives herself a heart attack! I’m really at a loss, I love her to pieces yet I can’t do what needs to be done to help her and that is both aggravating and sad. I know there is not a lot else I can try. I’m sorry this was a rant.

        A.D


      • MrBun&Daisy
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          oh my gosh. Bunny dad in distress!!! I feel your pain, my girl is the same way. she gets super excited to see me and runs up to me but won’t let me really touch her. unlike autumn though daisy is coming around. but to check her out we have to use the bunny burrito technique. she hates it and can usually get out of it but it gives us enough time to look her over. as for cutting her nails-well we haven’t even attempted that yet! I know you said autumn has been with you for a year so maybe its just her personality. but I understand the frustration with the vet and wellness factor. we work with daisy every day and bunny burrito her while we pet her head and give her snacks in hopes she will figure out its not so bad to get lovins.

          one VERY controversial thing I’ve heard of-and will never do to my buns unless absolutely necessary- is call trancing. I’m not sure how its done but it puts them in a “trance” and they don’t move. but I’ve heard it only works because the bun is in its most fearful state so it freezes. I’ve heard vets say they use it as a last resort before sedation in order to check out a severely injured bun. So at least if she ever REALLY needs medical attention there might still be one option. but like I said its an extreme thing to do to them and I would only consider it if sedation was the only other option.

          hopefully someone else with more expertise will have some ideas for the less serious day to day handling problem!


        • Autumn's Dad
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            Thanks for commenting MrBun&Daisy. It very odd, in the morning she comes up to my head and flops against my face, when I feed her she runs rings around me, when I get home she makes a mad dash toward me, ears flapping. If I pet her or simply sit next to her she flops over and starts snoring, she can sense all my emotions and has a very strong bond with me but goes psychotic when handled, only to come back to me minutes later and ask for a head pet. What’s more, as a baby she was regularly handled and accepted it. It must be like you say- her mature personality. heck, when she flops she puts herself in trance position! so I think it being a cruel thing is not true.


          • MrBun&Daisy
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              that’s great! at least you have the peace of mind to know it really isn’t a problem between you and her rather just the handling part. unfortunately I’m not sure there’s much to do about that. We actually read about trancing when we were trying to cut MrBun’s nails. but after reading some scary things about it on top of us not knowing the correct way to do it we decided against it to avoid a problem. he would let me get one or two cut before spazzing. we ultimately took him to the vet as they were so long and I didn’t want to wait until he let us get them all done. surprise to us the vet said he was perfect for her! we are going to have to take daisy to get her’s cut soon if she doesn’t let us do it. and I will admit- its partly mommy being scared of hurting her. its amazing how complex they are. we get frustrated too as MrBun has such a laid back personality and while he doesn’t like to be held for too long he tolerates us on a need-be basis and then to have daisy dash away it almost hurts our feelings. I’m hoping as daisy matures (she’s only 5 months) and after her spay she will calm down. but as for autumn it seems like you will just have to take heart in that she does trust you and keep working with her. it sounds like you guys have a great relationship


            • Mikey
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                On the trance thing quick, bunnies can put themselves into that position without harm. They simply lay on their backs and dont go into an actual trance, they sleep or just relax, then move when called/when they wake up from the nap/when they get uncomfortable and ned to adjust. When a human or animal forces a rabbit onto their backs, it causes stress, discomfort, and fear which in turn causes the “trance” (fear response similar to a humans anxiety attack)

                As for not liking to be handled, you learn to live with it One of my rabbits doesnt mind being handled at all. The vet even laughed because she had to have him nearly upside down at one point to check his man area, and he just looked around and sniffed at the fake plant next to him. One of my other buns loves to be held and carried, but goes absolutely insane when it comes to nail clippings. He has never bled, but he has thumped and bugged his eyes out. My third bun hates any sort of handling. He will even run from pets once in a while, and thump. He does not like to be picked up. He has kicked so much during a nail clipping that he nearly caused his toe to get cut (he needs several vet techs to help the vet trim his nails, and needs to be bunny burrito’d). He will scar you up if you think about carrying him anywhere. The only “handling” he is ok with is tummy pets because he has a sensitive tummy and often ends up with a bit of gas and little tummy pets help him out a lot. To get him anywhere (crate or cage), we have to lure him with treats because he will not accept anything else. Handling him will never be accepted, but thats ok. The scars to take care of him are well worth it to see him happily running and binkying across the floor with our other buns


              • Autumn's Dad
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                  MrB&D- Thanks, Yes hers are quite long too and her habit of diving off the bed, paws outstretched has me cringing every time as one bad landing could tear out a claw. The vet here charges £25 (33 dollars) for a nail clip each time! so you can see why I’d want to cut them myself (paying £25 a month for nail trimming is not ideal). My advice on the spay- changes in behaviour are SLOW, it took 6 months for me to see changes in Scamp’s (her nickname) behaviour. Good luck, hope all goes well.


                • Autumn's Dad
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                    Mikey- same mind as me, all I really want is for them to be happy and well, it is just frustrating when things like this get in the way. Wow! you’ve certainly got your hands full there. That’s pretty funny though that he needs multiple vets to restrain him, but they are so powerfull in the hind legs it’s unreal for such a small animal. The whole trance thing would explain why some buns simply thrash about (confident) and others would trance (timid) thanks for you comment.


                  • MrBun&Daisy
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                      oh my gosh! there are only 2 vets that handle rabbits near me, and the one thinks they are the only one so they jack the prices up. they wanted 56 us dollars (not sure what the conversion is) while our vet only charges 15. its crazy how much it takes to find a good bun vet. and yes I’m preparing all my patience lol we got spoiled with our boy as he was back to his calm self within days. but I keep telling myself she has a totally different personality to begin and that’s okay too. just like kids we love them both the same good luck with autumn, maybe as she gets older she’ll slow down and just decide to tolerate if you’re lucky!

                      mikey- did you get them all at the same time? was it hard for you to adjust to the third one not wanting to be touched? we were so used to MrBun being so laid back that its been tough to accept daisy just doesn’t have that personality and to learn different ways of bonding with her


                    • Mikey
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                        Autumn’s Dad > They can be a handful, but it is so worth it lol. He needed to be restrained one time while burrito’d because he would not stop thrashing about. Many people got cut up by his nails that day, but he was happy afterwards because he got to cuddle with our other buns and of course got a treat

                        MrBun&Daisy > Nope! We got Blue (mini rex; my bun who begs for attention a few times a day) first to train a little over a year ago as my emotional support animal for PTSD and anxiety. Then a month or two after we got Bombur (nethie; my bun who hates to be handled) because he was small, shy, and started going into stasis at the store. And sometime around Dec we got Badger (mini dutch; my bun who you can tip in all different directions and he will not care) because he had splay leg and bonded well with our other two bunnies (they picked him out ) It was hard to adjust to Bombur not wanting to be touched as much after his neuter, because before his hormones kicked in, he was the most cuddley bun. He wanted to be held and cuddled 24/7 but when hormones kicked in, he wanted nothing more than to fight everyone and everything, aside from Blue and Badger; he loves his bunny brothers. After being neutered, we had to work on trust exercises with him just so he would tolerate being pet and brushed. It took a few months, and its still not perfect, but it is what it is. He much prefers to play with us than to be handled by us


                      • MrBun&Daisy
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                          I have never heard of buns being support animals! but its a fabulous idea! I’ve suffered from depression and anxiety starting in adolescence. luckily with the help of my boyfriend and over all support I’ve all but completely left the depression behind. I still have anxiety but prefer to be un medicated (key word there:prefer) and its amazing how much joy these little animals can give you. just to sit and watch them is usually enough to distract me and pull me out of it.

                          sometimes I find myself wanting to say in my angry whisper voice “JUST LET ME LOVE YOU” to daisy but then the times when I get home and she races to greet me remind me that just because our relationship is not “hold me up in your arms” that’s okay. and it just makes the rare snuggles even better!


                        • Mikey
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                            Yep! Blue has learned how to read my heart beat. If my heart starts to race, he will poke me and force me to pet him. He taught himself to wake me up if i pass out by digging and pulling on my shirt (much like a dog is trained to in some situations). He is also very good at reading my emotion to begin with and will bother me on and off if he noticed im more anxious than usual It is very nice to have them

                            I saw that out loud lol. I will sprawl on the floor and beg the buns to notice me. Blue usually comes running to wonder why im acting weird, Bombur will look at me but otherwise ignore me, and Badger will hop onto my back and look around


                          • Azerane
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                              I’m sorry to hear that you can’t really handle Autumn in any way. It is sad as a loved owner not to be able to do that, but I ultimately think it’s not a reflection of you, I believe that some rabbits just retain more of the natural prey instinct than others, and Autumn just happens to be one of them. Any feeling of being captured, picked up or restrained, especially in sensitive areas (throat and tummy) just kicks in that natural instinct and survival automatically takes over from domestication. She’s just a very rabbity rabbit


                            • Autumn's Dad
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                                Mrb&D- thanks, she is mellowing somewhat as she used to be pretty aggressive and territorial. Perhaps this too will mellow with time.

                                Mikey- luckily buns are simple creatures, treats and affection and they’ll recover quick from a barrage of things I did manage to get some nails trimmed today but it was scratches and one ticked off rabbit! But after some pets and a tiny sweet treat it was all ok.

                                Azerane- Thanks for replying. You are right, it’s just one of those things that I have to respect as her uncontrollable instinct.

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                            Forum DIET & CARE Never getting used to being handled