Shaking & Fast breathing

[cc7117]

I am a first time bunny owner. My daughter decided she wanted to show rabbits for 4H so we went out and found us some rabbits. She has an intact male mini rex and an intact female holland lop. The holland lop is 8 weeks old and the the mini rex is a year old. The mini rex seems terrified of us. I will pick him up and lay him on my chest and he will be fine for a bit, but then he starts breathing fast and shaking. This afternoon I was rubbing his face and he was completely relaxed on me, his ears were up and his eyes were closed, but he was shaking something fierce and breathing fast. I felt bad and didn’t want to stresss him so I put him away. I don’t know if this is normal or not??

[OnyxMoon]

Rabbits tend to not like being held or picked up at all. Instead, try getting on his level and spending time on the floor with him and the girl as well.

[OnyxMoon]

Rabbits tend to not like being held or picked up at all. Instead, try getting on his level and spending time on the floor with him and the girl as well.

[kurottabun]

Shaking and exceptionally rapid breathing are both signs that a rabbit is scared. Rabbits are prey animals unlike dogs and cats, so when you pick them up their instinct tells them that you are going to eat them because in the wild, the only time a rabbit gets picked up is when a predator catches them.

By the way, are the male and female separated? They should be separated if you did not get them as a bonded pair. It’s most likely they are not bonded since they are still intact, because intact bunnies will 99% of the time not get along with each other due to hormones. They will either constantly fight (out of territorial instincts), mate (which results in unwanted litter), or both.

To bond them, you need to get both of them neutered/spayed and go through an official bonding process. I know this isn’t related to your original question, but since you are a first time bunny owner, there’s a lot to learn and you can also go to the BUNNY INFO section to know more

[Sirius&Luna]

It’s very very important that you don’t let an adult male mate with a baby female. Rabbits can get pregnant very young, but their bodies aren’t ready for it and they can die giving birth if they’re too young.

If he’s breathing fast and shaking then he’s scared, so don’t pick him up.

If you’re new to bunnies, please make sure you read the BUNNY INFO section, which is full of useful information about diet and care, litter training, body language etc.

[cc7117]

The male and the female are not a bonded pair and are never together. Their pens are in the same area but not close to one another and they are never out at the same time. I wasn’t sure if his behavior was normal or not because the female loves to be held and isn’t afraid at all. Thanks for everyone’s responses!!

[Deleted User]

You’ll want to be careful when picking up the girl as well. Even though she enjoys it now, when her hormones kick in, potentially soon, that can change in an instant. Girls can become pretty aggressive once hormones start, and she’s not going to want to be picked up much when that happens. So just be careful of that.

[cc7117]

That is good to know, thank you!!!

[Author]

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