Rabbits tend to not like being held or picked up at all. Instead, try getting on his level and spending time on the floor with him and the girl as well.

Rabbits tend to not like being held or picked up at all. Instead, try getting on his level and spending time on the floor with him and the girl as well.

Shaking and exceptionally rapid breathing are both signs that a rabbit is scared. Rabbits are prey animals unlike dogs and cats, so when you pick them up their instinct tells them that you are going to eat them because in the wild, the only time a rabbit gets picked up is when a predator catches them.

By the way, are the male and female separated? They should be separated if you did not get them as a bonded pair. It’s most likely they are not bonded since they are still intact, because intact bunnies will 99% of the time not get along with each other due to hormones. They will either constantly fight (out of territorial instincts), mate (which results in unwanted litter), or both.

To bond them, you need to get both of them neutered/spayed and go through an official bonding process. I know this isn’t related to your original question, but since you are a first time bunny owner, there’s a lot to learn and you can also go to the BUNNY INFO section to know more

It’s very very important that you don’t let an adult male mate with a baby female. Rabbits can get pregnant very young, but their bodies aren’t ready for it and they can die giving birth if they’re too young.

If he’s breathing fast and shaking then he’s scared, so don’t pick him up.

If you’re new to bunnies, please make sure you read the BUNNY INFO section, which is full of useful information about diet and care, litter training, body language etc.

You’ll want to be careful when picking up the girl as well. Even though she enjoys it now, when her hormones kick in, potentially soon, that can change in an instant. Girls can become pretty aggressive once hormones start, and she’s not going to want to be picked up much when that happens. So just be careful of that.