Handling HELP

[Firsttimer]

Hi there, Pepper has now been spayed and very soon afterwards I took her to a lovely rabbit accommodation over the Christmas holidays while I travelled to my parents for Christmas.  Before her spay Pepper hated to be handled and had to be picked up by covering her first with a towel.  I hated that.  When I returned from my holidays the lady looking after Pepper told me that I wasn’t being silly and Pepper is definately a skittish rabbit.  However, she handled her a lot and found that if she stroked pepper a little and then slowly lifted her then all was well, I even asked her to demonstrate.  Now it’s been five days since she returned to us and I have tried to pick her up twice a day to continue handling her and then I give her a treat to say thanks for behaving.  She was doing really well and I wondered if the spay had changed her nature?  But today I put my hands in her cage and she went for them with her teeth.  I asked my husband to try and stroke her and she did the same.  Should I give up??  I don’t understand where I’ve gone wrong.

[Firsttimer]

Well I feel silly posting this as I could probably take a stab at answering myself. I’m guessing me going in her cage is invading her territory. In which case I should probably give up as there is no catching her when she’s out of her cage.

[annette Sibert]

I feel your frustration lornatrae! I too have a sweet little bun (she’s my avatar picture) who, despite being spayed over 2 months ago, still refuses to be handled…AT ALL, and it is so hard to herd her back into her cage once she’s out, lol! I can pick her up out of her cage and force her to be held but I hate doing that because I know she’s scared ( I only do it for nail trimmings). I’ve decided that the best thing to do is to just be patient and hang out with her on the floor… and hope that with even more time, love, and attention she will change…maybe some bunnies are just like that and will never change.

Does Pepper let you pet her? Does she honk or growl at you when you reach into her cage? Maybe you just need to give her a while to get over having to be boarded and taken away from her comfortable bunny world ( my bunnies can nurse a grudge forever if they feel I’ve wronged them, lol)

It seems like earning a bunny’s trust is impossible sometimes! But don’t give up…just change your strategy and try to relate with her in ways that remain in her comfort zone.

[annette Sibert]

I’ve thought about your post some more and I really think that Pepper has decided that she’s had it up to her bunny ears with all the handling attempts, lol! Maybe she’s just tired of having hands reaching into her “safe place” and taking her against her will? It make’s sense, bunnies are very tempermental and I bet that between the spay, the boarding, and then being picked up twice a day she’s lashing out against it because she feels threatened. I would stop trying to pick her up for a few days or a week and just let her come to you on her own terms, though she’ll probably be honked off for a while!

[babybunsmum]

my bun was very skittish when i first got her too.  i have a doctorate degree in bunny wrangling.  lol.  it took years to develope the relationship we have now, but we made HUGE progress after she had a recent operation (removed a cancerous mass from her belly).  others here say this is not uncommon – for buns to bond closer to a human after a health crisis.  i think part of the reason is that i spent far more time than usual laying on her bedroom floor observing her & talking to her.  i’ve also read a lot of tips here for people bonding to their new buns which suggest to spend lots of time near them, on the floor but not actually looking at them or trying to pet them since it gives them opportunity to sniff & explore.  also talking a lot.  maybe you could devote 5 or 10 extra mins per day to this and read, or do a crossword or something?  if pepper approaches you could have a wee treat ready to feed her so she gets more & more used to your hands & begins to trust more that they’re around her to take care of her & not cause harm.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Do you talk to her before you pet her? I do think part of it has to do with you reaching into her "safe haven" but well all know that you do need to reach them in the cage if you have a vet appointment too. So don’t feel bad for that part. Does she come out of her cage where you can practice with her? Otherwise placing her in a run with you then sitting on the floor with her and rewarding with treats and pats will be more productive than you waiting for her to come out and visit. Just an idea. Oh also, do you approach her with your hands facing towards her, sometimes if you reach her with the back of your hand  and fingers slightly curled facing her it is taken less defensively.

[BinkyBunny]

I think you’ve received some great advice. Be sure to give us an update with what actually worked for you, or at least showed progress, as it can take some time.

[Firsttimer]

Thanks everyone.  Pepper lives in my living room which is completely bunny proofed.  She’ll get the run of most of the house in summer when I can leave doors open but right now I’m leaving doors shut to keep the heat contained!  She gets to run around the living room every morning for fifteen minutes before I go to work and then I let her out for the evening when I return from work.  Most of my evening is spent in this room and my husband laughs at me because I spend most of it lying on the floor.  Pepper is extremely friendly despite being skittish and recently, when I’m lying on a big cusion on the floor she has been getting on it with me and backs up literally into my armpit waiting to be stroked.  Petting is easy, and actually after feeding her and putting her back in the cage last night she was happy to be petted while in the cage.  It’s just lifting I’m having the trouble with.  The lady who did so well handling her over the holidays told me to pet her for a while before trying to lift and that was working until recently.  Another point is that I have read lots of stories on this brilliant site about their rabbits taking the huff having been left behind, so I prepared myself, but Pepper did the exact opposite, it was amazing to see how delighted she was to be home, and I’m extremely confident that it wasn’t because she was mistreated in her holiday accommodation.

[babybunsmum]

awww… pepper sounds so sweet!  since you already spend a lot of ‘quality time’ on the floor with her, i’d say she’s just a bun not fond of being picked up.  like mine who took 7yrs to not try to run from me when i approach.  i’d litterally have to approach her by crawling on hands & knees so that she’d not run away from me when i wanted to give her pets.  of course she’s come to me for pets if i was still, just like pepper does (although not quite so snuggly as your cutie!) but if i approached her standing up she’d run for cover assuming i was going to pick her up.  if i did have to pick her up i’d have to ‘wrangle’ her into a corner which i hated to do, and so i avoided it like the plague. 

eventually, what worked for us i think, was purposefully picking her up once a day for a head smooch & cuddle… 5 seconds at most.  when i’d pick her up i’d say ‘cuddles’ and then when i set her down i’d say ‘there now, that wasn’t so bad!’  lol.  i think the talking was mostly for me so i didn’t feel like i was torturing her, which are the vibes i swear she was picking up from me some how.  maybe i’m nuts, but it seemed to have worked.  verrry slowly she was more tolerant of pick-ups.  she still kicks her thumpers at me when i put her down tho

[Firsttimer]

Thanks, I think I will try that. I gave her a break yesteday.  She wasn’t such a cutie last night, she snuggled into my arm pit and peed all over me and all over the big cushion.  Is this something that should go away now that she’s spayed or will this be a permanent habit??

[Scarlet_Rose]

It should taper off with spaying. What did you do with her after she did it? It sounds like a territorial pee, she’s claiming you as hers (I know it is such a flattering way of telling you, right?) Try to hold her somewhere when you are not on the cushion. Two of the hardest hit places by bunnies are the couch or favorite chair and the bed, places where your scent is the strongest. How long exactly has it been since she was spayed? Two weeks?

[Firsttimer]

She was spayed on 13th December. It’s definately territorial, before the op she was banned from the sofa and the bed and I had donated the cushion to her because there was no point in washing it every day at one point. I washed it and it’s stuffing on the day she went into surgery and this is the first time since that she’s peed on it. She also goes to it to poop but I can’t put a litter tray on it for obvious reasons.

[MooBunnay]

Hahaha – it sounds like the two of you are engaged in a territory war over the cushion – she definitely wants it to be hers! I can’t really think of too much you could do to help that that would still be visually appealing. maybe you could cover the cushion in that plastic that people sometimes have on their sofa’s? (has anyone seen that “everybody Loves’ Raymond” episode where they take the plastic off the couch for the first time and then Robert drops salsa all over it?) That would at least make it easier to clean, and it probably wouldn’t be as comfy that way so she might stop caring about it so much.

[Firsttimer]

Haha I have seen that episode.  I think I’m going to clean it and then keep it out of her reach, it’s a useful thing to have around when I have visitors and there aren’t enough seats.  I had just hoped that she would have stopped marking things when she had been spayed.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Oh Moobunnay I remember that episode! Oh it was funny!

[Author]

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