Choosing Your Rabbit
Who Lives With Who?
Housing
Feeding
Handling
Breeding
Pregnancy
The New Litter
Surrogacy
Hand-Rearing
Health
Vets Bills
Pictures

Handling Your Rabbit 

When you first get your new rabbit, you will probably want to hold it and cuddle it.  This is very natural since it is one of the most cuddly of all pets.  Happily, handling a rabbit makes it even more tame and friendly.  Make sure that you are doing it correctly.  If your rabbit is still a baby, pick it up with both hands.  Slip one hand under the chest, and use the other to support the hindquarters.  When the rabbit has grown older, use one hand to hold the loose skin over the shoulders and pick him up with the other hand under the rump.  Never pick up a rabbit by the ears.

Your new rabbit is like a new baby and should be treated as such.  It is best not to handle it too much when you first get it home or invite lots of friends to see it.  You will be tempted to do this because you'll want to show off your new pet, but this should be done gradually as it becomes more accustomed to having people around it.

You must explain to small children that your rabbit is different from the soft toys they throw around their rooms or pick up by the ears or tail.  Show them the proper way to handle it.  A rabbit handled incorrectly may kick with its strong hind legs and cause injury.  Never let a child younger than six carry a rabbit - put the rabbit on the child's lap instead.  Follow these rules, and the rabbit's introduction to your home will be a happy one.

On returning a rabbit to its hutch the best method is to lower it in hind feet first. It is then impossible for the rabbit to kick out and inflict a scratch on the handler.

You can regularly groom you new pet as this will also make it more friendly and removes molting hairs.

I have had a few rabbits that I 'adopted' from various people who no longer wanted them and it has been apparent that they were not handled from an early age and so were not used to it. I never did gain the trust of some and they would go for me even when I was just putting food in their cage. I even had one that used to growl at me like a dog! Nevertheless I gave the rabbits a good home, I was just never able to cuddle them and pick them up.