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'The more you hold a rabbit, the more used to handling it becomes'

MopsyMops =]

Warren Veteran
Do you agree with this?
As to me you have to build their trust up first but i was just looked through some rabbt books and they all say it.
 
i think in some cases yes but its best to gain their trust before handling them ie sitting down on floor and letting them come to you x
 
Yes, I think this is generally true. However just because a rabbit will submit to being held doesn't necessarily mean it trusts you. it may just be that the rabbit knows from experience it can't get away and freezes. There is a big difference between a tense 'frozen' rabbit and one who enjoys being held.
 
I think it depends on the bunny too, Sophie hates being held, and often touched. Evrything is on her terms. Very much like humans I think.
 
oh right. I am just worried that getting ogs out will just set him back with the trust i have built up with him - but that may just be me bing paranoid :roll:
plus oggie loves noserubs.
 
the answer is yes & no. The more you interact with them, touch them & eventually pick them up the easier it will become to do those things, rather like breaking in a horse.....however how much they come to like them I don't know.

I have a honey bunny who it's taken 1 year of TLC to get to to sit still for nose rubs & she does seem to be enjoying them now. Stragely she is the easiest of my buns to pick up.
 
I very much agree on that. Boris used to hate being held and picked up,people would think he enjoyed it as he didn't attempt to escape but he was so scared,bless him. Now that I've begun to handle him more I can really feel a certain difference,he doesn't mind being held as much as before although he still sometimes decides he'd rather go into hiding (underneath the sofa,most likely,where he knows nobody could possibly get him lol :roll:) but I think that's all down to him being a cheeky little monkey who loves it when his mummy fails to catch him! :lol:
 
Yes, I think this is generally true. However just because a rabbit will submit to being held doesn't necessarily mean it trusts you. it may just be that the rabbit knows from experience it can't get away and freezes. There is a big difference between a tense 'frozen' rabbit and one who enjoys being held.

I agree. Mine all get picked up at least once a week, but buns like Smirnoff hate it. However he is very still & just puts up with it.

Apart from Smirnoff though - they are all friendly enough to eat from my hand & enjoy nose rubs - but with some of them I suspect it's cos they don't get whipped off their feet:D
 
We pick up our rabbits 3-4 times a day, and they soon settle with it, I think there is a difference between trust and enjoying it though. We have some who like a cuddle and some who don't particularly like it, but accept and know they wouldn't be dropped or harmed - trust.
How do you check your rabbits daily if you don't pick them up, especially thier bums.
 
i agree too, i've held my ones from the day i've brought them home, although i know petal is uncomfortable with she sits still in my arms till i carry her over to her hutch. ted loves being carried about she sits up and looks out and smells everything
 
It all depends on the rabbit. I would say that so long as you take a slow and gentle approach then this is true most of the time. But I have had a couple of rabbits who never became comfortable with regular handling and just got more and more stressed out. In those cases, backing right off and handling as little as possible set them at ease. Sometimes you just can't persuade a rabbit to accept human interaction.
 
ive been trying for over a year to tame Alvin enough to handle.. ste is less nervous and can hold him for a short time... last time he got a hole in his jumper and a very angry rabbit.... i cant imagine Alvin ever accepting being picked up :(
 
Mine love to be stroked they come bounding over for attention Daisy will flop infront of me and have lots of strokes they also love nose rubs...but pick them up no chance! I'm beginning to be able to get a hand a bit under their legs while theyre munching but I can't seem to progress any further! I've had them since November how long on avergae would you say it takes? about a year?!
 
hehe i remember when i was little (about 5/6) we had one bun free range in the garden, then two little buns when the first reached old age :) and every night when we came to put them in the hutch my mum made me and my sister handle them, pick them up and stroke and fuss them for at least 10 minutes every night, i was young then and cant really remember but it seemed to work pretty fast :) The first rabbit snowy was awsome as he used to sunbathe and you could go lie next to him and even use him as a pillow... hehe.

My friends took that approach with her rabbit, the idea was often rabbits handled by kids are very tame because they get used to all random things happeneing to them (sorry i dont want to steriotype here but i kind of am, lol) so she used this approach and her bun is absolutely used to everything now (the buns been here about 6 months and is about 8 months old). Elsa has been the oober chilled rabbit for ages haha she lounges everywhere, will follow people around, enjoys being chased then turns around and chases use back haha, loves to be constantly stroked for hours on end, is happy to be handled from everything to cuddles to lieing on her back, mrs perfect when the vet flips her over etc etc. It seems to be working very well for her.

My bun Spice is more of the freezing in one place bun, and she would only un freeze if she was on my lap and i wasnt really stoking her but ignoring her. She is slowly changing and is more than happy to sit and eat things from me and allow me to stoke her and she can be all cuddly some times. Shes a bit at a disadvantage as my hand is about the size of her whole body so must be pretty scary for her haha. She is soft and lets you do anything now (i practised looking in her mouth, ears, feet, bum etc everyday since ive had her so she doesn't mind that at all anymore, just sits there and takes it! haha :D

Repetition definatly helps, daily if possible. Ozzy hates being wormed but after the 9 day treatment he effectively is used to it now and sits there quietly and lets me do it. He gets tons of rewards after of course hehe, nothing says good bunny like some kind of food reward for my buns :D :D

Wow long post... dunno if any of its relevant haha but the man handling technique has definatly worked for alot of rabbits i know although my own pair arn't quite so good yet hehe
 
Dulcie used to love a cuddle and you could feel and see how relaxed she was, but now she has her husbun to rely on she doesn't need her mommy any more for cuddles and nose rubs. :(

Frank's never been cuddly and I don't think it's fair to force him to be, though I do stroke them every day when I feed them to keep an eye on their weight. Sometimes he lets me give him a tummy tickle when he's stretching up for a treat - and a lovely soft furry tummy it is too. :love:
 
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I think they get used to handling but that doesn't mean they like/enjoy it. And some rabbits (Ziggy) will never tolerate it at all. Sadly they don't have a choice because health checks need to be done - one of the problems of being a prey animal :(
 
I've a new rescue bunny (Penny) who is happy to be stroked but goes crazy when I try to pick her up. I need to be able to pick her up to get her to the vets and transfer her to the run.
I've had her indoors today to try to gain her trust, we've been in an unheated conservatory, with the windows wide open (so she doesn't get warm) and I've sat on the floor for most of the afternoon. (I am absolutely freezing! :))She comes up to me and lets me stroke her and at one stage even hopped on my lap, though she then hopped straight back off. I am going to have to pick her up eventually to take her back out to her hutch but is forcing the issue likely to make matters worse?
My other bun is an absolute darling for cuddles and I have no troubles with him at all. Once Penny has been spayed I will bond her with my other bun and they will live together in the big hutch with a huge run attached so then daily picking up won't be so much of a problem.
 
All of mine are able to be picked up and held with minimum fuss (although Pippin is still a bit wriggly!), but I don't think they like it. Even Squidgy doesn't like being cuddled. They do all love their nose rubs, but it took a while to get Salt and Pepper used to it.
 
Maybe I should try more often with mine, started off doing everyday, but they're so wiggly!

That said Dave has trained Fluffy to tolerate it again, (tho he was once brilliant), and Pippin has been excellent while she's been having eye drops, and Bubbles allowed me to pick him up today when he refused to go back in the wendyhouse. He's normally awful so I'm keeping an eye on him as I worry something is wrong!!

Do think its an individual thing tho- Pippin is quite happy to hop on my knee and the easiest to pick up. Bubbles is the shyest and rarely hops on my knee so I guess thats why he's hardest to pick up. But theyre the same litter and I've not done anything different to any of them!
 
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