Rabbit Handling | Best About How to Handle Your Rabbit

Although there are several ways of rabbit handling,there is no occasion on which a rabbit should not be handled gently but firmly. To allow a rabbit to feel insecure, and thus to cause it to struggle will often result in damage both to the animal and the handler The cars alone should never be used as the sole means of holding the rabbit.

 

The most common method is to grasp the ears close to the head with one hand, whilst the other hand takes the full weight of the rabbit. In fact, the hand holding the ears is really used for restraining and balancing the animal, the other hand taking the weight.

 

 

To pick up a rabbit by grasping the loose skin over the shoulders is not to be recommended, although often advised. If for some reason it is used, then again it should be used only as a means of balancing the weight of the animal on the other hand placed underneath it.

 

Some Tips Rabbit Handling

 

For young rabbits up to about 3 or 4 months, a suitable method of rabbit handling is to grasp the animal across the loins. This requires some practice, and is not suitable for large rabbits, and particularly, does in kindle. The fingers grasp the muscles on one side of the spine whilst the thumb grasps the muscles on the other side. Care must be taken that the internal organs are not damaged.

 

It is sometimes desirable to pick up a rabbit, particularly Lops, by placing the hand underneath the belly. Here again, the weight of the animal will be taken by placing the other hand over the rump. Rabbits should be removed or returned through small openings (for example a pen door at a show) in such a way that its claws cannot be caught in the side of the opening. Careless rabbit handling in such cases (for example by dragging the animal through the opening head first) may easily cause damage. The rabbit should therefore always be put through such opening hindquarters first.

 

 

If a rabbit has to be restrained when there is the possibility of struggling, for example when a wound has to be dressed, or when claws have to be clipped, it is advisable to wrap the animal securely in a cloth or sack. The rabbit must be wrapped up firmly otherwise the procedure is worse than not doing it at all.

 

Rabbit Handling Ways

 

To examine the belly or breast, the rabbit handling should be held firmly over the rump, with the other hand holding the ears in the normal fashion close to the head, the thumb lying across the skull in front of the ears.

 

It can then be turned over quite easily. In the same way, when sexing a large rabbit it is this method which is employed, but the animal can be laid on its back on a table, or on the lap of the attendant, or, if the handler’s accustomed to stock, the animal can simply be balanced on the open hand whilst the fingers Evert the sexual opening as described below.