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Problems picking up

Vegan_Bunny

Warren Veteran
really sorry for such a long post :shock: any advice would really help me.


I know alot of bunnies don't like being picked up but I just wnated to know if there's anyway to stop Ellie running away whenever i pick her up?

Obviously it's inevitable that i have to pick her up but i do only pick her up when i need to move her somewhere. As soon as my hands go near her belly or put pressure on her she bolts and stamps and growls at me. She doesn't attack me she just hates it.

Fiver will let me pick him up fine and Ellie will hop over and beg for nose rubs and attention and has gotten really tame. She'll even groom me and nibble me. as im typing this she is trying to climb onto the keyboard because i cant stroke her and type at the same time lol.

I have tried picking her up then giving her treats. But she just doesnt grasp that she's getting rewarded for being picked up. When she does get picked up she always goes somewhere nice, like the garden or the front room which i know she loves so its a positive consequence of bewing picked up. i dont want to stress her out and she clearly gets stressed when being picked up. While i have hold of her she is sometimes quiet but does fight me occasionally, kicking and flailing about as if im trying to hurt her.

I just wondered if there's anyway to stop her getting so stressed? obviously i don't know her past, i dont know if she was badly treated as a baby as she is a rescue and found dumped in a garden :( Also she is quite large and if i or anybody else needed to pick her up then she could really do some damage with her huuge back feet. :shock:
 
yes i have tried that. As soon as she clicks what that im gunna pick her up she bolts and gives me a disgusted look as if to say "how dare you do that!"

Thing that baffles me is that she is comfortable with me stroking everywhere, even her bum (which some buns are funny about) apart from her belly, because obviously because she knows she's about to be picked up.
 
Pip is exactly the same he will sit for ages while I give him rubs etc he will let me check his claws, his teeth and feel his belly but as soon I go to life him he grunts and runs off! Picking him up really is a case of catching him and I have to be pretty firm with him, it makes me hate doing it cos obviously hates it too and now I just use his carrier if I need to take him anywhere but I would love to know how to get him let me pick him up!
 
yes she is now sat demanding storkes lmao. happily sitting there having her ears and nose rubbed. I usually herd her into a carrier if i want to take her somewhere. If i do pick her up i have to quickly grab her before she runs off and then i end up getting a good beating haha.

anyone know a way to "train" this out of her?

I love the fact that she has started coming over demanding snuggles and i feel so bad when i pick her up and she gets so stressed and upset :( i dont want the trust broken. It's taken me a long while for her to voluntarily come over for strokes :) now i cant get rid of her hahaha :)
 
I've had a few here that don't like handling, and one, Bluebell who just wouldn't let you handle him and would slip out of his skin to get away from you.

When a bun gets that stressed I stick to using carriers to move them, and handle only when absolutely necessary.

Jacinta and Borage don't like being handled and used to go into full panic mode when picked up. They're not so bad now, but I don't handle them unnecessarily as they stress too much.

It's difficult if you've got a hairy bun that needs lots of grooming or bum checks etc though
 
Yes and with mine being indoor buns then they need their nails clipping and she gets stressed out so much that she gets a wet nose :( Obviously no bun likes getting their nails clipped, even Fiver fights me but he doesnt get stressed as Ellie does.

I feel really bad picking her up.. i thought that if i picked her up enough she would get used to it but she really does hate it. even if she is calm in my arms you can tell she isnt happy coz she breathes fast and will try to escape if the chance arises.

I only pick her up if i need to now, i usually push her bum into the carrier lol and move her that way. even then i get a loud thump and grunt :roll:
 
Mine run away all the time, my original one because she knows it leads to going to bed or the vet and my rescue coz he never got handled much. He's coming round as long as he can see where he's going and it's not for long, i can pretty do what i want with her once we've played "Chase me" around the house (she binks)
 
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