how to paralyze a rabbit

[wiwbar]

Our 4 year old mini rex has alot of strange behavious. He will nip you to see if it is flesh to lick you, he will sprint out of his large indoor cage/hutch when you turn the tv off around 10 oclock to go to bed as he knows he will soon be locked in for the night.

Most peculiar is when he curls in your arm on his back and you gently cup your hand over his head/eyes he is motionless/rigid.When you take your hand off his eyes are closed shut and it feels like he is sound asleep after just 10 seconds. If you hold your hand there for a few minutes he will "sleep" for many minutes. When he wakes up he seems to be a bit sluggish but he will be happy to jump away after a while when he "wakes"

Is he sleeping, does anyone else have a sleeping/paralyzed/rigamourtous rabbit?

 

[wiwbar]

Also Sammy is like a garbage can, he will eat anything , this is besides meat of course.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

The term is "trancing" and you can do it with most rabbits. We have a mini-rex and an E lop mix that are both chow hounds too.

 

[wiwbar]

Ya that is what it looks like a trance, thanks. Am I being cruel? If only rabbits could talk.

Regarding food, he will follow me around the house and attack me for anything I am eating. When the door opens when I get home from work he will charge up the stairs with his little paws just about tripping over one another as he wants to be fed. Still have snow at Mt. Charleston?

 

[newbunny]

I wonder if its cruel too? Does all the blood rush to their little heads and they wish we would just stop? We do this to our rabbits every once in a while too. When we adopted our last bunny, they showed us how to do it? I guess it calms them down?

 

[wiwbar]

I just wonder with all the eyepopping, eye straining neck twisting and on gaurd behaviour they do as a lil guy at the bottom of the food chain if they are blissed out by the darkness and peace and just relax. Never know I guess

 

[Flick]

Trancing a rabbit is a little bit controversial. Some people say it's cruel because it's a defense mechanism used when a rabbit thinks something is going to eat him. Other people say there's nothing cruel about it and that it's actually relaxing for the rabbit. I have no opinion one way or another about it, however, none of my rabbits will trance for more than a few seconds, if that long. If they would trance I would certainly do it for nail clipping and removing mats, etc.

Of my 4 rabbits, Honey (French Lop) will eat anything I put in front of her. However, she's a rescue (as are all of my rabbits) and was probably about 5 years old when I got her. She would eat her pellets so fast I was afraid she'd choke on them. I've had her almost a year, and she has slowed down. I think she was not fed consistently in her previous home, and therefore became very "food oriented". I got my other 3 rabbits when they were less than a year old, so they did not experience a long time of food deprivation. They are more picky eaters than Honey is. They eat the veggies they like best and leave the others. They may or may not finish their veggies and/or pellets. They're just really not worried about food.

I've had rabbits nip me to discover what that is in front of them. They do not see well directly in front of their noses since their eyes are on either side of their heads. They have a blind spot. So, they'll "nose bonk" you or nip to find out what that is.

Rabbits are very scheduled and he knows, as you said, that it's time for bed and he doesn't want to go. Pixel used to jump into her condo, grab a lettuce leaf and jump out of the condo to keep from getting locked up in it. They are very clever little guys.

 

[Sweetie]

Very true. They are very clever. They can figure things out very quickly.

 

[warminwisco]

Great replys, we got him at a pet store very little and maybe he was deprived of food? when i wake to toss him a handfull, bout a big 1/4 cup of foor in the AM he is like a thoroughbred at Pimleco or the Preakness. All the other thigns you said make great sense. we fed him carrots, lettuce celery leaves and such when we get hiome from work.

i can trance him endlessly and he looks just so calm and relaxed. the trance will last for minutes if i cup his eyes for a couple minutes.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

I can very, very easily trance Snuff! He's just a cooperative cutie patootie. Lay him on his back in my lap to do what I need to do, check his feet, give him meds. Some buns will fight trancing. Not a bad thing that I've ever heard.