She WILL NOT be picked up

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Bunny_Cane

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My little Jaina is EXTREMELY against being handled.

I have tried every suggestion on this forum and every other I could find. I've posted about her before because of her attitude.

But really if I had to describe a bunny as being "wild" well then... that would be my little Jaina. She's comfortable with me, she'll come when called, she'll climb on me, when I say "hop up" and she's near the bed then she'll jump on up...

But she WILL NOT let herselve be handleded. It's becoming a bigger and bigger issue. I had tried to work her through it ( like lifting just her front half, that sort of stuff) but the minute she feels hands around her now she sprints away.

I have no idea what to do at this point. I do think we are bonded, I just think that my first bunny ended up being one who was mostly wild through and through :/

Please, any ideas of dealing with my crazy girl are welcome.... I love her to death, but there are certain things i NEED to be able to do with her.... ya know??
9
 
She'll be on my bed and will hop onto my lap when I'm on my desk chair. She likes to climb onto my shoulders and sit therefor a minute or two. She really seems to feel comfortable around me and to trust me its just being handled that she flipps out at.... :/
 
I honestly think that my little girl is not meant to be caged up. No matter how much room she gets, she wants more. Her cage is a decent size right Its not that her cage is too small. She just wants to run free. But I can't let her do that, because I can't let her die like that :/
 
Well, this seems to certainly not be an issue with u not being around her enough. I'm sure you have probably heard this before since this has been an ongoing problem, but I'll say it just in case- try having her on you and then simply putting your arms around her as if you we going to hold her. Feed her treats the whole time. When she tolerates being held like that, try sitting up and holding her close to you (while feeding her treats, of course). Once she begins to tolerate that, try standing. Then actually walking. It will most likely be a slow process, but it should get her to adjust. Another tip I picked up from a rabbit breeder is if your rabbit is being frisky or does not want to be held, pick them up and hold them sort of like a football, with their head under your arm/armpit. It really does work and calms them down
 
I actually hadn't heard that advice before. Especially the football holding one!

I'm actually her third owner. My friend got her from the pet store but ended up being allergic to her, so I adopted her. But they said that she was larger than the rest of the buns at the store and was kept separately, so they think she had already been returned at least once. I can understand why someone would return her because her attitude can be really hard to handle and has taken a lot of patience to work through so far. So maybe some of her dislike of being handled comes from everything she's been through...

I think I just need to be more patient about the whole process. I posted this thread originally when I was a little fed up and frustrated with her. She's improved so much since I got her (only been 3 months,) and she's still calming down after getting spayed about a month ago.

She's starting to let me pet her when she hops onto my lap. Before she used to jump off the minute I touched her. She won't accept treats while there yet though.

We'll get there eventually :]
 
Most buns are extremely against being handled, she's a very normal bunny. Rabbits haven't been domesticated for very long, and as prey animals their natural instinct is to avoid being grabbed or they might get eaten. Some people believe that any bunny can be trained to accept being handled, but personally I've come to a truce with my two. I don't pick them up, and they feel safe enough to hang out in my lap and let me do all the brushing and nail clipping I want.
 
This may come off snarky, but I don't mean it that way. However, any time I hear concerns like this, it goes about the same way..."she doesn't like to be handled" or "she won't let me pick her up."

The first rule of animal ownership is that the animal is not in charge!

Pick her up. She doesn't have to like it, but she does have to tolerate it. You have to be confident and demanding about what you want. Otherwise, there's no reason for the animal to cooperate - in fact, they may not even know what you want. It's the same for a dog, cat, horse, or any other pet animal you may have. We can get away with leaving well enough alone in rabbits because they're small and not "dangerous" if they aren't cooperating. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't expect them to act like decent citizens. :)

Again, I don't mean for this to come across in a negative way. Becoming comfortable handling rabbits (and justifying the chasing and tackling it may take the first few times) takes time and experience. But it is okay for you to want to handle your rabbit, and it is okay to "make" her cooperate!
 
My experience with my own stubborn rabbit has led me to agree with OakRidgeRabbits, so I thought I'd share it with you in case it helps!

I worked very slowly and patiently with my bunny for several months, but she would still constantly run off, which left me very frustrated in the end.

My first time properly holding her came when I had a house vet around to cut her nails. He had to chase her in order to pick her up, and then he passed her to me. I don't know if it was the right thing to do, but I kept her somewhat captive with me on the couch for the rest of the day, and kept picking her up so she could get used to it. I found that when I put my hands around her, she would struggle, but then I would tell her to calm down while keeping my hands firmly around her, and wait for her to be still before picking her up.

She was definitely freaked out for a while, but now she sits in her litterbox and seems to wait to be picked up. She often doesn't struggle now. I think it's because whenever I pick her up, I take her somewhere that's more fun for her than her usual living area - whether it's to let her jump on the bed, or explore a new room.

She still struggles sometimes, but I persist in order to show her that I'm the alpha bunny, not her. I didn't want to do it this way because I prefer being a bunny friend than a bunny parent, but this has worked far better than the gradual approach I first tried.

Best of luck with yours!
 
Sorry, I haven't checked this thread in a little while.

I'll give that suggestion a shot. She's been very good about going back into her cage at night (mostly because she now knows that its treat time if she goes in.)
I happen to do wood carving, so I'll wear my kevlar gloves to protect myself from those sharp bunny teeth!

Thanks for the responses :]
 
Bandit was exactly the same after I first got him. It's a combination of them learning to trust you to hold them, and you learning to do it with confidence. Bandit would struggle every single time and kick and try to climb up over my shoulder. The more I picked him up, the better I got at it and the easier it got, which in turn made Bandit settle more. I got into the habit of picking him up several times a day, waiting until he calmed down, let him be calm in my arms for abut 5 seconds, before putting him down again. This way he learned that he would get put down if he was calm, not if he was struggling.

Bandit still doesn't like being picked up, but he doesn't struggle. He lets me pick him up and carry him, but I know he still doesn't like being held. He accepts it because he knows it's something that happens and he knows he's not going to get hurt.
 
Rabbits are prey animals so there instinct kicks in when you carry them and will think you are a predator
 
Rabbits absolutely don't like to be picked up. Even my nearly old 12 year rabbit, who knew I would never harm her, made a groaning sound with I picked her up. When a pick up a rabbit to be carried for a while, I place their front paws over by right shoulder, I cup my left hand under their hips to support them, I place my right hand over their shoulder and hold their body against my chest. This leaves their head free to look around, and also with the front paws not being held, I don't think they are stressed out that much.
 

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