Rabbit Handling

Rabbits Hate Being Picked Up—And That’s Normal (At First)

Here’s the bit no one puts on the pet shop leaflet: rabbits don’t like being picked up.

Not at first. Not naturally. Not instinctively.
And not because you’re doing it wrong—but because to a rabbit, being lifted equals being caught.

You’re triggering millions of years of survival instinct. Hawks don’t ask permission. Foxes don’t wait until the rabbit’s ready. So when your hands come in from above, the rabbit’s brain doesn’t go “cuddle time”—it goes “I’m about to die.”

It doesn’t matter how gentle you are. Or how quiet the room is. Or whether you used to have one that “loved being picked up” (it probably didn’t—it just froze and gave up).
This isn’t disobedience. It’s evolutionary defence.

Think of It Like Vertigo—But for Survival

Some describe it as a kind of vertigo—and while that’s not quite right biologically, it’s accurate enough emotionally.

When you lift a rabbit, you’re taking away its footing, removing every escape route, and placing it entirely at your mercy. It’s not the height—it’s the helplessness.

Imagine being picked up ten feet in the air by something five times your size. No control, no footing, no guarantee of safety. That’s how it feels to a rabbit—unless you handle them the right way.

Fear Is Normal—But It’s Meant to Be Replace

This fear is natural. But it’s not permanent.
Handled correctly, calmly, and early, rabbits learn that being picked up isn’t a prelude to panic—it’s a manageable, even neutral, experience.

Handled regularly—but safely—they build trust.
Handled rarely—and badly—they become unhandleable.

You’re not removing the instinct. You’re retraining the response.

This is why we pick up rabbits from the start. Not constantly. Not to cuddle. But to show them that being lifted isn’t dangerous. That they’ll be supported, held close, and put back down again without incident. That it’s routine—not trauma.

Welfare Isn’t Hands-Off

You’ll often hear: “Don’t pick them up unless absolutely necessary.”
That advice is well-meaning—but dangerously incomplete.

Because in real life, rabbits need to be handled:

• You must check for flystrike daily in summer
• You must administer medication, inspect wounds, trim nails
• You must vaccinate
• And sometimes, you need to intervene fast

If your rabbit panics at every touch, or bolts every time you lift it, that’s not protection. It’s a welfare risk in waiting.

Welfare isn’t about avoiding handling—it’s about doing it properly.

A Domestic Rabbit Can Live 12 Years or More

Wild rabbits are lucky to see their second birthday.
Domestic rabbits—if cared for properly—can live well beyond twelve.

But that doesn’t happen on good intentions alone.

You can’t check a rabbit’s health from across the room.
You can’t spot problems through a playpen fence.
And you can’t give treatment to a rabbit that’s never learned to accept your hands.

If we’re going to give them safety, we also have to give them preparedness.

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✅ Train the Rabbit You Want to Care For

• Pick them up regularly—but briefly
• Support both ends—chest and bum
• Keep them close to your body
• Let them hide their head if they need to
• And wait until they stop struggling—then put them down

Over time, they learn: “I’m safe. I’m not being hunted. I’m not being hurt.”

And that’s the rabbit you can care for when it matters most.

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about you.