my rabbit seems to be fine, then will randomly act like im going to hurt her.

Question
Ive had my rabbit for about a year, and she was young when i got her. i worked with her a little bit, but haven't had alot of time lately. I expected her to be slightly skiddish, but she seems to have two personalities! one minute she will be perfectly fine with me petting her, and the next she freaks out when i reach to pet her side, and grips to the floor with all her might to keep me from touching her. and sometimes she will let me pick her up and pet her, and other times she fights until she finally scratches her way out of my arms. i was just wondering if there was anything that i could do to keep her calmer when im working with her so that she doesn't have those random outburts... and when she does if there is anything i can do to keep them from being so severe?
thanks =]

Answer
Hi Cassie,

well the behavior you describe sounds pretty normal.  Rabbits aren't that excited about being pet on their sides. They really don't like it when your hand starts touching their back leg or rear hock area.  

Rabbits may not warm up to being picked up.  Most rabbits I know do not like being picked up or held for periods of time.  The fact you have had less time to interact with her lately does not help things.  

So, it looks like you have a normal rabbit that doesn't like being touched in certain places and does not like being picked up.  You need to have a reason to pick them up, you should not be just picking them up without a reason to do so, especially if you have a rabbit that you know does not enjoy it.  By doing it only when necessary you also reduce the risk of her suffering an unnecessary injury.

There are things you can do to make things easier.  When she is on the floor, using a towel to wrap her up before a pickup can help.  Or if you are picking up from the cage, have a towel draped over the shoulder of the side you will hold her on, and then wrap her up once she's on you.

The other thing is that rabbits tend to increase struggles when held if you don't have them securely enough (ie not crushing them because you can hurt them, but a snug hold).  This is why towels work because they cna snug them up without crushing them.

You should also give her a small treat after being picked up.  She (like most rabbits) does not like this, but she will learn to tolerate it better if she is rewarded with a small amount of her favorite treat.

As for petting on her sides, I'd hold off doing that now as she has expressed to you that she does not like this kind of pet from you right now.  Trust me, you've had her for only one year.  Trust issues take time.  Down the road she may tolerate you petting her in different areas.  I've got one rabbit who's taken years to build up trust in us.  Each have a different personality.

The other thing to do is relax before thinking about picking her up.  Rabbits pick up stress and our body language as a prey animal.  If you're nervous or tense before you pick her up she's cue-ing off of that.  that stresses her out.  So when you can, take a few minutes before even thinking about picking her up, to just pet her, talk to her soothingly, (act like you normally do around her) and then without a lot of fanfare gently pick her up.  To make this work better, you need to spend at least 3-4 times a day 3-5 minutes of petting her and talking to her, but NOT picking her up.  You don't want to do this ONLY when you pick her up.  You want to more often NOT pick her up doing this petting/talking for 3-5 minutes, than the times you actually pick her up.  Otherwise she will learn whenever you start doing this she's going to get picked up.

Bottom line, you have a normal rabbit - and normal rabbits don't like being picked up and held.  You only need to do it when necessary.  When you do it, get her relaxed first.  Don't hold her longer than you need to.  When it's over, give her a little treat to end the experience on a good note.  She will be happier and the trust she has in you will not be harmed.

My final suggestion to help build trust in you is to spend more time on her level - the floor.  WHen she's out playing get down with her instead of trying to bring her up to you.  It is hard when we have a pet that is so naturally cute to want to hold them, but that is not their nature.  We have to respect it and they have to learn to tolerate it - but we can help make it more tolerable by doing it infrequently, only as needed, and a little treat for a positive ending.  

Lee