On scuffing: I’m not sure about rabbits but for cats, scruffing is never a good idea, and you can seriously hurt a cat by lifting it from its scruff. Only a mother cat knows how to scruff kittens without hurting them, and adult cats are so heavy that they can suffocate from hanging from their scruff! You can scruff them a bit to restrain them so you don’t get bit but it’s very frowned upon in the veterinary community.
For my buns, I take one hand and slot my thumb and forefinger across their chest and under their armpits, and then use my other hand to scoop up their bum and then lift them up. From there , if I sit down I can have them in my lap and use my hand under their bum to curve them so I can see between their legs. If they start kicking out, flip them back over, or use the hand that’s been freed from the bum by having them rest on your legs to press down on their feet and give them something to push against.
^someone clipping Delilah’s nails at a grooming booth. Delilah has pretty much no chill whatsoever but tolerates this rather well. As long as you let them keep their heads upright and don’t lie them down flat on their backs they seem less scared. This woman has Delilah’s front legs held together in her one hand but still has some free fingers to steady her foot.
Flies: Sciaridae, or fungus gnats, are a problem I’ve had before in my apartment. I’m on the 9th floor so we rarely get bugs, but they came in with some potted plants. I had that under control and we only saw one or two... until one day there were like 3-4... and the next day there were 10-20... and the day after that there were HUNDREDS. Absolutely SWARMING.
Fungus gnats like moist environments and eat decomposing material, which makes them harmless to bunnies but drives humans ABSOLUTELY BONKERS. They ignore vinegar traps that would catch fruit flies, and they are attracted to the moisture in your mouth, nose, and eyes.
It turns out, I had a small garbage bin I used when cleaning out the litter box. And the one day, I’d been cleaning out the litter and the bag wasn’t completely full, so I didn’t want to waste it and toss it half-empty. So I put the lid on the garbage bin and left it.
Well, the process of decomposition releases moisture, which condensed on the underside of the lid and walls of the bin. Moisture and decomposing material: perfect for fungus gnats. I originally thought they were coming from the litter boxes until I began cleaning them, opened the bin, and a CLOUD of bugs came out.
I completely cleaned out the litter boxes, soaked them with vinegar, wiped down everything with lots more vinegar, and vacuumed up all the flies. The bin got banished outside. The next day, no more flies.