How can I get Bunnies to want cuddles? !!

I wonder if anyone can help with the following please? (bit long winded - bear with it!...)

I have two lovely 8 month bunnies - a girl lionhead called 'Latte' and a boy Mini-lop called Talle who live outside in a lovely big 6x2x2 hutch with permanent 6x4x2 run attached.

They are both very sweet, non-aggressive bunnies Talle has been neutered and Latte is being spade this week. They do not bite and always hop up to greet me as soon as I open the back door. They will happily eat food from my hand, and let me stand and stroke them.

BUT, they hate being picked up. The minute I try they seem to sense it and run off. Or, if I've managed to get hold of them they wriggle so much I have to put them down again! Once I've got them they seem to like being cuddled at first but then they get all spooked and try to jump out of my arms!

Has anyone got any advice on how I can get them used to being picked up, or how i can get them to stop running away? Sometimes it takes me ages to get them in their carry case if I need to take them to the Vets!!

I'm sure they are more than happy just living in their hutch and hopping about, (they are rabbits afterall) but I do feel a responsibility to show them some affection (and I want to cuddle them!)

Any advice gratefull recieved!

err, not sure I can give advice, except to say that they won't like cuddles unless its on their terms. I have 3 permanent groups and a foster pair, even my house rabbits dont appreciate being picked up (although they tolerate it). If I sit with the outdoor buns, ignore them, read a book or do cross stitch, they will come and sit on my lap and ask for a nose rub, but even so, cuddles are not really what they want :roll: Try to be patient , let them feel comfortable with you, but dont rush it :wink:

A lot of rabbits hate being picked up, it's just how they are. Mine are the same, very tame and seek affection but if I pick them up, they go bananas!

I can understand wanting to cuddle rabbits, I'd love to scoop mine up but they'd hate it. However, I think sitting next to them and having them snuggle up to the side of you is just as good.

The best advice I can offer about getting tehm into a carrier ofr the vets is to let them get use to the carrier first. If you put it in their run a few times so they can play in it, they are more accepting of it.

Thanks for responding. I am planning on sitting in the run with them more often (wish it would stop flippin raining!) as I thought that would help - get them more used to just being around me.

I know that rabbits are prey animals so their natural instinct is to panic when lifted off the ground, but some rabbit websites emphasise the fact that you should try to cuddle and stroke them each day.

I guess that may not be correct, and I have to just let them come to me on their terms like you say...

Ours are the same, although Daisy and i had a cuddle on the sofa last night for a good 5 minutes. Then she got fidgety and legged it. Duke however doesnt really like being picked up at the moment. Hes okay for about a minute and then wants to get down.

Tango used to hate cuddles but now he will sometimes let me cuddle him. His carrier has a door on the front and before I had to take him anywhere I put the carrier with him to play with and he used to run in and out (I swear he loves it when I bring it for him to play with!). He now goes in it himself when I have to take him to the vets.

One of mine doesn't mind being picked up and happily has cuddles but my female Pippa doesn't like being picked up at all. I couldn't pick her up until I was showed how to do so properly by the rescue (are you confidant picking them up as they know if you're not!!). Mine love noserubs and being stroked and of course feeding time.

If you want cuddles I'd recommend branching out into longhaired guineapigs, mine sit forever on my knee!!!

Thanks to all. That has reassured me a lot as I always got the impression that other peoples bunnies like being picked up and cuddled! and felt guilty that we don't pick ours up much. I feel much better now, and as I said they do seem very very happy and content just being bunnies!

I do need to be able to pick them up to take them to the Vets, and I also have to pick them up to put them into their bigger run which I put on the grass in the summer.

But the tips here are really useful, and I will try them, so thanks very much.

Latte Lover said:

I do need to be able to pick them up to take them to the Vets, and I also have to pick them up to put them into their bigger run which I put on the grass in the summer.

Click to expand...

My boy bun doesn't like being picked up, but he is getting a bit better, however, they don't always need to be picked up to be transported. My bridge bunny would run out to his playhouse every day, alongside me, then run back into our house at night Sometimes if we are moving Charlie, we put his pet carrier in front of him, and he hops in quite happily - nice and handy for putting him in another room whilst we hoover the buns room :lol:

They are all different, and yours may very well come around. Moosie just loves cuddles - she'll happily tooth purr as you are walking with her

Oh wow! LatteLover, my rabbits are exactly the same. Boy and girl, about the same age as yours. They don't like being picked up - the boy especially. I picked him up the other day to check his feet and bum - he turned into psycho-bunny. Scratching, wriggling and he'd have bitten me too if he could have got hold of any flesh.

They don't mind head massages and cheek stroking, and I can pick our girl up sometimes for a couple of minutes (as long as I'm standing up - she won't be held while I'm sitting down) before she's wanting to get down. But normally any hint that you might be about to pick them up and they're off. They will sometimes jump up on the sofa and sort of walk over us like we're part of the furniture and start chewing our clothes. But they won't sit with us. And if they think they're getting food they rush over. But apart from that they're not very affectionate at all. In fact they prefer our dogs to us. lol.

my bun hates being picked up- get him by the scruff and support the bum, they dont have much choice then

I always wanted cuddly bunnies to - gave up trying with the first one and the second one ..... :lol: Doesnt mean that they dont love you... Mine follw me everywhere when they are in the house and as soon as I sit on the floor with them they are on me licking and playing with my hair. So even though I dont get cuddles I know its still love - and it sounds like yours are to.!

Hi. You might not want to do this, as it means redesigning your hutch :lol: When I first got my two they were an absolute nightmare to catch, and the thought of having to pick them up and put them in out in the garden run used to fill me with absolute dread!! The I had this idea .... I took out the division between the sleeping area and the rest of the hutch and used their carrier as a nestbox. It was much easier to "shoo" them into the carrier and then it was just a case of lifting the carrier out and using it to transport the buns wherever..garden, house, vets etc. It also meant I no longer had to negotiate climbing out of the run with an agitated bunny in my arms!! :lol: Eventually they got so used to the regime that they would eat their breakfast and then go into the carrier and wait to be moved!! They are indoor buns at the moment and that same carrier is what they sleep in when they are confined to the bathroom at night or when I go out. I'll PM you with a pic of the hutch with carrier in place so that you can see what I mean.

Thanks Capel
What a fabulous idea! I can easily take the partition out, its only a bit of plywood screwed in.

I will need to buy a new carrier anyway so will buy one with a door (the one I've got is a lid on top) and see how we get on.

this is the first time i've been on any sort of forum and I'm finding it very useful. My hubbie is off to Afghanistan in 3 weeks time too and so it will keep me busy and less miserable while he's away.

Here's the pic to give you an idea...
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