Picking up your bunny

[joei0005]

I used to be able to get my bunny into his travel bag using food or treats. This doesn't seem to work anymore.


I started to just pick him up but he is usually under the couch when I need to get him. My wife and I have to flush him out from behind the couch then catch him quickly to pick him up.

He doesn't seem to like this at all. When we bring him home, he seems distant to us for a while.

Does anyone know good strategies as to how to get your rabbit into his carrying case without upsetting him?

 

[Bonsai]

Have you tried leaving the carrier out at times when he's not being taken somewhere? Try leaving it open and put some good stuff in there (treats, daily greens - heck, even his daily pellets) and let him gravitate toward it on his own. Then it might help him realize carrier doesn't always mean he's gonna be taken somewhere. That's how I got mine to be okay with being placed in carriers and it helps a lot. I also put an old one in her hutch for her to rest in, that also helped since she could make good associations with the concept.

 

[joei0005]

Thanks. I noticed this as well. I only took the carrier out when I was taking it somewhere so he made that connection.

He lacks his career, though. So I leave it out now. He hangs out in it every so often. It's just that he doesn't happen to be in it when I need him to be.

We made our apartment bunny safe so he doesn't spend much time in his cage, at all.

At this point, he's wherever he feels like being. Mostly under the couch. When I put the carrier next to the couch, he seems to realize that something is up.