Jumping out of hands, shyness

[simplesophiaa]

Occasionally my rabbit lets me pick him up and he doesn't seem to be bothered. But when its time to put him down, he squirms and tries to jump out of my hands.

My method:
I hold on to his chest and legs and slowly lower myself to the ground, but by the time my knees hit the ground he tries to jump out. So then i stand up again and try to soothe him, because his struggle to jump out obviously makes him very stressed.

This repeats usually about maybe 5 or more times before I can finally get him onto the ground without him jumping out. But after I put him down, he is scared of me for the rest of the day.

Is there a better way to train him? and a way where he doesn't get so mad at me.

He is already really shy and doesn't like me much, but I feel like if i just dont practice picking him up for a long period of time he will forget the feeling completely and I will also have to retrain him to let me pick him up, let alone put him down.

Thank you,

Instagram: mrbeansthebun

 

[PABunnyMom]

Try gently holding your hand over his face/eyes. My buns try to jump out of my hands when they know I'm getting ready to put them down. I find they are much calmer when I cover their face.

 

[BlazeBunnies]

I agree gently put your hands over his eyes/face and lower him. A couple of my buns do this aswell and I have been to a behaviour place because I was curios of what was causing it and they said it can happen for many reasons in my buns cause he said that he didn't want to go on the ground. I hand raised the bun and she is use to me holding her and so now she isn't like every other bun who prefers to be on the ground she prefers to be held 😊 hope all goes well for you and your bun

 

[stevesmum]

Yeahhhh I probably wouldn't almost let him go five times before finally releasing him, it must be quite stressful for him, like he can almost get free and is then again restrained. I think it takes a lot of patience and time, and maybe some treats should be involved to reinforce positive behaviours and make positive associations. To be honest I don't bother picking up my bunnies unless I have to, like for nail clippings. They just don't like it and I respect that.

 

[PABunnyMom]

Yes, stevesmum, it's best to wait for them to come to you before trying to pick them up. Two of mine were hand raised so they naturally go to the front of the cage to be pet.

 

[Bonsai]

I read somewhere (I don't recall where...) to back the rabbit into his cage rather than put him in facing the cage. Snickers used to squirm a little when it was time to put him back up but when I started putting him in backwards (butt first instead of face first) he stopped squirming. I'm not entirely sure why that is, but it seems to work for me! You should try it and see if it helps you at all.

I also suggest holding the rabbit at least once per day, if for no reason other than to do a quick once-over and check how they're doing. He'll never get used to handling if he is never handled so don't be afraid of him, just be gentle and easy with him. Being able to handle him is imperative in his health, be it clipping his nails, cleaning his glands, administering medicine, or simply just looking him over to make sure all is as it should be. It is stressful for him now but with time, he should become more accustomed to it hopefully!

Give him a small treat when you put him down so as to buffer the insult. Rabbits are willing to let things slide provided you ply them with a little food most the time! I also suggest picking him up from ground level if you can; sit down next to his cage/wherever he is and then pick him up. You're low to the ground so if he does squirm and get away, he doesn't risk falling and hurting himself from a height.

At first, Snickers got a little stressed when I picked him up so I would gently coo him and put his belly against my chest, hand under butt and other hand gently but firmly over his back, slowly stroking. This seemed to help him ease a lot. I'm not sure if you're holding your rabbit this way but it might help! Rabbits like having something firm under their feet. It's also easier to lower yourself with them like this. Their back is turned to everything in front of them so they can't start squirming when they see home base. When I lower myself, I keep hand under rabbit's butt and firmly hold them across the middle with my other so they don't get a falling sensation.

Sometimes Snickers struggles a little but he's also still getting used to me - it is expected for rabbits to be a little distrustful in the beginning. To them, we're big, giant predators that want to eat them - it takes time, patience, and understanding to convince them otherwise