Alexish
Member
Hello~ So my Netherland dwarf is almost 4 months old and we are having a bit of an issue. He completely and utterly refuses to be held. I have been looking up all kinds of information about this and new ways to try it/bonding with him, but nothing has been working so far. Whenever I pick him up, unless I am lifting him out of his cage by holding his sides snugly together with two hands (he doesn't mind that), he thrashes around as much as he possibly can. If I hold him the proper way of supporting his rump he just kicks and kicks and kicks...
It wasn't a problem until the last two days, were he has thrashed so much he actually got away from me and fell twice. :cry2 I try to hold him as snugly and supported as possible but I am starting to worry that if this continues he may really get hurt because he is so slippery.
At first, he would just try to escape. Now he has started digging or chewing at my shirt and biting me (I don't mind, I just wish he wasn't scared).
Also, each time after I hold him, he goes off in a corner and lies down and is breathing really quickly and won't move much for about five minutes. Is that an indicator of a big issue or does anyone else's rabbit do that?
If anyone has some new tricks to help him calm down, please let me know! The only one up I have on him is he loves raw oats to the point of forgetting about everything else. I've tried this while holding him but as soon as he is done, he thrashes again.
Thank you!
EDIT: I should add, he is normally not afraid of me. He will sit while I pet his head and not run away from me all the time when I walk by. He has no problem hopping on my lap, especially if he wants oats. He is a bonded pair with a female netherland dwarf (they have to be separated for now before getting fixed) but he is a lot smaller than her and is submissive towards her. He also was thrashing one time when I was clipping his nails and had him flipped on his back and I think he hurt his ear (either that or the symptoms are a lot like having mites, but after thoroughly inspecting his ear for days it is clean). So that probably won't help much with him trusting me. But yes, I wanted to add some background in case that would help.
It wasn't a problem until the last two days, were he has thrashed so much he actually got away from me and fell twice. :cry2 I try to hold him as snugly and supported as possible but I am starting to worry that if this continues he may really get hurt because he is so slippery.
At first, he would just try to escape. Now he has started digging or chewing at my shirt and biting me (I don't mind, I just wish he wasn't scared).
Also, each time after I hold him, he goes off in a corner and lies down and is breathing really quickly and won't move much for about five minutes. Is that an indicator of a big issue or does anyone else's rabbit do that?
If anyone has some new tricks to help him calm down, please let me know! The only one up I have on him is he loves raw oats to the point of forgetting about everything else. I've tried this while holding him but as soon as he is done, he thrashes again.
Thank you!
EDIT: I should add, he is normally not afraid of me. He will sit while I pet his head and not run away from me all the time when I walk by. He has no problem hopping on my lap, especially if he wants oats. He is a bonded pair with a female netherland dwarf (they have to be separated for now before getting fixed) but he is a lot smaller than her and is submissive towards her. He also was thrashing one time when I was clipping his nails and had him flipped on his back and I think he hurt his ear (either that or the symptoms are a lot like having mites, but after thoroughly inspecting his ear for days it is clean). So that probably won't help much with him trusting me. But yes, I wanted to add some background in case that would help.