Using skin contact to make a rabbit feel safe

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Hi, I wanted to share something I learned while giving Breintje massages: he responds very differently when I massage him with my sleeves rolled up. He gets calm and sleepy when he has skin contact, a lot more than when he touches clothing.

Late at night we often sit on the sofa together, and Breintje sleeps next to me while I read a book or do some knitting. I’ve noticed that he sleeps more and a lot longer when I roll up my sleeve and put my arm around him.

Sometimes when he’s a little stressed I put one arm around him and one hand on his back. This helps a lot with calming him down, and he drifts off quicky. It’s an entertainment in itself to see him waggle his ears and nose while he’s dreaming ^_^

Has anyone else ever noticed a rabbit react differently to direct contact? It may be useful to calm down a nervous rabbit or to work on a bond.

[Wick & Fable]

I think exposure to skin is important in how the rabbit will react. Wick only grooms skin. He will never groom fur or fabric aside from his own body. With that, he also will never lounge in contact with me unless it’s against skin — I always figured it was because he doesn’t register non skin surfaces to actually be me.

Fable on the other hand is very confused by skin and focused on grooming and communicating with fabric covered body parts.

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.

[Author]

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