Picking up and peeing on the bed

[BEL]

Hello

This is my first time on the site so if I make any mistakes please let me know It is also my first bunny. She is a 3 month old holland lop. I only got her 4 days ago. The first few days she was scared which I expected but she warmed up pretty quick and as far as I have seen she doesn’t pee anywhere but her cage except today she learned she can jump onto the bed and she peed on the bed. I quickly put her in her cage and washed the bedding. Why did she do that when she doesn’t pee anywhere else?

She is free range when I’m home by the way and my home is very small, one room. They only thing is she comes up to be and buts my leg or my hand and when I reach to pet her she runs away and comes right back a few minutes later. Its like a weird game of tag. What should I do so that she doesn’t run away? Does she not like being pet maybe? When I hold her in my lap she is happy and doesn’t try to leave and lets me pet her and gives me kisses sometimes. But she has to clean herself as soon as I stop petting her. She warmed up pretty fast so maybe I just need to wait a bit longer for her to fully trust me?

The other question I have is about picking them up. She doesn’t mind me picking her up from the ground as long as I don’t support her back feet which goes against what I was told the proper way to pick her up.But when I go to put her down she freaks out and starts to struggle and I’m worried she is going to jump out of my hands when I’m standing up. What should I do to make her more comfortable when being picked up?

[Q8bunny]

Since it’s unlikely that she’s been spayed yet, peeing on the bed is her marking that soft and comfy territory as hers. She will do it again if she ges up there again. It’s the age and the hormones and the fact that peeing on something soft is lovely. Try covering your bed with a cheap plastic shower curtain to dissuade her from jumping up there until she’s older and spayed.

And don’t worry – all bunnies clean themselves after a proper petting. lol They’re clean freaks. It sounds like she’s warmed up to you incredibly quickly but you’ll still need to set the pace at which she is comfortable trying new things

[BEL]

Thank you very much! I’m glad to know that all bunnies clean themselves after a petting.

When I pick her up and put her down should I let her go if she struggles or should I hold on to her till she calms down and then let her down?

[Q8bunny]

Most buns hate being picked up (with a passion!) so ideally, if she’s a struggler, you should try picking her up in her carrier like many bun parents do. If you use your hands and she struggles too hard, you risk (a) her wriggling loose and hurting herself falling (buns are strong! those legs!) or (b) her hurting her back or internal organs because you’re holding her firmly (we had at least one member whose bun fatally injured himself this way).

If you want to accustom her to being picked up and placed in her carrier instead of being bribed in with a craisin etc, practice small pickups (only a few inches off the ground) or simply holds (again at floor level) or pickups into your lap etc. But prepare for this to be a long process.

[BEL]

Thank you so much! I found today that if I hold her so that her front is on my chest I can kinda of shimmy her down to my stomach and then to me knees and she’s seems fine with that. She will then just hop off my lap and be on her way. Again thank you for the help

[Q8bunny]

Excellent!

[BEL]

Hello
Sorry to bring it up again but when I picked Nox up today to get her off my bed (since she peed on it last time and I didn’t want to do more laundry) she really freaked out worse then usual even when I had her to my chest. She almost jumped outta my arms when I was standing. I don’t know what to do to make her more comfortable with being picked up. Any ideas?

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