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He hates being picked up

anparkinson

anparkinson

New Kit
We got Mac from a rescue home in March this year at 1 year old. He wasn't mistreated at his first home, but started fighting with his brother.

He's very friendly, loves a good stroke, and is well behaved (apart from chewing through cables) and is an indoor and outdoor bunny.

The one thing he hates is the action of being picked up and put down. We have tried all different ways after advice from many people but he still hates it. He wriggles like hell, gets very stressed and does his best to escape.

Are there any known tricks or methods to stop this?
 
Nope, some rabbits just don't like it! Mine's quite tolerant, but I hardly ever pick him up anymore because he just doesn't really like it. I've managed to get him to follow me when it's time to get back in, it takes some time but it's possible! Try to bribe with treats at first. You just have to remember that they're prey animals, so it's hard wired into their systems :)
 
Mine hate being picked up, just like most buns.
Being picked up is an unnatural feeling and could potentially resemble being caught by a predator.

Our girls are box trained. They've been made to get used to getting into their carrier to be transported.

We very rarely pick them up unless we have no real option.

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anparkinson said:
We got Mac from a rescue home in March this year at 1 year old. He wasn't mistreated at his first home, but started fighting with his brother.

He's very friendly, loves a good stroke, and is well behaved (apart from chewing through cables) and is an indoor and outdoor bunny.

The one thing he hates is the action of being picked up and put down. We have tried all different ways after advice from many people but he still hates it. He wriggles like hell, gets very stressed and does his best to escape.

Are there any known tricks or methods to stop this?
Click to expand...


Many rabbits - even the friendliest, don't appreciate being picked up. Mac does look gorgeous in his avatar :love:

I always approach from the front, stroke the nose, and when they 'submit' gently pick them up. There's no fuss. But it takes patience on our part. Holding securely and definitely not grabbing from behind are two essentials :thumb:
 
Once you have picked your rabbit up, hold him firmly against you under your arm, thwill usually prevents them from kicking with their back legs, and once they feel secure they will start to get used to being picked up. I only pick mine up if it's really necessary.
 
The thing is we have to pick him up each night to put him in his indoor hutch. He comes in from the garden at dusk and is an indoor bunny until we go to bed. We tried leaving him in the house at night but lost all the phone charger cables and network cables so have no option but to put him in his indoor hutch.

He's an absolute monkey to catch once it's dark as he definitely associates it with going in his hutch. During the day he's up for strokes and attention but once he knows it's approaching bedtime he really gives us the run-around.
 
That's not Mac in the avatar, it's Luna who preceeded Mac but unfortunately was killed by a fox (caught and moved 25 miles away). She was a real sweetie with any guys but wouldn't tolerate any female in the garden. My wife and daughter would get charged at, growled at and head butted but my son and I would get asked for strokes and she would wash us for hours.
 
I'm trying to get Robin used to being picked up by giving a piece of parsley and then putting him back down .

He's quite food motivated so fingers crossed
 
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