Cradling vs Trancing…? Very Anxious Owner!

[Plsfan]

Hi! I had a question about tracing rabbits. I just found out that its a thing, and I’ve been cradling my baby rabbit since she was 6 weeks old. She always seemed to like it and fall asleep in my arms, but now I’m worried it’s because she was in a trance and paralyzed with fear!! But I’ve also read that cradling is fine so long as their head is above their body…? I can’t find good answers online so I’m hoping you can help!!

[Bam]

Baby rabbits are a lot more positive to being handled than adult rabbits. It’s when they hit puberty that they start to become fearful. I dont think you need to worry about having hurt your bun.

Trancing is a debated topic. Some vets prefer it to giving a sedative for simple but necessary procedures. There is a big difference in the way you do it too. Frances Harcourt Brown, famous British rabbit vet and the author of the first edition of The Handbook of Rabbit Medicine writes about this on her Facebook page:

https://m.facebook.com/RabbitVet/posts/i-feel-that-i-am-throwing-a-hand-grenade-as-i-know-this-is-an-emotive-controvers/4384656988239886/

There’s quite a bit of discussion going on in the comments. It’s a  very interesting topic.

[LBJ10]

Eh… I wouldn’t make a habit of it. But some people feel it is OK for the purposes of keeping the bunny still for something… particularly if they have a tendency to struggle otherwise. Lesser of two evils sort of thing.

[Bam]

To clarify, this is not something you want to do with an adult rabbit unless it’s needed for medical reasons. Most if not all at-home procedures can and should be done without trancing.

[LBJ10]

I agree with Bam. It shouldn’t be done unnecessarily. Like I said, it would be in “lesser of two evils” situations only.

[Author]

Messages