Rabbit Rescue

[JBun]

Awww, she's such a cute little gal! Well, at least she looks little in that ginormous crate. She should still have tons of room in there even if she does grow a bit more. It's big enough that you could probably add a second level in there if you wanted to. It sounds like she's recovered well from her spay and she seems to be happy in her new home

 

[Misschief]

Dont mind the talking I was being a goose[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo4VjH27Zyk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo4VjH27Zyk[/ame]

 

[Toady]

I'm glad she's settling in, it is great watching them binky and play around. Don't worry about her lying on her side, my 3 do it all the time.

 

[Misschief]

I am totally and utterly smitten and infatuated with our little girl, she is still nameless but my god I love her.
So curious and such character, she is not shy at all, lastnight she came up to my dog through the glass and took him by suprise, being at the vets for so long has made her acustom to dogs and new smells which is excellent

 

[Misschief]

Bunny finally has a name we have called her Bug she is inquisitive, never sits still and impossible to catch so I will now start a blog about Bug.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

So cute. We buried my "Bug" in may--she made it to almost 14. Her name was Coal when she came to us, but I started calling her Coleoptera (genus beetle) or Bug.

 

[Misschief]

Its a cool name and it suits her, she is a little bug and she gets soexcited when we come to chill out with her in the morning and at nights, I'mpretty disappointed one of our dogs has had such a bad prey drive reaction toher because it means we have to be super super careful about the distancebetween them and that the dog never really sees her until we can desensitiseher a little to Bug, Bug is in a spare house so it makes it a lot easier but Ifeel pretty mean that she cant spend time outside just yet..... is it cruel tohave a bunny inside 24/7? we do take her out for 2 hours a day to run aroundthe house and get into all sorts of mischief.

 

[Misschief]

What is a safe way to pick up a bunny who hates being picked up, I have some quite bad scratches and it distresses her for me to pick her up but she doesnt go back in the crate so i need to pick her up and put her in, its not safe for her though

 

[HolyHandGrenade]

When I absolutely need to pick Monty up to get her to her crate immediately, I squat down so my chest is parallel to her back and use two hands--one under her chest directly behind her front legs, and the other on her lower belly in front of her and lift her straight up so she's against my tummy/chest. She doesn't like it, but she kicks less that way than when I try to cradle her. I then remain kinda hunched while I quickly scoot toward wherever I'm taking her, then set her down on all fours with her front feet in her crate.

As she grew, I got her used to coming to her crate for a treat. She started out really liking to get a papaya tablet, so I'd shake the container and say "Come on Monty, let's go home" and I transitioned to using something like a fresh herb or a leaf of lettuce. I keep the routine regular and she caught on. At first, I'd need to get her attention by letting her sniff the offered treat, and pull it away so she'd keep stepping closer, while repeating the verbal prompt. She only got the whole treat when she got into her crate. If she lost interest en route and laid down or turned away, I'd walk away for a couple minutes and then try again. See if you can start luring Bug in a similar way Bunnies are very food-motivated!

 

[JBun]

Training her with treats or using feeding time to lure her back to her cage would be the easiest way to get her back in.

Alot of people on here don't let their rabbits outside. I will once a while in the summer in the mornings or evenings, but not really in the winter, which is what it is here, just cause I don't want to stand out in the cold. I'm sure it might be fun for Bug, but it won't hurt her to not go out. Can't wait to read your blog about her

 

[Misschief]

Thanks guys for the advice, much appreciated! im finding it so hard to apply the same training techniques for a dog to a rabbit hahah it just required a lot more patience and is not so fast in response time.... lastnight the binking was crazy!! she found out that couches are awesome and loved being up there then decided to bink on my boyfriend he was a little freaked but thought it was funny as. I just hate having to break that trust by picking her up so thanks for the tips.