How to get house rabbit to outdoor run?

[VickityBoo]

He will not get into his carrier I've been trying on and off all morning! It's a gorgeous day he'd be happy outside but just getting him out there is a challenge.
How do you do it? He isn't a bunny who likes being picked up, tickles and cuddles are good but not picking up!

Can you throw a towel over him and scoop him up? Towel disorientates whilst you make the grab and gives you some protection from claws!!

Is that okay to do then? It won't scare him? He trusts me nicely at the moment, also I worry because I heard rabbits can suffer heart attacks.

Sorry, I'm sure it's good advice but I don't want to upset him!

just watch him alot, i had a house rabbit that was rubbish at cleaning itself outside and got flystrike :(

do you never pick it up at all?

Thank you for the tip. He does seem to clean himself an awful lot inside.

Southeastastra I have done but he doesn't like it so on advice I haven't pushed it.

i find it easier to cover their eyes with a tea towel or similar if you have to pick up a narky bunny, what they can't see doesn't seem to worry them

I'll give it a try then thanks!

Wow! He wasn't bothered one bit I expected him to flap (I certainly would!). He's now soaking up some lovely sunshine thank you.

We'd just open the back door and they'd hop outside if they were ready. Sometimes they just weren't in the mood and couldn't be convinced though. You could probably direct him to the run with some tunnels or something and maybe a foodie treat to tempt him. Obviously won't work if there are any potential escape routes or other dangers though.

Had to do this with a few of mine initially, and they're all still here to tell the tale!! Rabbits are very forgiving! Wrap his back legs as a good kick can cause spine damage (this has never happened to mine but is always warned about).

I use Rearguard on mine now as I had an incident with flystrike last year, said bun fully recovered but it was awful. The bunnies love the sun, my garden is full of half started burrowing efforts though!!!

You may have to tackle the picking up thing sooner rather than later, going to the vets etc is stressful enough without a battle beforehand getting him to his carrier! Enjoy!

The odd thing is, he has the run of the entire house BUT will not leave the room containing his hutch! I don't understand it. Must be a territory thing? The door's always open and we've tried placing tunnels half in half out, trailing food etc, he gets half way then turns around!

So, he can't just go outside when he wants because there aren't doors to the garden in that room!

How old is he and long have you had him?

*how long!

He's 6 months we've had him from 9 weeks old.

The room he's in now wasn't the first one, initially we had him in a different one so he's been in other areas of the house. He gets loads of attention too!

Funny things aren't they though! We have two and one is a born explorer and wants to check everything out and cause all sorts of trouble, the other will only go somewhere once her sister has done a proper reccie and reported back to her that it's safe.