Picking up a rabbit…

[Max2021]

<p class=”p1″>Hello all- </p>
<p class=”p1″>I need some advice from experienced rabbit owners. I’ve had Max for about a month now. He’s 9 mos, mixed unknown breed & was neutered a week ago. For the past month, I have been spending a lot of time with Max in a 5×5 pen in our kitchen. I purchased one of those floor chairs, put it in his pen & read/do work for several hours a day. My goal is to bond with him & gain his trust. I believe this has really worked. He flops next to me all the time. He allows me to give him full body rubs while he is completely relaxed/legs extended and all. I give him tons of kisses on his face/cheeks. He uses me as a step stool, climbing on me to get to something else… However, while Max will sit in my lap while eating something, he quickly jumps off once he’s finished and he runs away if I try to pick him up. </p>
<p class=”p1″>My first question is- since Max won’t stay in my lap after he finishes eating a treat, does that mean that he doesn’t entirely trust me? Is it realistic to hope/work toward him sitting in my lap without food? Any tips on that would be great!!</p>
<p class=”p1″>My second question & more importantly… we have bunny proofed our basement & use that area for him to run around and get exercise. He loves it. The issue is, I have to coerce him into his carrying cage using a piece of apple in order to take him to the basement. It would be so much easier if I could just pick him up and take him downstairs but whenever I try to do this, he’ll run away… is it ridiculous that I’m using a carrying cage to take him downstairs? I don’t want to play chase and catch because I fear that I’ll undo all the progress we’ve made so far. Is that baseless? I’d really appreciate your thoughts/tips. </p>
<p class=”p1″>*We don’t want to keep Max in the basement permanently. He would almost never see us if we did…</p>
<p class=”p1″>Thanks so much!!</p>

[Susanne]

None of my 3 rabbits liked being picked up at all, and that is pretty normal for them. It sounds like you’re doing the right things! Mine haven’t even sat in my lap long enough to eat a treat, so really that is impressive 🙂  I think most rabbits wouldn’t like to sit on a lap, but feeding treats and maybe sitting on a couch with them could convince them, I’d just do it on their terms and don’t take it personally if they aren’t a lap pet.  About the carrier, I have found using a carrier to get mine downstairs is the best way to go. First, you aren’t risking injury if they jump out of your arms and second, mine are way less stressed out getting cornered into a carrier vs being picked up. Getting them in the carrier with fruit sounds ideal to me! I got lucky my newest rabbit will run into the carrier when I set it down.

[Ellen]

I agree with using the carrier!

[Max2021]

Oh, that is so reassuring!! Thank you!!

[DanaNM]

Agree with Susanne. Most rabbits do not like being picked up as they are “prey animals”. So their instincts tell them they are about to get eaten when they are picked up. Most rabbits also don’t like to sit on laps, but many will love to lay near you and get pets. He sounds like he trusts you a lot, he just doesn’t like to sit on laps or be picked up. Rabbits will often get fearful or cage aggressive if they are handled every day, so you instincts on that are correct.

Training to go into his carrier is a great option for moving him, if you are going to do it regularly. It can help to feed him his pellets in the carrier too, and often have him go into it without actually moving him anywhere.

It would be ideal for his play area to be connected to his home pen, so you could just open the pen and let him out to exercise. Can you bunny-proof the room where his pen is instead of having him exercise in the basement? I agree that it would not be good to move his main pen down to the basement though as he would get lonely.

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Max2021]

This is really reassuring too- thank you!! I also appreciate the tip about feeding him pellets in the carrier! Great idea. I’m going to do this!

[LBJ10]

What is the purpose of him sitting in your lap? I don’t think him hopping down once he has what he wants (treat) is an indication that he doesn’t trust you. I don’t think bunnies really understand the concept of sitting or laying on your lap like a dog or cat would. It’s not instinctual for them to want to do that.

As for the picking up… using a carrier is a good idea. However, I am a firm believer in not being completely hands off. If you never pick them up, then they may be very difficult to grab in an emergency. Rabbits do not enjoy being picked up, but they can become somewhat accustomed to it happening. If you want to work on picking him up for the purpose of getting him used to being handled, then I would start slow. Try just putting your hands on him like you’re going to pick him up, but then don’t pick him up. Then work your way up to picking him up for just a few seconds. Continue increasing the amount of time. And, of course, reward reward reward. My buns always expected their treat for being good, turning around and begging the second their feet touched the floor.

[Max2021]

Thanks for responding! There’s really no purpose for him to sit in my lap, I was just curious. I thought he jumped off immediately because he thought I was going to do something to him, as if he were scared or something. Though there is no basis to that… This is my first bun so, I’m learning a lot.  Re: picking him up, the vet told me that if I don’t pick him up because he doesn’t like it, then he will think he is the boss. I silently thought to myself, but how can I pick him up if he runs from me? With that said, I appreciate your tips on how I may do that and will give it a try!!

[DanaNM]

“he will think he’s the boss“…. what??! Some vets sure do have some “funny” ideas about rabbit behavior. Rabbits are prey animals, they do not respond to humans in a dominance hierarchy, nor would being caught and picked up be part of a rabbit hierarchy.

I completely agree that it’s important to be able to pick up your bun confidently when needed (like in a case of an emergency, or for nail trims, etc.). The goal is to learn to be able to do this confidently without having to chase the bun around and making them fearful of you. I agree that getting them used to hands being placed on them and then rewarded without actually being picked up is great.

There are a range of different “holds”, and buns seem to have their preferences for what they tolerate the most. For super squirmy buns, I like to use the “football” hold. I actually filmed myself picking up a shelter bun at the rescue who HATES being picked up to demonstrate the technique that works for me. In the video I’m chasing her a bit more than I would like to, because we were running a bit late with closing up. Normally I liked to sit in the pen with some treats so they were calm first. Then of course she gets a treat when I put her in her hutch too. Here’s the vid: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12iIW-I7CAJIK7Zah6jN0470eQkOlaqr3/view?usp=sharing

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Max2021]

Wow, thank you SOO much for the video! It is extremely helpful! I’m super impressed with this website & the responses in general! Thanks for sharing your knowledge & experience!!

[DanaNM]

You’re very welcome! Issues with picking up buns are pretty common on the forum so last summer I decided to film my technique, since I haven’t seen it used much and most videos on rabbit handling demonstrate on rabbits that are easy to handle!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[GlennTheLionhead]

I agree with the others.

My one lion head despises being picked up. That said, he’s got such a close bond with me he literally follows me around the house to the point where he must be in the room I’m in 😆 Hopefully that is added reassurance for you that it’s completely possible to have a very close bond with your bunnies and them still hating being picked up at the same time.

As for you second question, I have no idea what the general consensus is for rabbits using stairs but you might like to try training him to go up/down the stairs of his own accord. You could have a designated feeding time for him scheduled around his exercise time such as a pinch of forage or reduce his pellets at his normal feeding time and give him the other half before/after play time. So he would basically get into the routine of knowing that downstairs is playtime and a set feeding time too. My bunnies are penned at night and feed them a forage before bed to get them in their pen. Also one of my bunnies is obsessed with running up and down our stairs for exercise and to play in our bedroom, often he will be upstairs playing with us in our room and when we’ve had enough I just go downstairs, crinkle a bag in his pen and within seconds he’s down the stairs and at my feet.

Basically the idea is that they care more about that feeding time than wherever they are and with some training and routine building they will be at your feet when they get the right signal (for us is a bag crinkle followed by a name call).

Obviously him using the stairs may not always be practical, I would only suggest it for carpeted and fully closed stairways I.e no holes/gaps or hard/smooth floors as they will need grip and ideally a stairway hugged by 2 walls. Again I am not sure how common it is for rabbits to use stairs and if this comes naturally to most bunnies or not. Ours just started using the stairs himself as we had no way of blocking him, but he is very sure-footed and energetic and in nearly 5 years has never had an issue or a slip. My rainbow bun learnt to use the stairs off my boy and she used them well too, and my newest addition, I’m am pretty sure will never try to use the stairs. So definitely could be a personality thing and you’d want to supervise him using the stairs until you are sure he’s fine with them. I guess the other thing to consider is that the pathway between the two pens in bunny proofed.. Could be as simple as putting a couple temporary grids up to steer the path when it’s play time.

Just another idea to consider if you’d prefer not to use the carry case every time 🙂

[Max2021]

Thank you!! What great info! I really like the thought about dividing the pellets and creating some sort of bunny proof connection between his stay-pen & the exercise pen! Max goes up & down the basement stairs (which are thankfully carpeted) like a pro so, a connection would be ideal!! Thanks again!!!

[GlennTheLionhead]

No problem! Glad to hear max uses stairs like a pro. If you can make it work then it could definitely be nice hands-off approach :).

[Moonshadow]

With my first rabbit Bandit, a dwarf hotot, he was very tolerant of being picked up and held. I think it had to do with his personality more than anything. I would not say he enjoyed it but he never struggled. We actually used to bring him to nursing homes with our local bunny club and he was one of the few bunnies that seemed to understand the situation and would just sit quietly on the laps of the residents while the elderly stroked him.

With our current netherland dwarf bunny, Minyeong, we had to work with him a lot since we got him at 8 weeks old. Initially, he didn’t like being held but we persisted with using the football hold while stroking his head and walking around slowly. He always like having head strokes so we always incorporated it while picking him up. Now (he turned a year old yesterday) he doesn’t mind being picked up by anyone in our immediate family and he completely relaxes when we carry him around. When he wants to be picked up, he’ll sit on an elevated surface (like our low chair or table) or at our feet and stay still as we reach down. He doesn’t like sitting in laps while people are sitting though, he’s too curious and tries to explore everything.

[martini]

On picking up: my bunny now lets me pick him up (does not love it but he tolerates me lol) but it was not the case at the beginning. What really helped me was the towel/blanket method I saw in one of the videos online. You basically throw the blanket/towel over the bunny (covering its entire body, including the head). The bunny will stay still once in the dark and under the towel, and you just scoop him up in the towel, wrapped like a burrito. Mine felt very comfortable being picked up this way.

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