It's been months still can't pick up my rabbit.

[SidneyLion]

My bunny was brought home when she was 8 weeks, she's 5 months now, and still won't let me pick her up.
She's very sweet and loves being pet, but will blinky and move very quickly if I try to first support her underneath and pick her up (even if she's very calm)!

I've watched about a dozen videos on youtube about picking up rabbits, but I've never seen any do the stuff mine does.
Have you ever had this problem and been able to overcome it with your rabbit?

I've tried floor level, mid waist, and standing pickups.

 

[whiskylollipop]

Most rabbits will never learn to tolerate being picked up. Being handled is unnatural to them and even the friendliest rabbits will try and avoid it. Those youtube videos use very unusually calm rabbits, or take advantage of an unfamiliar place (like a tabletop) where the rabbit is afraid to walk, to pick them up easily.

You just have to learn to be quick and firm with picking your bun up. Like a claw machine, cage your fingers gently but firmly around her ribs/front legs in such a way as to prevent her from leaping forward, which she will try to do. She will next try to wiggle out backwards, which is when you should quickly scoop one hand under her bum and lift her up. Clasp that hand around her back feet like a sausage roll and keep the other supporting her rib area.

 

[pani]

My bunnies hate being held but it has to happen. This week Felix has been shedding like mad, and he won't stay still, so I have to pop him on my lap if I want a chance at grooming him. My method is to try getting him calm with some pats, and then to hold him as described above by Laura, while I sit behind him. This way when he wriggles backwards to try and escape he'll just run into my legs, giving me a chance to scoop his bottom half and pick him up.

It's rare to find a bunny that enjoys being held. In the wild if they're being held, it's usually because they're being preyed on.

 

[Bville]

I know you are supposed to support their bottom, but with my 3 pound rabbits, I sometimes have to pick them up with two hands around their rib cage because they are super wiggly and break free from me before I can get a hand under their back feet. Since they are small, I can support most of their weight anyway. If your rabbit is small too, you could try that. After I pick them up that way, I pull them to my body quickly to support their back end. I think you have to be confident and fast, as whiskylollipop said. My daughter is very timid about it and she has a hard time picking up our rabbits. It took me a while to get confident too, but with a lot of practice, I can do it now without any worries.

 

[SidneyLion]

Thanks a lot! Those are great tips and I'm gonna try them for sure.
Hopefully with some more practice I'll be able to pick up Sidney now.

 

[Sophie's Humble Servant]

Don't feel too bad. It's been a year and I still can't pick up my rabbit...well if I throw a towel over her I can! And she let's me pick her up at the vets office due to being petrified lol

 

[fannymanson]

I have handled mine quite a bit, but I wouldn't say they like it. They tense up into a hard little ball of muscles. I think they prefer to be held very securely if at all. They are currently 5 years old and this year is the first year they will let me pick them up in the back yard without running all over the place first. I used to have to corner them in order to catch them.

 

[kilabuni]

You just have to be brave and firm about it. You need to let them know they can hop away if they wriggle too much and get frightened by you holding them, because you don't want them being scared of you. I'm always very relaxed and forward when I rescue a new rabbit, especially one that isn't used to being handled. At the moment, my newest buck, a NZ white, is absolutely petrified of being picked up - he goes completely stiff and he pants heavily, then kicks/wriggles vigorously. That's totally different to how he is not being handled and I'm just near him, where he'll come and investigate me when I stand by his hutch, lounge about or come and see me when I'm sat in the run with him. Actually another 2 of mine are like that, really curious and relaxed when I'm near them, but they panic when I need to pick them up. Buster and Whisky don't like being handled, but they're at the 'tolerating it' stage now, and will, eventually, sit still when I need to catch them - for that I just crouch to their level (don't tower over them as that can be quite threatening - remember you're a predator to them) and offer my hand like you do a dog you first meet, let them sniff my skin or offer some sort of treat, and then try to touch their nose gently. If they let me, I'll rub their head a little, but it's totally up to them if they want to hop away, which they usually do. I eventually get them into a corner or at the side, all completely free again if they want to get away from me, and then they do lower their head in submission and let me pick them up, where I just flatten a firm hand across their head and back to stroke them, and with that hand I keep it on them and push it under their chest/belly, and as I lift their front up a little, I cup their bottom and lift them to my chest to secure them. Another of mine, Jake, he's a nosy little guy so will come over to me all the time, and though he hates being handled too, being picked up, he's really good at and will lower his head everytime I stroke it. Then there is Winston who has the run of my bedroom so he's extremely comfortable with being stroked and picked up, but again, like has been said, even the friendliest and cuddliest won't 'like' being handled - they do simply tolerate it.

You must stick at it though because one day you may need to help them medically, like hand-feeding them or giving them medication, and obviously with claw clipping it's dangerous to sort claws out with a wriggly pet.