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Please help - really upset

T

Tinamoo

Young Bun
Hi,

I have had my rabbit for a fortnight now. I have been trying to handle him every single day. He has not been that keen on me picking him up. He dives to the corner of his cage where it is really hard for me to reach him. I manage to get him eventually and has been fine sitting on my knee and being stroked and fine when he is picked up. The last couple of days though I have noticed that he has been wriggling a lot more.

This morning I went to his cage and the second he saw me he flew into the corner of his cage. Normally he will let me stroke him. This morning I tried putting my hand to him to stroke him and he jumped back and gave a grunting noise. I felt like he was going to attack me. :(

To be honest I am now feeling a a bit scared of him. This is exactly what I did not want to happen. I have been trying to keep handle him so he learns that I am not trying to hurt him.

I am not sure what to do now. Advice please:(
 
Awww this is usual behaviour I am afraid - I'm sure he won't bite you. Is he neutered? He could be getting hormonal and moody - having him neutered will help.

Also I bribe mine with food - just the odd pellet or natural treat but when they see me they come running as they know they get someting nice !! It makes the connection a good one :wave:
 
Sometimes you are lucky and get a bunny who is laid back and relaxed and loved to be cuddled, BUT the majority prefer to keep their four feet firmly on the ground (being held in the wild is when they are prey).

Get down to the bunnies level and give lots of nose and ear rubs.

My bunny hates being picked up, so we don't do it unless we have to.
 
Biscuit Bunny said:
Sometimes you are lucky and get a bunny who is laid back and relaxed and loved to be cuddled, BUT the majority prefer to keep their four feet firmly on the ground (being held in the wild is when they are prey).

Get down to the bunnies level and give lots of nose and ear rubs.

My bunny hates being picked up, so we don't do it unless we have to.
Click to expand...
Yep i agree,i only have one bunny who doesn,t mind,the rest hate it.
 
Thanks for the reply. He is not neutered yet. He is 13 weeks old I was planning to have him done around Christmastime.

I have been back out since my post and offered him some sweetcorn he sort of sniffed my hand and jumped back which in turn made me jump. After spending a few minutes out there with him I decided that I might be better just leaving him alone for today & try again tomorrow.

Not long before I went out to him the first time there was a cat sniffing around his cage. Do you think that that might have scared him to start with & could have something to do with his behaviour this morning???

The corner that he goes into is his bedding area. The trouble is that section has two levels so although it is a big bedding area it is small heightwise which makes it hard for me to stroke him or pick him up from there. I am thinking of getting my husband to take the upper level out as I am quite sure he does not use it anyway. This would make it easier for me to pick him up and put him in his run which is all I was trying to do in the first place!
 
Is there a way of connecting the hutch to the run, so he can get into it himself?

He probably feels safe in his bed section so won't appreciate your efforts to get him out.

Get something really tasty to bribe him with, mine LOVES plantain and burns oat hay and the odd raisin and bit of banana.
 
Hmm, unfortunately this is a common issue in rabbits. As the above posts have said, the natural instinct/reaction for rabbits is that if their feet leave the ground, this means that they have been caught by a predator.

I am in a similar situation where I am torn between persisting with picking up our bun in the hope that she gets used to it, or avoiding picking her up as much as possible so that she (and I) don't have to go through the stress of having to lift her... it's a tricky one.

Have you tried using a carrier at all? Put a tempting (healthy!) treat into the carrier and then once he's inside you can carry him like this. This way you avoid the sensation of his feet being lifted off the ground. The problem with this, or with using treats to lure them and then picking them up, is that buns tend to learn and make associations pretty quickly. The first couple of days we used the carrier trick it worked brilliantly. But now our bun won't go into the carrier if we are anywhere near it. It's definitely worth a try though!

I would definitely try spending more time sitting outside his cage, stroking him and giving him treats, so that he doesn't associate you approaching his cage with 'oh no I'm about to be picked up!'. But in the long run, if he really hates being lifted this much, you may be better off attaching the run to the hutch, so that you minimise the times you have to lift him. This will also mean that he doesn't associate you with something stressful - and will be a much more trusting/loving bun :)

Sorry I can't be of more help.
 
Biscuit Bunny said:
He probably feels safe in his bed section so won't appreciate your efforts to get him out.
Click to expand...

Yep definitely agree with this. Our buns definitely sees her bed area as her 'safe place', so I would never lift her out of here, as I want her to continue to have a place to retreat to that she feels totally secure.
 
Hi All,

I am really glad that I posted this as I have found this thread really informative. I thought that I was doing the right thing by taking him out of his hutch and putting him in his run so he gets some exercise. So I take it the general advice is basically not to lift him out at all? I just thought by handling him it would make him friendlier. The reply to my original post about him not liking being picked up, was to persist.

I am a bit unsure as to whether we could attach the run to the hutch. My husband has nipped out but I am going to see if he thinks it is possible. The hutch and run are two different heights so I will have a think about that.

I am willing to do what I can to make him happy. But by not lifting him at all I can envisage two problems. The main one being cleaning out the hutch. Second being when he needs to go to the vets. Will he eventually start being a bit more sociable with us do you think?
 
Can you fit in the run?! When we first got Bella I sat on the floor in her house every day for a couple of hours. The more time that passed, the friendlier she got, especially when she knew I usually had a treat in my pocket! Now she spends a lot of her time sat on my knee or following me round like a puppy!
 
Tinamoo said:
Hi All,

I am really glad that I posted this as I have found this thread really informative. I thought that I was doing the right thing by taking him out of his hutch and putting him in his run so he gets some exercise. So I take it the general advice is basically not to lift him out at all? I just thought by handling him it would make him friendlier. The reply to my original post about him not liking being picked up, was to persist.

I am a bit unsure as to whether we could attach the run to the hutch. My husband has nipped out but I am going to see if he thinks it is possible. The hutch and run are two different heights so I will have a think about that.

I am willing to do what I can to make him happy. But by not lifting him at all I can envisage two problems. The main one being cleaning out the hutch. Second being when he needs to go to the vets. Will he eventually start being a bit more sociable with us do you think?
Click to expand...

My bunny loves being around us, easier for us though as she is an indoor bunny, so only time we have to catch her is when she goes to the vets or if we have to check her over or give her medicines.

Your bunny will get a LOT more friendly I promise. Have you thought about getting him a friend or him being an indoor bunny?

Our bunny was very wary and timid of us when we first got her, but now she is sociable, will follow you around the house, naughty and extremely nosey.
 
I don't think it helps that you are now nervous yourself which is fully understandable as no one want to get bitten but it is likely the bun could be picking up on this. Perhaps you could arm yourself with gloves so that you feel more confident when you approach.

As previously said bunnies generally prefer to be on the ground but sometimes handling of a rabbit is necessary ie to administer meds etc. Your best bet is to try and sit somewhere safe with your bun and let them come to you. Plenty of treats and noserubs later and you will soon have a new best friend. There are means and ways to interact without having to physically pick you bun off the ground.

Also neutering helps a lot with behaviour.
 
Thanks for the advice. I have just spoken to my husband. He says that there is a way of attaching the run to the hutch, so maybe this will be a big help. Unfortunately he is working away for 3 days as from tomorrow so Monday will probably be the earliest he would be able to work on it.

Getting a second rabbit is not an option for me at the moment. I was thinking of buying a pair in the first instance but I was worried about the costs involved. Not day to day costs but the thought of vet fees for two rabbits that I found worrying.

We were considering securing the garden and just letting him have free run of the garden. The only thing that has put me off this idea is that we seem to get a lot of cats in our garden. I have a 5 month old baby and although with the run I only let my rabbit out when I am home, I cannot be watching the rabbit constantly.

As a matter of interest would a cat attack a rabbit???
 
Tinamoo said:
Hi All,

I am really glad that I posted this as I have found this thread really informative. I thought that I was doing the right thing by taking him out of his hutch and putting him in his run so he gets some exercise. So I take it the general advice is basically not to lift him out at all? I just thought by handling him it would make him friendlier. The reply to my original post about him not liking being picked up, was to persist.

I am a bit unsure as to whether we could attach the run to the hutch. My husband has nipped out but I am going to see if he thinks it is possible. The hutch and run are two different heights so I will have a think about that.

I am willing to do what I can to make him happy. But by not lifting him at all I can envisage two problems. The main one being cleaning out the hutch. Second being when he needs to go to the vets. Will he eventually start being a bit more sociable with us do you think?
Click to expand...

I, like you, am confused about this one at the moment (hoping to move our rabbit into the house soon so we no longer have to go through the daily, time-consuming rigmarole of having to get her into the house for playtime - often ending in huge amounts of frustration!). But I definitely find that our bun becomes easier to handle and pick up if we are not doing it every day. We recently had her inside after her spay, and she was so much more loveable that week - jumping all over us, coming for cuddles etc. I think if she knows that every evening we are going to be picking her up, she learns when it's time to run away :lol:

Sorry if my earlier posts were unclear, I'm not sure that the answer is not to pick him up at all, but just to minimise it if possible and definitely to increase the time you spend with him doing more fun things. If you're going through this on a daily basis and you and he are getting stressed/nervous, then it will not help the relationship between you. How do you spend time with him at the moment? I guess you need to try and ensure that he associates you with lots of good things (treats/nose rubs as mentioned above) and the good will start to outweigh the bad and he will become a lot more trusting... If however, the main interaction between the two of you is the daily struggle to get him into/out of his run (not enjoyable for either of you) then you can understand why he is getting increasingly difficult to handle.

I have absolutely no doubt that he will become a lot more trusting/friendly, but it may take a little time and work.

Good luck (and make sure you update us if you come across any good tricks!) :D

PS - Thanks for posting the leaflet links Biscuit Bunny - I am definitely going to be reading those too!
 
There is a very good article by Dr Anne McBride in the most recent edition of the Rabbiting On magazine that addresses this issue of the fear response and anticipation when you approach a nervous rabbit in the hutch - and how to work with this. I personally think it is an excellent article from one of the experts in the rabbit behaviour field and would recommend you try and get hold of a copy of the magazine and read it. If you like I could photocopy mine and post it to you....so PM me if you would like me to do this as it covers a lot of the issues you have raised in your OP and i'm happy to post it to you.
However, I really recommend joining the RWAF - the articles in the quarterly magazine are usually very good and cover everything from behaviour to latest surgical techniques. :)
 
I found this article a godsend when my spayed doe mysteriously started boxing my hands and spitting at me a few weeks back whenever I tried to pick her up:

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/aggression.html

Turns out I'd changed how I was approaching her and suddenly I'd turned into a predator! She's back to being sweet natured again.

You do need to be able to check for flystrike every day, so persevere with trying to handle him.
 
I was terrified of my girls when I first got them, they ripped my hands to pieces to avoid being touched let along picked up. After spaying and a lot of time just sitting near them talking quietly or just being there offering titbits they are now v friendly.

With regards to cats it depends on the rabbit and the cat. My rabbits chase my cats and occasionally the cats will chase the rabbits, they never hurt them though. How big is your bun? A cat is less likely to attack a larger rabbit
 
I have never had a rabbit that likes being picked up. I don't think you can train the rabbit to like it if he's just one of those that doesn't, however, you are a new rabbit owner so you're not used to picking him up. With time you'll become more confident and with practise you'll be able to do it even if he doesn't like it.

I try not to pick mine up unless I have to and I have to agree with the others, the best way to bond with him is to get down to his level and let him get accustomed to you, tempting him with treats etc. If that's not possible then just spend time with him while he's in his hutch. Put your hands in, let him get used to your smell, offer treats.

And if it's possible, let him have a run inside. It's fairly easy to litter train buns but there will be a few accidents, so it depends how mobile you little one is whether s/he is likely to want to taste any of the presents your bunny might leave you. :shock:

But that way you can spend time with both of them and if you have baby gates perhaps you could use those to stop the rabbit going where you don't want him. But then you still have to pick him up...

But good luck with whatever you try. :)
 
prettylupin said:
There is a very good article by Dr Anne McBride in the most recent edition of the Rabbiting On magazine that addresses this issue of the fear response and anticipation when you approach a nervous rabbit in the hutch - and how to work with this. I personally think it is an excellent article from one of the experts in the rabbit behaviour field and would recommend you try and get hold of a copy of the magazine and read it. If you like I could photocopy mine and post it to you....so PM me if you would like me to do this as it covers a lot of the issues you have raised in your OP and i'm happy to post it to you.
However, I really recommend joining the RWAF - the articles in the quarterly magazine are usually very good and cover everything from behaviour to latest surgical techniques. :)
Click to expand...

Would I be able to buy the rabbiting on
magazine from WHSmiths or is it a specialist
magazine I need to order?
 
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