New To Bunnies

[Ella Bean]

Hi – 

My name is Stephanie and I am mom to a 6 month old French Lop doe named Ella.  She’s a big girl already and has been a delight to get to know (and serve) in the last 4ish months since she started ruling my life.  She has most of one room to herself plus (most of the time) the huge adjoining bathroom.  She also gets exercise and cuddle time in the third not-quite-bunny-proofed room.  She also has an outside hutch for time outdoors.  I would love it if she could be a full house bunny but I also have two big Golden Retrievers and I’m just too nervous yet to let them all mingle.  They have sniffed each other through barriers many times but I am afraid if I took the barrier away and Ella got scared and ran, the dogs would do what dogs do.  Anyway, if you have any advice on this, I’d love to hear it!

Also any other words of wisdom?  Things you wish you knew when you got your first bunny?  I have to say, it has been a larger adjustment from mostly dealing with dogs and cats than I thought.  I feel like I never know how she’s going to feel about me from day to day.  She goes through stages where she seems completely unafraid and will seek out my attention and then will go a week or two when she is terrified of me.  I feel like I do things that infuriate her and I have no idea what I’ve done!

A couple of specific questions I have if it’s okay to ask them.  Currently most of the surfaces she is on, are slippy.  I’d like to add some blankets/towels/area rug but am afraid she will ingest them.  Any advice on how to introduce these and insure she won’t get in trouble when I’m not watching her?

Picking her up/carrying her:  I know rabbits hate being picked up and I don’t do this with her casually, however it is sometimes necessary (like to transport her to the outside hutch and to try and groom her which she HATES) and I feel like I am doing it wrong.  I pick her up by grabbing her scruff in one hand and then scooping her bum up towards her front paws with the other.  She then is usually the most “comfortable” with her belly side held against my chest, however she will sometimes get panicked and give me a hard and painful bite…or two.  I’ve read somewhere that you should hold them “like a football” which doesn’t make sense to me – am I supposed to tuck her under my arm?  Anyway, I think holding her against my chest is the best but is there any way to stop the biting?  She can be pretty bitey at times and I read that you should make a high-pitched noise like a squeal and that works if she’s just being a little exploratory but when she’s really mad or scared, she does not care.  And of course should I just really stop ever picking her up except in dire circumstances because I am ruining her life, lol.  Seriously though – I want to be respectful and do what’s best for her but am struggling with the never pick her up ever thing.  Is this a hard and fast rule that she will never, ever get used to enough not to be absolutely terrified or am I doing something wrong in handling her?  I can certainly adjust if it’s “never pick them up except in a pet carrier”  rather than “pick them up rarely and only when necessary”.  I think again I am struggling with my dog brain.  For example, dogs don’t generally love being hugged but they are also good at reading body language and at least my two have definitely not only gotten used to it but to like it because it is associated with affection and love and they get that and it makes them happy.  But rabbits are a different beast, especially being a prey animal, and maybe they can’t “get used” to things that instinctually mean danger for them.

Sorry for all the questions and if I am committing many Bunny Faux Pas!  I have tried to do my homework and learn as much about rabbits as possible.  I’ve learned a lot from these forums!  So thanks to the administrators and all the posters!  

 Steph

[Luna]

Hi!
– Even in the absence of predatory drive, I’d be concerned with the size of the dogs and accidental missteps on Ella.

– Things I wish I knew in the beginning: bad treats (ie. nuts/seeds) vs good treats. Also, before joining this site, I read posts here on gastrointestinal stasis and it saved Luna’s life because when it happened I was able to identify what was happening and I knew what to do.

– For picking her up, you want to take one hand under her chest and the other under her bum. If she starts to struggle, try to place her down quickly but carefully – buns that struggle a lot can actually break their backs if you don’t let go. Some buns will tolerate being picked up, some buns will accept training to be picked up, and most buns will not tolerate being picked up regardless of what you do. It really depends on the bun and his/her personality. In this case, with Ella biting, I think it would be best to only pick her up in emergency situations. For grooming and transportation, you can train her to go into her carrier.

[ThorBunny]

Welcome!

Is that Ella in your profile pic? She looks darling

Some thoughts on your questions:
For traction, you can put down blankets and rugs. All buns are different, Thor doesn’t ingest fabric, but if you are worried about her eating them then polar fleece is a good option! The fibers are too short to eat and/or pull apart. Other good rugs that are non-chewable are those soft memory foam bath mats. They have a non-slip bottom, so may be best for your slippery floors.

Yes most rabbits hate being picked up. Many can be trained to tolerate it, but honestly I have gotten to a point where I never try to pick Thor up at all. She does tolerate it if absolutely necessary, but it wasn’t worth the stress of trying to practice. Never grab the rabbit by the scruff, especially with large rabbits this is not safe. If you do pick her up you can support the front legs with one hand with the other under the bum. Thor is trained to get into her carrier. It is fun for bonding, and also nice for being able to take her to the vet. You can use favorite treats to teach her the carrier is a good place to be. What I did is that every time I put the carrier down, there is a tasty treat in there! (small bit of banana or carrot). Now she gets really excited to see it and will get right in.

On a side note about rabbits, I find that they actually do read body language well. Thor does at least, she seems to know when I am excited, sad, angry, etc. She will follow my points to find food or toys, and orients her face towards me to see what I am doing, how I am reacting. I think picking up or full body hugs is a different story, since these activate deep prey instincts that can’t be conditioned out.

Hah sorry for the response novel! Congrats on your new bun, feel free to keep asking lots of questions

[Ella Bean]

Hi Thor Bunny and Luna –

Thanks so much – all that information is extremely helpful. I will switch to training her to a carrier and that actually really takes a load off my mind because I was stressing out about picking her up. Thanks especially for the info about not using her scruff! I was doing it that way because a) I saw it instructed some way as the proper way and b) she really hates for me to slide my hand underneath her and will run away immediately and violently if I do that. Anyway, further reason that training her to a carrier and using that to move her around when needed is the best solution.

Thanks also for the reminder about personalities – I feel like 99% of the questions I have boil down to is this a rabbit thing or is this an Ella thing? I do think she is pretty smart but I’m not sure we communicate that well yet. Sometimes she trusts me, sometimes I’m the devil. It probably just needs a little more time. Regardless I do love her to pieces – she’s hilarious and so much fun to watch. That is her in my profile pic, being imperious.

[Luna]

Since you’ve decided to train her to go in her carrier as opposed to picking her up, I’m sure she will start to trust you even more now . Once she realizes that you’re not trying to pick her up anymore, she won’t associate you with something that she doesn’t like to do, and she’ll stop running away.

[GeorgieTheBunny]

When you said:
“I feel like I do things that infuriate her and I have no idea what I’ve done!”
I immediately had an idea…..

This is a very humourous and educational must read:
http://language.rabbitspeak.com

It’s about 16 pages/mini articles of understanding body language, talking about what our behaviours mean to them, vis versa, and what we can do to have our bunnies understand what we’re trying to do when we’re trying to do stuff. My mister and I laughed at least once an articles because the delivery/writing style is fun

The articles gave me a tip that I had no idea about when bunny has hopped away unsure, mystery noise or I moved to quickly, I should straighten my hair, rub my cheeks and do the equivalent ofbunny grooming In the wild a long stare down of fear was over when one of the warren thought it was safe enough to go back to grooming
It’s worked a bit to deescalate nail trimmings and soothe random evening thumps when the cars outside or neighbours are loud.

[vanessa]

All good questions. I have 2 bunnies that allow me to handle and groom them, and 2 that don’t. I struggle to get them in a carrier after 4 years. Each r different. I wish I knew more about rabbit health when I first got them. It was a painful eye opener for me. One of mine has learnt to navigate the slippy wood flooring. The other stops when the carpet runner ends… 3 of the 4 will walk on tile. 2 of the 4 chew carpet. Try a cheap carpet runner. Who knows… Maybe yours will leave it alone 😉

[Ella Bean]

Thank you Georgie!  That link is great and I think will be very helpful.  The very first page says: “People who expect rabbits to be like dogs often find the most important difference in the relationships they form with humans is that dogs may give unconditional love and trust, but rabbits don’t. Please repeat after me… rabbits are not like dogs, rabbits are not like cats, rabbits are like rabbits.”  which is of course part of what I’m noodling on!  I’ll look forward to digging in!

The grooming idea is hilarious and brilliant.  Your random evening thumps made me laugh as well. Ella just started thumping somewhat recently and the few times she’s done it, for me at least it seems to come out of blue when nothing seems to be going on but all the sudden “Danger!”  I’m never sure how to soothe her because I have no idea what has put her on the alert.  Now I will just try straightening my hair!

Thanks again! 

[Ella Bean]

Also, I just figured out how to add pics and since I suspect everyone on here enjoys a pic or two of cute bunnies, here are some of Ella.

 Ella. 

[Ella Bean]

Posted By vanessa on 6/28/2017 12:20 PM

All good questions. I have 2 bunnies that allow me to handle and groom them, and 2 that don’t. I struggle to get them in a carrier after 4 years. Each r different. I wish I knew more about rabbit health when I first got them. It was a painful eye opener for me. One of mine has learnt to navigate the slippy wood flooring. The other stops when the carpet runner ends… 3 of the 4 will walk on tile. 2 of the 4 chew carpet. Try a cheap carpet runner. Who knows… Maybe yours will leave it alone 😉

Thanks – that is really good to know, just how different they can be in what they will tolerate and what their preferences are!  I am pretty nervous about some of the health problems that can occur – they seem like such fragile susceptible critters!  I will keep an eye on things.  Thankfully, I live pretty close to a Veterinary Medicine College, and their small and exotic animal vet seems to really know her stuff. 

Steph

[ThorBunny]

 That last picture! Full on bunny splay! 

[Luna]

Look at those ears! She’s beautiful .

[Author]

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