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:
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: