Bunny Care Guide: How To Handle Your Bunny / Pick Your Rabbit Up
73Enough of your handling tomfoolery!
As a bunny owner, one of your biggest challenges may be handling your rabbit. This is because oftentimes, rabbits don't particularly like to be held, which means that they struggle, growl, and occasionally bite and scratch. Even if they do these things however, that doesn't mean you shouldn't handle them. It does mean that you will have to take some time to establish a better bond between you and your bunny. This is a guide for the beginner bunny owner and takes you through the first steps of handling your rabbit.
Step One:
Pet your bunny. You have to walk before you can run, and petting your bunny is the first step towards being able to pick it up and handle it. Bunnies like to have their heads gently scratched and rubbed, but they generally do not like to be touched under the chin or around their hind quarters. If you want to earn your rabbit's trust, giving it a gentle head rub is an excellent way of doing that. After a while your rabbit may even start running up to you and demanding that you pat it.
Step Two:
Put the bunny in your lap. Sit on the floor with the bunny and gently put the bunny in your lap. Let it run off if it wants to, but let it get used to the idea that being picked up and put in your lap is not the end of the world. If you cannot pick your rabbit up at all, try luring it into your lap with treats.
Step Three:
Try holding your bunny. Odds are that your rabbit will not like being restrained. Remember, these are prey animals, and to them, being held down or trapped by a bigger creature often means death. Is there really any wonder that they fight so hard to be let go? Bonding with your rabbit in the first two steps, and being gentle but firm when you do pick the bunny up will go a long way to helping your bunny become more amenable to being picked up.
Picking Up Bunny Checklist:
Support the bunny under its chest
Support the hindquarters
Hold the bunny close to your body. Let it rest against your body if you can. This will provide it much more security.
Once you've picked your bunny up, hold it for a few seconds, or until it stops struggling, and then release it gently. Rabbits will often start struggling again when they feel themselves being released, so make sure you do this very close to the ground. Giving the bunny a treat may sweeten the experience as well. Beware that once you put the rabbit down it may try to bite you for your effrontery. This is where fast feet (yours, not the rabbit's) come in handy!
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Comments
i hope it works!!
I am having great success handling my baby bunny thanks to all of your info. Thanks :)
Great! I am glad it is helping you. Keep in mind that some bunnies never really like to be handled at all, but even a bunny that hates being picked up can become a huge fan of gentle head rubs, which build trust between you and your bunny.
yea i hope this works with Raynn (my bunny)!
shes so sweet just freaks out easily
This is awesome advise. sorry about my spelling(if its bad), i'm from Europe. I just got a rabit,and i was wondring if you could tel me what colour it is. well i now what colour it is, but wat that colour is called in rabit world. It is brown-grey, kind of like the colouring from your account picture up their. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^. Thank you, pleas respund, from youre freind,
Andy, sometimes called timmy.
my bunny fluffy is white with black eyes and nose
I LOVEE BUNNIESS!!! and this bunny i have doesnt like to be picked up often i think thats okay and if your bunny is liike that no need to have your bunny become upset or put in a position it doesnt like.
the key to this is just listen to your bunnies likes, and bunnies are the cutest ever if you cant pick it up more than once a day whatever you have an ADORABLE Bunny!
I got my daughter a rabbit then a neighbour gave her another when they were moving i went to feed them and to my surprise i now have four (i wonder why ?) not ever thinking we had male female the problem i have with four 2 females 2 boys what is the best way to house them as i dont want anymore but it seems cruel to seperate them from one and other please help John
John,
Spay the females, and maybe even fix the males.It may seem a bit silly beacause we generaly think of only fixing cats and dogs. In the end, thought, the rabbits will be more docile pets, and you won't have to worry about your pets multiplying exponentially
my bunny is like a tortisshell cat...and likes 2 be held but is huge! i just want to know the correct way to pick her up cuz soemtimes she startles and im not sure exactly if that means it hurts her or if she just likes different positions but this was helpful. : )
I currently own a neutered male mini lop pretty boy and a baby bunny that I just got the other day, I plan on bonding the two my baby girl (precious) gets used to her surroundings. But my biggest problem I had with my male rabbit is that he just hates being held, hate is not an understatement at all lol, when I fist got my boy pretty boy I researched allot on the net because he was my first rabbit. What I took from many pages is, to wait to hold your rabbit until you establish a good bond. So I tried to hold pretty boy as little possible and now.. Pretty boy and me have a great bond, he lives in my bunny-proofed bedroom and has a litter and cage open for him to come and go as he pleases. When I enter my room he comes running to my feet and begins licking me lol whenever he can groom me he does. He also lays beside me at allows me to pet him as much as I would like, he even does a light purring grinding sound when he is being petted. And about twice a week he walks around me buzzing. These are all really great things so I read that my rabbit loves and enjoys me and we have a good bond.
However he will never hop into my lap if I place him there he hops out and turns around angrily lol. He will however put his to front paws on me or will sit on my feet. The biggest problem I am having is holding him. I was hopeing it would go smoothly because he seems to really trust me now. When I pick him up he struggles then calms for about 10 seconds and struggles again sometimes he will even put his ears back witch scares me because he is so STRONG lol. When I place him down he thumps is foot at me and gives me the feet flick and gets distance from me. And in a matter of min he is beside me again like nothing happened. I just cant wrap my brain around why he does not trust me to hold him and what I can do to maybe get him to enjoy it more. He is not getting any smaller and when he is an adult I fear I will have no chance in picking him up for meds and other things I might need to do.
Now that I have a new bunny I wonder if I should do anything differently? Maybe hold her more but I don’t, want to ruin our bond before it begins she is only about 8 to 9 weeks old. Within having her out for 5 min she was in my lap climbing me and sniffing me. Complete opposite from pretty boy who was very distant, wouldn’t come near me I spent a month on the floor talking to him and trying to pet him when he came close enough and of course bribing him lol. And all went good but it was a slow process of gaining his trust. I am very shocked by my new rabbit’s curiosity and friendly she is not skittish towards me at all. Just when I hold her lol.
So sorry for the long message, if anyone can help me out please do J I would love to know what I can do or what I am doing wrong.
i hope it works i always try to pick up chico (my rabbit) but he just kicks and runs away.
Flame (my rabbit) always bites me when i pick him up i try and do this but it doesnt work! Am i holding him wrong. I really want to take him outside but i cant pick him up!
PLEASE HELP ME!!!
i am 9 and can not pick my 7 year old bunny up she bites
Thanks hope my bunny will let me she is 4 months and bites me and so all my familiy are scared to pick her up so hopefully this will help.
Thanks a lot!!
Jess
thanks for the help it was great
i have a bunny and her name is zoey and she dose not listn and i need help to hanle a baby bunny
my rabbits ometimes let me pet them but some imes when were in a big area when i get close so i can pet them they growel and run away they do not like getting picked up at all and i just got em yesterday
my bunny used ot be calm and peaceful when i bought her form a friend, but when i got her shes become angry and a bit wild. I don;t think i spend enough time with her when i got her. When i just got her (lilo) i always coud pick her up and then i only could somtimes and now never.
If my hand even goes under her, she jumps and becomes all angry. She tears up the newspaper in her hutch and tips over her food bowl. HOw do i make her mroe tame??!?!?!?!?!?
PLEASE HELP
hI I WONDERED IF U CUD HELP, IV HAD A LION HEAD RABBIT 4 ABOUT 3 WEEKS, BUT THE TING IS MY STEP BOTHER HAD ER 4 A MONTH B4 HAND N I DONT KNOW IF I CAN TRAIN ER, I DONT KNOW IF ES NOT BEEN VERY NICE 2 ER. DATS Y IV AD ER. SHE IS MORE RELAXED, LOVED A FUSE CUZ WEN IN CAGE FOLLOWS ME ROUND DA ROOM WEN SHE SEES ME UNTIL GIVE ER A FUSE, BUT WEN IT COMES 2 BIN HANDLED SHE WONT LENT ME NEAR, SHE'L LOVE A FUSE N STROKIN BUT ONCE IV DUN DAT 4 BOUT 15 MINS N SHES CALM SHE WONT LET ME NEAR ER WEN I GO 2 PICK ER UP N JUS PANICS, JUS DONT UNDERSTAND HOW I CAN GET ER 2 LET ME PICK ER UP,SHES EVEN GONE 4 ME AT POINTS N ALWAYS TRYS 2 RUN OUT CAGE, PLEASE HELP.
elena says:
2 years ago
Wow This Is really helpful!!Thanks
Im about to try this with my rabbit.