I thought it might be worth letting people know how I have managed all of my buns over the years, and how they all have gone on to become complete 'cuddle monsters'. I understand of course, how rabbits are naturally prey animals and for that reason like to keep all 4 paws on the ground, but as they are also 'naturally' such curious animals, I think we can actually use that trait to our advantage, to challenge their way of thinking and how they percieve us.
I have at present 7 'special needs' house bunnies, 6 of which have had dreadful starts to their lives, and for that reason 2 especially, I would never have even expected to be able to stroke, let alone pick up, but I can honestly say that all of my bunnies, maybe because of such traumatic pasts, now appear to actually take comfort in being held and cuddled during times of worry or not feeling so good, and the rest of the time, well, they just love being cuddled full stop, and all have their own way now of letting me know when they want a cuddle.
Bodger for example, (an incredibly complex and traumatised bunny, who spent 5 months hid in the darkest corner of his hutch, absolutely terrified of everyone and everything) now has a large puppy pen in my lounge, and because he doesn't tolerate noise or other rabbits at all, he free ranges throughout the night when the other bunnies are back in their rooms. He has however now progressed on to really liking Dipsy and Pippa a bonded pair, who are in a pen next to him, but he will always be a single rabbit as such, because he is just so aggressive when confronted with another rabbit, that I honestly think he would fight it until killing it, but when Bodger wants picking up and a cuddle, instead of dashing out of his pen at night how he usually does to start all his exploring, he will stay sat in the corner waiting for me to pick him up. He then sits with me enjoying being cuddled, for as long as he wants or for whatever time I have to sit with him, until he starts gently digging in my shoulder, which means he wants to get down now and start all his running about. It absolutely fascinates me how rabbits communicate with us, letting us know exactly what they want us to do.
It might surprise you to know, that through getting all my rabbits throughout the years to enjoy being picked up for cuddles, the one thing I have never actually done is try to pick them up, thereby enforcing their fear of us being the enemy. I have found the way to win them round is by leaving them to come to me, ignoring them and them then having to positively demand attention before I give them any. I personally think that if a rabbit has had to make you interact with him, and he has wanted you to do so (because of them being naturally curious), then you can no longer be percieved as a threat. The most effective way I have always found to do this, is simply by sitting close to them and reading to them. All my rabbits, even terrible cruelty cases, haven't taken long at all before they have started to make their way over to me, but I would still not go to touch them at all, as through doing that, and moving your hand towards them, you have then instantly become a threat to them again.
After a couple of days, I then start to place a treat (healthy of course) on my leg, for the rabbit to take when feeling brave enough, and then when they get that they are actually climbing onto my lap, I have say a little bunch of parsley for them to eat, or something that they are likely to sit for a little while nomming on, and then I will just with one finger, very gently stroke them, but making no sudden movements or raising my hand as such. I know this sounds all very time consumming, but I would say my very worse case was Bodger, who initially didn't even like being looked at, let alone touched or picked up, and it took 2 weeks until I held him in my arms and cried my eyes out because it was such a momentous occassion for this terribly sad little guy.
I would recommend that when you first pick your bunny up, you are sat down on the floor with her, and my vet advised me to have bunny's back against my tummy, one arm under her front legs, the other arm under her bottom, because you will have hold of her so securely, she will feel safe and in this position, will not be able to scrabble about like mad and horror of horrors be dropped
and it should hopefully boost your confidence as well. After that it really is a case of practice makes perfect, and I will always pick my bunnies up at least once a day, so that in time it becomes such a normal daily occurence for them, and is no longer anything to be feared.
When my rabbits have first come to live with me, I have on that day worn a jumper or something I wasn't overly fussed about wearing again, and then at the end of the day, put it in with new bunny to lie on in his bed, and with something nice to eat placed on it. I then don't disturb it again except for when cleaning out, and each day place something nice for bunny to eat on it.
I can't stress enough the importance of your voice, and being as softly spoken as possible, and how positively rabbits are then likely to respond to it. Baby Violet, who is 10 weeks and completely blind, is an absolute sweetheart and would ideally, when not eating or racing about her 'safe room' just lay stretched out on me all the time :lol: She is never scared or worried about being touched or picked up, and actually sits perfectly still as soon as I say 'picking up Violet' which is always spoken immediately before picking her up, and she has now come to realise what that means and what to expect. I would never stroke her or anything without speaking to her first, and so I say 'touching Violet' before going to touch or stroke her, and then 'picking up Violet' before obviously picking her up. Before placing her back down I will say 'putting Violet down', and as a result she is an absolute dream of a bunny to handle.
I hope you can see, that how I work with my bunnies means that I can't really be considered a threat, and that only good things occur through interaction with me, and they have always made the first move towards myself, not the other way around. I personally don't agree with not handling rabbits or getting them used to being picked up, syringe fed, or taken out in the car, as it is probably more likely than not, that at some point they may become unwell or recieve an injury, and if you have not got them used to any of the above, then they are going to be terribly distressed at these new things happening to them, at a time when they are at their most vulnerable anyway. At least once or twice a month, I mix up a sachet of SS Recovery diet, and sit with all my buns, and give them some of it by syringe, which they all love, and that then gives me peace of mind that should they need syringe feeding at some point, it is something that they are already familiar with. The same with car journeys, and most weeks I will put the buns in their carriers and take them for a half hour drive. We drive for about 15 minutes, and then pull over and they enjoy some of their favourite herbs, and then on the way back they tend to fall asleep, and 2 of them snore really loudly :shock: but again, if rabbits only ever go in the car when they are possibly ill or going to the vet for vaccinations anyway, I can understand perfectly well as to how most bunnies associate car journeys with not very good things happening to them, lots of strange, worrying smellls and people, and why they often react negatively as they do.
One of my bunnies, Buster, an adorable french lop, was blinded in one of his eyes with a biro pen, and the person then tried to drown him, and for a while Buster was incredibly nervous and you could see him visibly flinch if you went anywhere near his face, but he is now a great big 'cuddle monster', and some mornings I even wake up to him lying next to me in the bed, although I have to draw the line at him trying to put his head on my pillow as well :lol::lol: But I have just mentioned Buster and what happened to him, and how you might have expected him to never want to be touched again by a person, but how he is perfectly happy with being picked up and cuddled as well.
Very occassionally, and I know this will be frowned on, but Buster absolutely adores rich tea finger biscuits and he is so funny, as when he gets given one and it is only ever with these, he holds it in his mouth, and does 2 circuits of the room with his biscuit. Next time he has one, I promise to be ready to video him doing this :lol::lol:
