Bonding and handling

[Laura]

Hi everyone! I just adopted a rabbit 5 days ago. He is fairly bonded already, he likes to put his head down and be pet by me. I also let him roam in a bunny proofed hallways. His cage is a very large Xpen. Plenty of room to roam. Since the Xpen is on the floor i use a carried to get him to the hallways and back, this way he comes on his own and i don’t have to pick him up… BUT… i eventually want him to sit with me on the couch ( he’s a very clam bunny) but it’s a bit of a hassle to bring him everywhere by carrier. For sitting on the couch it would be easier just to pick him up and bring him. My question is how should I get him to bond so that I can pick him up. Also is handling a bunny like last resort or do they eventually get used to it?

[Luna]

Some buns don’t mind being picked up, but most do. As hard as I tried, Luna never got used to being picked up. Where is the couch in relation to his Xpen? If there aren’t any stairs in the way, he will probably just follow you. And even if there are stairs, he might learn to traverse them if they are carpeted and not slippery. Buns are good jumpers and you could teach him to jump on the couch instead of picking him up from the floor to the seat, or you could put a step (ie. box) next to the couch if he has a hard time jumping up there.

[Laura]

HI! My Xpen is in the living room quite near the couch. But my problem is that my living room is really hard to bunny proof, so when I give him exercise it’s in the hallway and I have the living room blocked off. I have so many thing that my bunny can get into here. I also have a carpet which I’m sure he’d love to urinate on. I might just get him used to the carrier and use that same trick to get him to my couch for now until he’s used to me more

[Candle]

I started picking Bunita up from the beginning. She absolutely hated it and was terrified. Would scratch and kick but I knew it was something I wanted to get her used to just in case I ever have to carry her in an emergency or something.
Thankfully she’s taken to it really well now. For the first few times I would pick her up and put her right back down. After a few sessions of that I moved her over a tiny bit and then put her down. One day she just seemed cool with it. She doesn’t LIKE it for long periods of time or anything but she at least lets me hold her now and walk around a bit. Putting her down is still kind of a wreck. Once she sees she’s about to go down she starts hopping so I have to keep hold until I’ve got her all the way down but yeah…
I don’t think it will ruin any bonding by it as long as you pet him after and relax together

[DorothyTheMiniSatinBun]

Hello and congratulations on the new bunny! I’m also a fairly new bunny owner, and I was so worried about having the living room bunny proofed, but it ended up being that Dorothy doesn’t like to chew on furniture, and she has zero interest in cords and outlets, etc. So maybe you won’t even need to bunny proof! What I would suggest is figuring out your bunnies likes and dislikes and what interests him. My bunny will follow me anywhere because she always thinks there is a possibility of there being food. I eat on the couch sometimes, and that’s what got her to jump onto the couch with me. You can try to entice him to just follow you straight to the couch by holding a treat or a piece of romaine lettuce right out of his reach, and he may just be brave enough to jump onto the couch himself.

As far as handling, it depends on the bunny if they just “put up with it” or if they really enjoy it. We are just now starting to get Dorothy comfortable with being handled and picked up because she really does not enjoy being restrained.. we have had her since August. But your bunny might be different in this way, so what I would suggest is to start practicing slowly maybe once a day to try to handle him. Give him a treat afterwards so that he starts associating being picked up and held with good things. Good luck!

[Author]

Messages