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Forum BEHAVIOR Training a rabbit to tolerate being picked up

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    • Quartz
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        I’ve read that it’s good to gradually train a rabbit to tolerate being picked up (and hopefully like it).  I’ve had my bun for over 3 months now, and he’s completely comfortable with being petted on his own terms–as long as I don’t try to pick him up.  If I actually try to lift him off the ground and hold him (even if I”m sitting on the floor doing it), he goes a bit berserk, breathing loudly and scratching with everything he can.  I end up with lots of scratches on my chest, stomach, and shoulders.  I know that it’s important to support their back/bum so they don’t hurt their spine, and I do that fine.  But it’s still a struggle to keep him comfortable and still.  I’ve tried this a few times now with days in between, and even offering treats afterwards and being as soothing and gentle as I can be, he goes into complete freak out mode if I pick him up.

        When I’m sitting with him, he’s already on my lap or on my chest, and I hold him gently but firmly and try to tell him quietly that everything is okay, he continues to struggle, breathe loudly, and attempt to escape as much as possible.  So he does this even after the actual lifting part is over.

        Is the answer to this situation to not pick him up and leave him be forever alienated by sitting with a human on human’s terms?  Or should I persevere gradually and gently, and hopefully he’ll eventually learn that it’s not scary if I hold him for a bit?

        Mostly I don’t want him to always be freaked out when picked up or held for things like health checks and brushing when he’s molting, so part of the training is to make him more safe in his knowledge that being held won’t result in anything scary/harmful.  And part is of course the selfish hope that some day he’ll actually want to sit with me.

        He’s 2 years old, neutered.


      • vanessa
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          Here’s my experience.
          Merlin: I caught him by corraling him into his litterbox, picked him up. The first 6 months, he kicked and fought. After that he calmed down. But I always had to coral him into a corner. During the last 6 months of his life, he let me pick him up where he was sitting.
          Guinivere: It took 2 years with her. Initiallym I threw a towel over her to pick her up, and lept her bundled up in a towel so I didn’t get scratched. After 2 years, when Merlin died, I bonded her with Lancelot. The 10-month process of picking her up everyday (against her will), and her seeing that I didn’t eat her or hurt her, she is now very easy to pick up. She still doesnt’ like it, but I dont’ have to chase her or corner her. SHe kicks a bit if I don’t keep my hands under her hind feet, but overall, very easy to handle as long as I am steady, quick, and confident. She is VERRRRRRY snuggly with me. Demands petting. I wear boots int he morngins coz she gets so exited. Amongst the binkies, she nips my feet for attention. Binkies some more, nips me for attention, etc.
          Avalon: 3 years later, I have to corner him and be SUPER quick about grabbing him. Very difficult to handle. I can pet him for a brief moment.
          Morgana: 3 years later, I still cant’ pick her up with my hands. I have to corner her into a cat carrier, and pick her up in the carrier, not in my arms. I have tried wrapping her up in a towel to pick up, but she fights her way out and jumps out of my arms. I dont’ try to pick her up with my hands anymore. I only use the cat carrier. She lets me pet her. I wrote a journal here on BB about my efforts to get her to trust me,
          Lancelot: Super chill rabbit. I can pick him up whenever I want, how often I want, flip him over, lie him on his side, lie him on his back, snuggle him, cuddle him, he is like a puppy dog. He sleeps on my lap on long car rides. He is most comfortable on my lap on his side, on his back at an angle, or with his chin resting on my arm. Loves attention, very cuddly.

          BUT – none of my rabbits “sit with me”. They want me to give THEM attention, not the other way around. Lancelot and Guin are the snuggliest wiht me, but they both want the attention on me, not them. Lancelot will lick me when he is snuggly on my lap. He nudges me with his head for attention, and nudges me when I stop petting him, to continue.

          I found that the effort of picking up a rabbit daily to get it to become accostomed to you, is frustrating, because when we are waiting for something to happen, it never seems to happen quickly enough. But that is what it takes. I would pick the rabbit up every day if I were you. For short periods of a time. Hold the rabbit for a minute, put it own. Give it treats. Always end the picking up with treats. With Avalon and Morgana, it felt like it was taking forever to get them to trust me, because that was what I was focusing on. With Guinivere, I was focusing on bonding her with Lancelot, so picking her up was just part of the daily bonding process. I woudl pick her up and put her in the bonding area, pet her while they were getting to know eachother, pick her up again and put her back in her area. So I picker her up twice a day for 10 months. 10 months is a long time. But it didn’t feel long, because I was focused on their bonding. All of a sudden I realised that she was easier to handle, and very super snuggly. Something clicked in her and she realised I wasn’t going to hurt her. Somethign eventually clicked with Morgana too. Avalon hasn’t yet clicked. He is still wary of me. And even though Morgana has clicked and let me pet her, she is not snuggly like the others. Each rabbit is different. It isn’t a quick process, but it does have to be a daily process.


        • Candle
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            Unibunny was always good with being picked up, but Bunita was another story.
            The first time I picked her up she did just what you described. freaking out, breathing heavily and scratching and fighting. I figured I wouldn’t be able to get her used to it but over time I had to pick her up for things anyway. She hated it but eventually just got over it. I mean she doesn’t LIKE to be picked up but 95% of the time she remains calm now.
            I found when picking her up just to do it for a second or two and then put her back down so she knew she was safe. I used to pick her up and bring her to the rug in the living room so she could binky and I think that was something she looked forward to so she just realized that was part of the process of getting there. Now I just let her hop on her own but it helped her get used to and comfortable with the idea.
            I think holding the bun for longer than necessary-even if we’re just trying to show them it’s ok- stresses them out more than just a quick scoop up. Using soothing tones and stuff I don’t think matters when they’re in a moment of panic. If you just let them have a freak out for a second while being picked up and then put them right back on the ground they calm down quicker and I think they just learn it.
            I’ve only ever had experience with getting Bunita used to it though, I’m sure there are other techniques


          • Serenity
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              I think you could probably persevere and keep trying to pick him up. It depends on his personality really. If he’s one of the bunnies that can be trained into liking to be picked up, then a few months of picking him up every day and probably giving him some treats while you do it should calm him down.

              One of mine, George, is the same way. He will sit and be super happy to be cuddled and pet as long as I don’t try to pick him up, at which point he freaks out and breaths really hard and claws me. Not because he’s trying to hurt me, but because he is thoroughly convinced that he will fall and is trying to get some traction. As soon as he’s safely in my arms he’s fine and he hates being lowered to the ground i have to crouch down, set him on my knees and let him hop down himself otherwise I’ll come away with my arms shredded up. 

              So yeah, if I were you, Quartz, I’d keep trying.He may be the type that gets used to it, he may not but I don’t think there will be any harm in trying. 


            • Hazel
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                There are different opinions on the matter, some people have some success with getting their bun used to being picked up, but I think in most cases it’s not very effective. Weather or not it works in the end is a mute point to me, though. Rabbits are prey animals, being picked up is the one thing they are more afraid of than anything else, because in nature it means they’re about to get eaten. It sends them into panic mode, because it’s the only reaction that gives them a chance to survive the situation in the wild. So no matter what the end result is, I don’t think it’s fair top put an animal through a situation that scares them to death, over and over, when it’s really not necessary. There are better alternatives. You could train your bun to go into a carrier on command, and then take him wherever you need to for brushing or to give him a health check. As I said before, in most cases getting them used to it doesn’t really work, trying to overcome their strongest natural instinct is incredibly hard, if not impossible, and it puts the bunny through a huge amount of stress. You’re much more likely to destroy any amount of trust your bun has in you. I think you’ve built a great relationship with him already since he’s comfortable with you petting him (many rabbits won’t even tolerate that), and I’m sure you don’t want to jeopardize that. I would stop picking him up, and try to train him to go into a carrier.


              • ThorBunny
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                  I lean towards agreeing with Hazel.

                  When I first adopted Thor, the shelter lady showed me that she tolerated being picked up. It is true she doesn’t scratch or bite, but you could see that her eyes were HUGE and she was really freaked out. When I adopted her, at first I started to condition her to being picked up (just front paws, then just back paws, then both breifly) But I could see it was harming our bond.

                  So I switched tactics: now she is well trained to get into her carrier on command (she gets a small treat). This works really well, as I now know in an emergency I can pick her up (like a fire or other time when I would need to get her quickly). Plus, she is easy to transport to the vet. I think this system works best, since I can move her around if she needs to be, but she completely trusts us. After about 7 months of having her, she has started coming to sit with me for snuggles. Not sure if this is because of my picking up policy, but I feel like it doesn’t hurt

                  Just my 2 cents that it is totally possible to co-exist well with a rabbit without ever picking them up against their will. And it might even help your relationship!


                • roserade
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                    sorry to piggyback off of Quartz, but

                    I’m a new bunny owner, I adopted Tart (4 yo spayed female), back in February and I’m also having difficulty picking her up.
                    Whenever I go to pick her up she’ll (sometimes) let me pick up her front paws and chest (after a long time of training) but will hop away when I try to reach for her bottom. The few times I have been able to get her off the ground she will fight to get away from me (thankfully she typically hops back to me for pets almost right away).

                    From what I saw at the shelter, the employees also couldn’t pick her up, BUT when I went to get her nails trimmed at a local pet store (small, family owned) the guy there was able to pick her up with ease and hold her in his lap.
                    When I asked him to show me how he held/picked her up I tried it and it didn’t really work; she stayed in the curled position for a second but then she squirmed away.
                    I don’t know if she was more pliable because she was scared at the time (I can’t remember what her eyes looked like) or if he was doing something different than I was.

                    Though, one night when I came home I found her on my bed (she’s free roam but I have a gate around my bed so she doesn’t hop up there and pee), with a pee stain on my sheets, so I tried to scoop her up and put her on ther ground. Thing is, I actually got her into the curled position and she stayed there for a few seconds and then broke free and jumped away.

                    Any advice?


                  • Serenity
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                      You’re probably right, Hazel. I’m mostly on this sight to learn and read about other people’s experiences and yours sounds like the most logical explanation. I guess it really depends on the bunny, huh?

                      As for your question roserade I would do what Hazel says. It seems like Tart is scared and you should try building more trust before you attempt to pick her up. Hermione (my baby bun) for some reason has absolutely no fear of being picked up and will even put her paws on my knees when I sit down and try to get into my lap. George hates being picked up, Fred tolerates it, Ginny doesn’t really mind but sometimes struggles. It depends on the rabbit, really.


                    • Ollie
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                        Hello Hazel, I like your thoughts on training a bunny to get I to a carrier rather than trying to pick them up each day. How did you train your bunny to get into the carrier and and what treats did you use? Darla


                      • Hazel
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                          Darla: I think it’s a good idea to put the carrier permanently in the bunnies room, so he/she can explore it and get used to it (unless they start chewing on it, of course). Then I would just start feeding the bunny in the carrier, throw a few pieces of food in there a few times a day. That’s pretty much all you have to do, once the bun is comfortable going in, he/she should just go in whenever you put food in there or lure them with a treat. You can of course start using a command while doing this, but I’ve found that my rabbit responds more to my tone of voice rather than to a specific command. He knows he gets a treat for going into his cage at bedtime, I don’t even have to say anything, he knows what time it is and he’s usually in there before I get halfway across the room. You could use a special treat that the bun only gets for going into the crate, dried cranberries work very well. They are quite sugary though, so I wouldn’t give more than one a day.

                          Serenity: There are some bunnies that don’t seem too bothered by being picked up, but they are definitely the exception. I wish I had one of those. Sounds like your Hermione (awesome name!) is cool with it. That might change as she gets older though, babies often tolerate it better than adults.


                        • GeorgieTheBunny
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                            I have a table in the living room that always has the treat dish on it

                            Bunny knows this and occasionally begs over at the table then looks at me… I use this to “pick up drill” advantage.

                            I pick her up from beside the table, to table height, and let her eat from the kibble bowl. She loves the opportunity to put her face in the kibble bowl and grab what she wants.

                            With a bit of repetition being picked up was seen as a lift toward the kibble and became a simple nuisance on the way to something she liked rather than a terror


                          • ThorBunny
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                              Hi Darla,

                              Hazel’s technique for training a rabbit to go in a carrier is good! Just wanted to share my experience as well: If you rabbit is as curios as Thor, when you put a new object in their area it will inevitably be explored. So I used this to train her to go in her carrier. I started bringing out the carrier, and placing a favorite treat inside. Then I would put it down near Thor. When she went in the carrier: presto! Treat!

                              At first I didn’t close the carrier on her, just let her enjoy the treat and leave. After a few repetitions, I close the door for a minute when she gets in, then let her out (not moving the carrier anywhere). You can gradually increase the amount of time you move the carrier, interspersing this with times when she is not moved around at all. In the end, Thor will immediately go into the carrier now when I put it on the ground, since she knows there is something delicious in there I try to make trips to the vet as chill as possible, so she doesn’t associate it with bad things, and also intersperse non-scary carrier rides.


                            • Rob
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                                I adopted my American chinchilla rabbit, Ziggy, when he was only eight weeks old. Now at 13 weeks, he and I have already bonded. One of the things that made me fall in love with him immediately was that he liked being held and picked up. The breeder said that they made sure to do that from the time he was very young. I’ve also noticed that as he has grown, I’ve had to adjust the way I hold him and pick him up. Pay attention to the reaction of your rabbit when you pick them up. If you notice that they are squirming, then you need to adjust the way you’re holding them. As Ziggy gets bigger and older, he likes his hind legs a little more free. When he was a baby, I had to support them. It all depends on the size and age. But they will let you know. Pay attention to their body language. It requires  a different level of communication, but they can communicate as much as dogs and cats

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                            Forum BEHAVIOR Training a rabbit to tolerate being picked up