doe 10 months old skittish - handling

Hi all. I'm wondering if I could get some of your expertise if possible?

A bit of background:

Middy has been living with us since she was 4 months old. She's now 10 months old. She's a house rabbit and lives in our living room. I am home all day, every day. We have 2 children 11 and 7 and a my husband also dotes on our little rabbit.

My worry is that non of us are able to pick Middy up yet. She wanders around the living room quite freely, comes and goes to her base in the same room. She'll climb on our knees for food, comes to the kitchen when she hears the chopping of veg and even has been known to jump on the sofa when we're on. She allows patting and will lay down in front of us as if to say 'keep going'. She isn't at all skittish when we're just being us, a family at home, but the minute any of us tries to pick her up she scurries for dear life.

She's away to be spayed this morning and I have the visual of her worrying about being placed in her carry cage playing over and over.

I guess I am asking for help and a bit confused. Surely Middy feels safe amongst us? What am I doing or not doing that is causing this anxiety when being handled.

Any help would be appreciated.

Hi, i think in general most rabbits dislike being picked up or handled, some enjoy being stroked, as long as their feet are on the ground.
I'm sure Middy feels safe with her family, you are not doing anything wrong, it's quite normal behaviour.

It is good she is being spayed, she may be calmer when she has recovered without all the hormones rushing around and perhaps less skittish.
Have you considered getting a friend for her in the future? Rabbits do need rabbit companions, even though she has lots of human company, this would make her happier and more content.
I hope her op goes well and she recovers quickly, it sounds like you are a very loving bunny mum

I think it's a rare rabbit indeed that actually likes being picked up! The best you're likely to get is a rabbit that tolerates it.

In the wild the only time a rabbit would be picked up is when it's been grabbed by a predator. So it's quite understandable if she panics and struggles, because she thinks she's going to be eaten. It sounds like she trusts you otherwise, but fear instincts can be very strong.

Of course it's much better for everyone if you can teach your rabbit that nothing bad will happen when they get picked up.

Tamsin has a brilliant page about this here which explains everything much better than I can. http://www.therabbithouse.com/behaviour/problem-picking-rabbit-up.asp

I've been working on counter-conditioning my two boys to tolerate handling - they don't hate it but were obviously unhappy about being picked up and touched in certain places despite otherwise being very confident and used to me. My best tip? Bribery, and going really slowly. I used their food pellets (which they love) as rewards. My boys are both happy to approach me and will readily eat from my hand which was a great start.

First I'd gently touch their side when they came to me for food, and immediately give a pellet. Every single time I touched them they got pellets. I didn't worry if they flinched or moved away (although I was careful not to make them too uncomfortable) because all I was trying to do is make an association - touching means treats - rather than actually teaching a behaviour. Very quickly they got the idea that only good things happen when I touched them, and became comfortable being touched in different places (head, back, sides, bottom, belly) and for longer durations. Eventually I moved on to getting my boyfriend to help - he'd touch both sides simultaneously and I'd give the treats, and we slowly moved towards him putting both hands underneath the bunny and just taking its weight. Next step for us is actually lifting a tiny bit, but we're not there yet.

It'll take a while, but my aim is to have rabbits that don't mind being handled and don't get stressed out when they do need to be picked up, because it'll make going to the vet a lot easier for them to deal with.

Thank you both for your feedback. Very much appreciated. I am about to click on the link to have a read.

Slow and steady does seem the way forward. I expect it's a little like dog training and yes, pellets seem to go down very well with Middy.

We are thinking about a friend for her, now that she has been spayed. I was thinking in a couple of months time when the hormones are a little less than they are now? She is home, very still. I laid everything out on the living room floor for her thinking she might want to crash there but she scurried back to her base. She's very still but has been eating a little. I will keep my eye on her - we have a follow up with her on Saturday morning.