Anxious rabbit doesn’t like worming treatment.

[Rabbits Ahoy]

I’m assuming this is the right place to ask this. I’m sorry if it’s not!
I’ve had my rabbits for a couple of years now. I got them from RSPCA when they were one. RSPCA described Samson, my boy, as more anxious than Delilah (his sister, my other rabbit) and that he needed a little more encouragement.

After two, maybe three, years, Samson is very happy living with me. He is always excited to see me and will happily hand feed and play.
However, he absolutely despised being picked up! And this really doesn’t help when giving him worming treatment, and more importantly, I don’t wanna stress him out. I can feel his little heart pounding in his chest.
Does anybody have any advise on how to calm him to calm down?
Thank you so much!

 

[JBun]

Rabbits rarely like to be given medication unless it's something yummy like metacam. So it's not uncommon for them to get a little stressed and irritated with it and have increased heart and respiratory rates. But usually it should only take a few seconds to administer then it's over and they can relax and get back to normal.

For particularly difficult rabbits that are hard to handle, burrito wrapping can sometimes help calm them enough to administer the meds. Or there is also kneeling with them on the floor between your legs, that can work well especially for larger rabbits. It just involves kneeling with the rabbit between the calves, facing forward, with your feet crossed at the back to prevent them from being able to back out of there. Then I get the syringe to the corner of the mouth and slowly squirt it in there. Sometimes I will have to carefully but steadily hold the head/shoulder area so they can't turn their head away. And it's important to administer it slowly enough to give them enough time to chew and swallow so the liquid doesn't get aspirated. Just making sure to do everything carefully so bun doesn't get injured.

 

[Diane R]

Does your bunny have worms or EC symptoms? It is not recommended to worm them routinely. Only give worming meds when you are sure they have worms. If your vet recommends routine worming you might want to find a rabbit vet. Here is a list: Rabbit Friendly Vet List