 Barked: Tue Nov 20, '12 4:21pm PST |
 | |  | | Ah, Tornado!  I miss that angry furball! I still have the scar on my thumb where he bit me as a kitten. It's hard to see, but it's there. He always reminded me of Buster (childhood rabbit), their personalities were so similar.
I think if someone is going to get an animal, they need to do as much research as possible into the species, they need to keep it in a species appropriate environment, feed it a species appropriate diet, and species appropriate training. Clicker training is the only method I know of that can be successfully used with different species of animal. Dolphins, horses, dogs, cats, and rabbits have all been successfully trained using that method.
The only problem with it is the click sometimes scares timid animals. I tried clicker training my oldest sisters dog, Echo, and she freaked out the first time she heard the click and since then, she associated that sound and clicker with evil. Every time she saw me pick up the clicker, she would tuck tail and run from me. I would assume a timid rabbit or other critter might possibly react the same way. But, it really is the only universal training method I'm aware of.
I'm not an expert on rabbits by any stretch of the imagination, I just love them. But, no one has to be an expert on rabbits to realize that pinning and alpha rolling a rabbit in order to show it you're the boss in the house is just plain stupid. It doesn't take an expert on rabbit behavior to realize that the rabbit you've just pinned or rolled on it's back is probably having a panic attack thinking it's about to die. Good luck with trust issues from now on! It's a great way to turn a gentle rabbit into a raging monster who will attack anything that tries to touch it.
I do put Ava onto her back on my lap in order to clip her nails, but I do it slowly and gently and if she shows the slightest fear, I let her turn over. This last time I clipped her nails I was able to clip all of them without her wanting to get up and she even fell asleep! I always look at it as a personal victory if I can get a rabbit to trust me. |  |  | |  |
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I have a small rabbit, and he currently gets to be our class pet. He loves being petted and given treats, but I make sure every single child knows to be gentle with him, not to push down on him...and no one is allowed to pick him up/hold him (there are times I'll put him on their laps when they are sitting quietly, or he will hop up to them if they sit still-he loves it when it is time for reading circle ). A bit extreme perhaps, some rabbits love to be held. But mine hates it (I believe his previous owner forced to lay on his back while she held him), so I do not see the point of forcing it on him, and I teach the children to respect the animal's wishes-even if they want to hold him (you don't always get what you want anyhoo). 
Even Snoopy the dog knows how to be gentle with bunnies. 
. It was unhandled and not used to humans so of course the solution is to pin in down by one hand on the back of its neck.
. The parrot's problem was that he was a macaw and he was kept in a tiny cage in a living room with little exercise or stimulation.
, though he also liked belly rubs on his own terms), but he was trying to go after my other cat so I held him down until he calmed down. I was surprised he didn't turn on me when I let him up (though I am the only one in my family he has never bitten), but he just flicked his tail, and acted like he hadn't been up to no good in the first place. Like, whatever. 
)wanted to know if rabbits landed on their feet like cats do. So he dropped both the rabbits over the side of the wall. They do not land on their feet like cats do...and to say the least, we made our dad (and the rest of our family) very unhappy with us. 
