a little frustrated.....

[ilovepets]

so i am trying to hold snickers rather than let her run, just until she lets me pick her up in her cage with ease again.... it took a while both times today to get her out of the cage. she jumps away form me again and again then if i am quick i can catch her. yesterday i just had her in my lap when i was on the computer and i did that today again, then i took her out a second time today to let her run in my room- picking her up often. then she starts getting naughty and running away from me. i try to use the command "stop" so i can pick her up, but she doesnt listen. so also nipped me today when she was in my room and i tried to pick her up. i know that this is the first day i am trying/ starting this,but i am doubtful that i will work. *sigh* when snickers is bad i am doubtful that i can fix it, when my birds are bad i can correct it right away because they listen so much better. despite my thoughts on the holding, i will still follow my motto of NEVER giving up on an animal, no matter what. any advice?

 

[agnesthelion]

I think time and patience is the key here. Keep working with her but don't push her too much. Reward with treats and end on a positive note and don't ask too much from her on each try.

Good luck

 

[agnesthelion]

PS...I get your frustration, by the way....I remember you saying you could pick her up before with no problems. I get how the change would be troublesome. Agnes never fights me on picking her up!.. I can carry her around the house and outside and she is fine. If that ended I would be bummed

Hang in there and keep trying!!

 

[BunMommaD]

That's seems like a lot of holding... Bunnies don't typically like being held at all... I know our cookie hates being held, so we do it as little as possible and only if we need to clip his nails or check him for something... Which is really only once every week or so... We bonded very quickly by sitting on the floor while he ran around and read out loud to him and letting him come to us, we didn't even acknowledge or reach to pet him until he started "grooming" us and then putting his head down waiting for us to groom him back... Our motto is cookie is best enjoyed with observation, and interaction when he initiates it! They are prey animals and anyone coming at them will cause them to fright and fight... It's instincts, so try not to take it personal

 

[BunMommaD]

And if she is a new pet and used to let you hold her and now doesn't... It's because she never particualy liked being held but when she was new she was scared, so she didn't fight! So now she is getting comfortable in her home and so she isn't afraid to let you know what she does and doesn't like as much as cookie hates being held (and he HATeS it lol) the first month we had him, he never fought when we picked him up... It wasn't until he got comfy, that he let us know he really hates it! Lol

 

[gmas rabbit]

Derby hates being picked up. He will let me carry him down or upstairs but that is it. He is more than happy for me to sit on the floor beside him or for that matter lie on the floor beside him. He will stay there for hours and be pet. The minute you pick him up and transfer him to your lap, he scratches and claws until he gets down. We have stopped doing just that. Just meet him on his turf. Last night and the night before he hopped up on the bed and laid down beside me for pets. It was only for a short period of time, but it is a start. Maybe by not forcing it and let them come to you instead, things will advance quicker.

 

[agnesthelion]

I might be spoiled as far as picking up a bun goes. I pick Agnes up several times a day. She never fights me on it. Does she LOVE it? Probably not lol...but I'm from the mindset that I never want her to forget what it's like to be picked up and know that it's a part of her life and will never "hurt" her. It does make things easier.

 

[BunMommaD]

agnesthelion wrote:

I might be spoiled as far as picking up a bun goes. I pick Agnes up several times a day. She never fights me on it. Does she LOVE it? Probably not lol...but I'm from the mindset that I never want her to forget what it's like to be picked up and know that it's a part of her life and will never "hurt" her. It does make things easier.

You are lucky! That's awesome! And I agree, with continuing to make sure she knows your not going to hurt her we would work with cookie more with being picked up if he didn't "flip out" so much when we have to... He was a rescue, we have zero background info on him, and I think he was harmed at some point in someone's arms... So I don't want to stress him, and he listens very well to verbal commands and comes when called (most of the time lol) so he makes it easy for us not to have to pick him up

 

[BunMommaD]

I should add tho that in any stressful situation he is very happy and will even leap into my arms lol like at the vets or during thunder storms so he does feel safe with me I personally hate thundestorms, but he is helping me to look forward to them... Because I know he'll want to snuggle...

 

[Blue eyes]

Well each bunny truly is unique! I've had some that were just fine being held and others that weren't. But I don't think it's a good idea to ever reach into a bunny's cage and pull him out (except in emergency). That just forces the hand on them and causes them to distrust. It's better to just open the door and let them come out of their own free will. I don't force mine back in either. I coax them sneakily so they THINK they are making the choice.

Right now, my Sapphire will absolutely not let me pick her up. She just hates being picked up with every fiber of her being. Ironically, though, she adores being pet while she is on the floor. She asks for it with this specific pose she does which I recently discovered. It's really rather cute.

I would suggest you take a new approach and stop trying to hold her. Let her come to you on her terms when she wants. See if that will help.

 

[silversky2668]

I would also suggest not constantly picking her up to make her like it--most bunnies dislike being held because they're prey animals and relate it to being caught and eaten, even though we (as their doting owners) obviously just want to love them. If you keep picking her up, especially out of her cage when she feels cornered (and a cage should be a place she feels safe and secure), she might just relate seeing you with being scared because she knows you're going to pick her up, and she'll just keep running from you.

If you want to bond with her, I suggest spending time on her level--just sit on the floor, read a book, maybe sit with a couple of treats next to you and let her come to you on her own. Rabbits are curious and if you're quiet, they'll eventually want to come over and see what's going on. My rabbit hates to be held but he'll sit next to me for twenty minutes while I pet him and will even shove his nose under my hand to make me keep going if I stop, lol. I only pick him up if I have to do so because I know he doesn't like it, and I want him to be happy and comfortable with me.

 

[silversky2668]

ilovepets wrote:

so i am trying to hold snickers rather than let her run, just until she lets me pick her up in her cage with ease again.... it took a while both times today to get her out of the cage. she jumps away form me again and again then if i am quick i can catch her. yesterday i just had her in my lap when i was on the computer and i did that today again, then i took her out a second time today to let her run in my room- picking her up often. then she starts getting naughty and running away from me. i try to use the command "stop" so i can pick her up, but she doesnt listen. so also nipped me today when she was in my room and i tried to pick her up. i know that this is the first day i am trying/ starting this,but i am doubtful that i will work. *sigh* when snickers is bad i am doubtful that i can fix it, when my birds are bad i can correct it right away because they listen so much better. despite my thoughts on the holding, i will still follow my motto of NEVER giving up on an animal, no matter what. any advice?

While some rabbits can learn what "no" means, it's not in a rabbit to want to please their owners...they're rather selfish creatures when it comes to us, I think. They don't care if they're being bad, which is why we have to rabbit-proof rooms and work around their actions rather than think we can train everything out of them. Because they don't think they're being bad--they're just being bunnies and they don't understand why we suddenly start shrieking and waving our arms around after they've just peed on the couch or chewed on our computer cable :halo. And Snickers isn't being bad when she runs from you. She's acting on her instinct, and she nipped you because she knew you were going to pick her up and was telling you "I don't like that."

I like these sites:

http://language.rabbitspeak.com/

http://www.fuzzy-rabbit.com/behaviourfaq.htm

Because it talks about how rabbits talk to you without being able to make many sounds and how we can figure out how to understand what they're trying to tell us. I think it's up to us to understand our rabbits, because if we don't, then we'll just get really frustrated, as your post says, lol.

 

[ilovepets]

silversky2668 wrote:

ilovepets wrote:

so i am trying to hold snickers rather than let her run, just until she lets me pick her up in her cage with ease again.... it took a while both times today to get her out of the cage. she jumps away form me again and again then if i am quick i can catch her. yesterday i just had her in my lap when i was on the computer and i did that today again, then i took her out a second time today to let her run in my room- picking her up often. then she starts getting naughty and running away from me. i try to use the command "stop" so i can pick her up, but she doesnt listen. so also nipped me today when she was in my room and i tried to pick her up. i know that this is the first day i am trying/ starting this,but i am doubtful that i will work. *sigh* when snickers is bad i am doubtful that i can fix it, when my birds are bad i can correct it right away because they listen so much better. despite my thoughts on the holding, i will still follow my motto of NEVER giving up on an animal, no matter what. any advice?

While some rabbits can learn what "no" means, it's not in a rabbit to want to please their owners...they're rather selfish creatures when it comes to us, I think. They don't care if they're being bad, which is why we have to rabbit-proof rooms and work around their actions rather than think we can train everything out of them. Because they don't think they're being bad--they're just being bunnies and they don't understand why we suddenly start shrieking and waving our arms around after they've just peed on the couch or chewed on our computer cable :halo. And Snickers isn't being bad when she runs from you. She's acting on her instinct, and she nipped you because she knew you were going to pick her up and was telling you "I don't like that."

I like these sites:

http://language.rabbitspeak.com/

http://www.fuzzy-rabbit.com/behaviourfaq.htm

Because it talks about how rabbits talk to you without being able to make many sounds and how we can figure out how to understand what they're trying to tell us. I think it's up to us to understand our rabbits, because if we don't, then we'll just get really frustrated, as your post says, lol.

thank you so much!!!