how long is safe to l eave in a trance?

[poopy]

By some miracle, I got Medusa into a trance on her back on my lap today. She was in it for 5 minutes and I thought I better wake her up incase it wasn’t safe. I read somewhere that they are playing dead and other people say that they’re just asleep. I just want to make sure she isn’t frightened if I leave her in it for a long time.

[osprey]

The best description that I have read about trancing bunnies said that rabbits have a natural instinct as a prey animal to relax and pretend to be dead when a predator has them in its grasp.  Then, when the predator eases up, the rabbit quickly darts away.  I think the trance thing is actually pretty stressful for them, but I may be wrong on that.  Does anyone know?  I am one of those bunny owners who can trance other people’s buns and cut their nails, but I have a lot of trouble trancing mine, even though other people can do it.

[poopy]

i wonder if they are aware of whats going on and if its ok to do every day

[LillyBear]

Not to bombard your thread poopy but I have a question about trancing also! I can get Lilly in it for about 30 seconds, thats it.. and I must continually be rubbing her nose/forehead.. if I rub anywhere else she wakes up!! For about 20 seconds I got her to stay in it without me touching her, except for her hands (and holding her of course!) but I have seen peoples pictures of their buns lying on the bed in a trance no one touching them! How is this possible! Am I doing it wrong?!!

[Anita Stark]

I can get Sable into a trance and get the nails on one foot done before rubbing his head again to keep him under.  I hadn’t thought about whether any amount of time is unsafe, I only do it because it’s obviously a lot less stressful than the old approach which involved dh holding him while I did his nails.  That was so stressful I didn’t always manage to get all nails done in one session so the stress was doubled by having to repeat the process earlier than necessary when all are done at the same time.

Sable usually comes around within a few seconds when I’m done with him.  You can see in the avatar picture, he looks pretty relaxed, that was taken during the deepest trance he ever went into.

[KOKKINIKLOSTI]

O have read somewhere that while rabbits are tranced out their concience (sp?) is on low levels! That’s is a way nature protects rabbits from pain, while injured or killed by the preditor! Anyway, i don’t think that it is harmfull for them in any way, as long astheir heart beat level and breathing are normal! I think that it is the process of trancing that makes them nervous, not the trancie itself! I have found out that Aftias is more affectively tranced when he is tired, as he feels not strong enough to fight and get stressed!

[osprey]

At our adoption shows, one of the services that we provide is free nail trims to anyone who wants to bring their bunny in to PetsMart.  The people who are really good at the nail trims hold the bunny on their backs between the person’s legs, with the bunny’s head pressed between the person’s thighs.  After doing this, they can usually cut at least two feet of nails before the bunny tries to hop onto their stomach.  I am still trying to learn the technique, it works for me sometimes but not others.

[poopy]

I hope its ok to do everyday…because its the only time I can hold her and kind of cuddle with her.

[KOKKINIKLOSTI]

There is no problem! Trancing is not harmful to bunnies!

[poopy]

Here is a good idea I discovered today on how to file your rabbit’s teeth if they are SLIGHTLY maloccluded:

I am talking about the middle illustration. Medusa’s teeth were like this as I discovered a few days ago. I bought a metal nail file, the widest I could find. Place the nail file horizontally between the top and bottom row of teeth. See how the teeth are slanted? Imagine placing the file parallel between the teeth. Now place it in the OPPOSITE parallel direction. This puts the file in contact with the upper left and lower right teeth that are longer. I held it firmly and nudged her mouth area, and she started gnawing. She did all the work! I did this for about 10 minutes and it filed the teeth down evenly. She would keep stopping so I just had to keep nudging her mouth to simulate the movement. Again hers were only slightly uneven. This would’ve been alot less stressful than having the vet do it. Not to mention a money saver. Obviously if they were really bad like any of the other examples in the picture you would need a vet to clip them.

I’m going to take Medusa next week to the vet because I think she might have some other dental problem in the back but at least this will save me $15 to have the vet do the filing.

[poopy]

Medusa in a trance. I am so happy I finally figured out how to do this! Now I can check her teeth and stuff!

[KOKKINIKLOSTI]

Wow, she looks so cute and snuggly!
She is just like a plushie!

[poopy]

ya that is why i am loving this trancing thing because i get to hold her!

[KOKKINIKLOSTI]

I love her bunny boots! Doesn’t she ever let you hold her? Maybe if you tried while she feels kind of sleepy?

[poopy]

she puts up a big fight–thats why i was so happy once i was able to trance her

[BinkyBunny]

I’ve never heard of it being negative.    I think some just end up falling asleep.  I know that we we have bunny spa parties at the shelter (where all the volunteers come and blab and eat and groom bunnies, including nail trims)  Many bunnies go into long trances, while others only do it for a few seconds.   Nothing negative in regards to the bunnies health ever resulted in a bunny going into a long trance.

[Author]

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