How to Health Check Large Rabbit

[bonnie_bunny]

Hi folks! I’ve come to realize that I haven’t been giving Gizmo a thorough once over as often as I should be. Part of this is because he’s very difficult to handle. While he’s quite a snuggly dude, he does not have the gentle giant disposition when he has two hands on him. I’m struggling the most with teeth, bum, and paw checks which are basically the most important. If his head is free he doesn’t hesitate to bite and if his paws are free his kick is strong enough to knock the wind out of me and bruise my ribs. It’s hard even with a bunritto and two people! Even though Bonnie hated it I could control her better, but Gizmo’s size and strength is proving a bit difficult for me. I’d like to be able to do a weekly once over, semi-weekly at most. Does anyone have any suggestions for keeping him calm? He can get uppity even when he’s eating banana or greens, and while I don’t blame him for being like a bunny, I’d really like to minimize stress for the both of us.

[Sarah]

Hi there!

Where do you bring him to do your health checks? do you do it on the floor or do you do it on a table etc? What helps me with my buns, who also hate being handled, is to bring them to a place that they are unfamiliar with(I use my kitchen table and a small towel to give them some stability). Since they are not familiar with the room and they have not run around in it yet (and my rabbits hate tile so they wont jump off onto it), they are less likely to jump off and struggle. They almost become disoriented because they don’t know what is going on. It works wonders for my buns and they don’t even put up a struggle. Hope this helps you with your bun!

[bonnie_bunny]

Unfortunately my living space is a dorm room. He’s been on almost every surface in that room, so nothing would be new to him. Plus he’s an emotional support animal so he can’t leave my room.

[Sarah]

Hmm… You could try putting him in a box or using an x-pen and making it small and doing the health checks like that. If you have a carrier that opens from the top that may work too. Sometimes when rabbits are in a confined space and have nowhere to go, they can be more cooperative. They are much more defiant when they know they can just run away from you.

[Author]

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