Do you hold/pick up your buns??

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Do your bunnies like to be held?

  • Yes

  • Sometimes

  • Can sort of be held, but not actually be carried around.

  • No

  • My buns would NEVER let me hold them!!!!!!!!!!


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Hyatt101

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Do you hold or pick up your buns? I can hold 3 of them, but the other 2 don't like being picked up, only petted, although they would sit on your lap.

How about you guys?
 
Bella is fine with being held and carried round, Buckley is ok with being picked up but only to put into his carrybox i can't just hold him and carry him around.. But Bonnie, Alice and Casey are a no no! They scratch me like mad!! To check their bums and clip their nails i just stroke them and wait for them to flop on the floor then i just clip, then stroke, clip then stroke lol :)
 
I wouldn't say mine *like* to be picked up, but they've been trained to tolerate it. if I'm holding them (as opposed to carrying them around), preferably sitting and petting them lots, they forget for a bit they don't like it. also, when it was chilly out last week and I had them outside, I held Nala in my lap and snuggled her in my hoodie for quite a while and my neighbor snuggled Gaz under a fleece blanket and they seemed quite content.

flipping them on their backs is a different story... Nala doesn't seem bothered by it, though she can be a little squirmy sometimes and on rare occasions a little punk (her back end got loose this morning while I was trimming her nails and she managed to kick me in the jaw). Gaz does NOT like it at all - she's very still and tolerant, but I can tell by her breathing/heart rate that it stresses her out so I try to be as quick as possible about clipping her nails (would be easier without her pulling her paws out of my hand sometimes) and generous with the craisins. it's pretty cute how she'll practically inhale a craisin like she's starving to death in the midst of her "I'm stressed, mommy!" display :p
 
Derby is one of the least social rabbits we have had, but he is getting better. He will allow you to pick him up and pack him upstairs or down, but to just sit beside you is still a learning process. As for being picked up and just held, you can count to about 5 before he starts to struggle to get down. At night he quite often jumps on the bed and lays on the head board ( it has shelves ) and the last couple of weeks he has been laying beside us for a 10 minute pet. I actually find this pretty encouraging as both Benjamin and Nicholas were bed snuggle bunnies. Maybe there is hope for him yet. lol
 
Qtip LOVES to be held. However, she's a weirdo. She'll only tolerate being held on her back, like a baby. But if you flip her, you get tooth purrs and snuggles until you put her down. I guess I'm lucky in that regard...she's really easy to catch and scoop up if need be.
 
Yeah Bella is the same.. If she escapes from her run she will literally come running to me and I'll scoop her up and she'll lick my face all over. So cute :)
 
Aww! We had a bunny who you could only hold if you wrapped him in a towel, and held him on his back like a baby.... I miss him! his name was Bailey, and he was one of the nicest rabbits we've ever owned!
 
Georgie's working on it. I can pick her up and carry her around without a struggle but it's the getting to pick her up that's the tricky part. If she senses you have the least intention of pick up time she's outta there! And you get the bunny cold shoulder for a little while after putting her down so it's certainly not something she enjoys. :rollseyes
 
Some of ours aren't a fan of it, but I make a point of slowly teaching them that it's okay to be picked up and carried around. I always want to make sure that if there's some sort of emergency, the rabbits are alright being carried around without freaking out.

Some of ours love it though. Babbitty in particular is constantly around peoples feet and standing up to be picked up. If you're sitting down he's always right in your lap :)
 
Shiny Things is MUCH better about being held than Beauty. She is learning to come when called. When she comes she knows that she is going to get a treat and be pet. But she also just likes to sit next to me and for me to pet her. She will sometimes come running and jummping on my bed and want to be pet. She is also decent with being carried around (though I do not carry my bunnies much at all, just not a need for it). Beauty on the other hand stands being pet. She will not let me hold her for more than 3 seconds though. I will admit that I have not worked with her as much as I should have. I tend to focus on Shiny Things because of her personality and because she is one of the rabbits that I breed a few years ago. Also I worked SOOOOOO much harder to get her than Beauty.

Sorry that I went off topic. But to sum it up Shiny Things likes it and Beauty does not.
 
I think it's easy to focus on bonding with the more friendly rabbit, because they're easier to handle, I've done the same thing too! :)
 
Of my 3 buns only Freckles can be picked up and held. It's clear that he was handled in the shelter before i adopted him, thank goodness. But even he doesn't like it much. Fortunately for nail trims and such I put them into a carrier and hubby and I trim nails on a table. He holds, I trim. Humma on the other hand is a piggy so I just trim his while he chows down, easy peasy. All 3 of my buns were throwaways, and Faith's previous home was horrible for her. So the fact that I am able to get proper maintenance tasks done on her at all is a blessing in my opinion. Well, even though they aren't very huggy, they're all sweeties and I love them :biggrin:
 
Oh Harvey's a big love about being petted. Doesn't like to be held, so I try to keep it to when I only have too. Ugh and getting ready to pick him up is a beast haha. He settles fine, if he wants. But he gets very annoyed at me for doing it.
 
My Conan dislikes it but is being trained to tolerate it. My wife mentioned the other day she picked him up with little issue but me he struggles with. As it is I doubt he'll ever like it or let it happen without some resistance or displeasure.
 
Milo has no problem being held. He'll actually jump on my lap if I'm sitting on the couch. You can bear hug him and he's great with it. He knows how to let me know when he wants down as well. Sometimes, he really doesn't want to be held and will squirm like crazy - making it hard to put him back down with control. In that case I have to restrain him a little until I can let him down safely. This happens only rarely, thankfully. The worst struggle I get is at nail trim time. I actually have scars from that lol.

Sarah
 
Becky and Panda demand to be held and snuggled. Earlier tonight I was holding Bunnicula and Panda kept nudging me and nibbling my pants until it was his turn. The rest of them like it, particularly when they get massages, but don't insist. They weren't always snuggly, but over time and lots of massages they grew to really enjoy it. The snacks probably help too :)
 
If I could keep my buns inside, they would be a lot tamer. The thing is, my dad is allergic to them...

Zaeo is skittish. He is getting better, but he used to really jump whenever I would lay a hand on him. He won't let me hold him very often.

Mossy is better about being held and petted. The only thing is that he has made a habit of running to the back of the cage when I open the door :p
 
Nibbles doesn't really like to be picked up. He will tolerate it and kind of sit there, but if you are sitting and he sees a way out he usually takes it lol. He likes being pet though :)
 

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