So how many of you do it?
I suppose I'd better explain... because I don't mean talking to them. I'm talking about copying the behaviour of a rabbit to put your pet bun at ease...
For me it all started last year - we were living in a rented house that happened to have a 6 foot brick wall all around the garden, so it was very secure, and we often opened the bottom door on the buns hutch to let them play in the garden.
However, they got so comfortable with the garden, that it became a nightmare to put them away again!
Donut never really liked being picked up that much, and catching her was always trouble - you'd have to try and corner her, and then grab her before she ran away which wasn't very nice for her, or me- usually it'd take me 30mins or so of chasing just to get her!
I got fed up of this, and tried what i call 'rabbit whispering' - The idea being that you approach your bun by crawling along the ground. When you get close, you bow your head, put your hand out so it's 10cm or so away from them, and allow them to sniff your hand. If that goes ok, then you can try and stroke them and crawl a bit closer.
This worked wonders with Donut - but i never quite got the hang of it with Egg (she'd just sniff my hand - lick it, and run away!). Made bedtime so much easier with donut though, less aggressive (although she did sometimes lunge at my hand when i put it infront of her - so you have to have some nerves to hold your ground (she never bit)). After a couple of strokes, she was more than happy to let me pick her up...
Does anyone else do it, or am i the only one crazy enough to go crawling around the back garden after my buns!
Has anyone else got any other 'whispering' techniques?
I suppose I'd better explain... because I don't mean talking to them. I'm talking about copying the behaviour of a rabbit to put your pet bun at ease...
For me it all started last year - we were living in a rented house that happened to have a 6 foot brick wall all around the garden, so it was very secure, and we often opened the bottom door on the buns hutch to let them play in the garden.
However, they got so comfortable with the garden, that it became a nightmare to put them away again!
Donut never really liked being picked up that much, and catching her was always trouble - you'd have to try and corner her, and then grab her before she ran away which wasn't very nice for her, or me- usually it'd take me 30mins or so of chasing just to get her!
I got fed up of this, and tried what i call 'rabbit whispering' - The idea being that you approach your bun by crawling along the ground. When you get close, you bow your head, put your hand out so it's 10cm or so away from them, and allow them to sniff your hand. If that goes ok, then you can try and stroke them and crawl a bit closer.
This worked wonders with Donut - but i never quite got the hang of it with Egg (she'd just sniff my hand - lick it, and run away!). Made bedtime so much easier with donut though, less aggressive (although she did sometimes lunge at my hand when i put it infront of her - so you have to have some nerves to hold your ground (she never bit)). After a couple of strokes, she was more than happy to let me pick her up...
Does anyone else do it, or am i the only one crazy enough to go crawling around the back garden after my buns!
Has anyone else got any other 'whispering' techniques?