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Trancing Rabbits
Why & How of
"Hypnotizing" Your
Rabbit
Putting your rabbit on his
back and watching him seemingly completely relax is often called
“trancing” or “hypnotizing” your rabbit. Actually, it is neither one.
Is your rabbit in bliss? Not really. The state you have put your rabbit
in is part of a bag of instinctual tricks to escape a predator. When a
rabbit is grabbed by a predator the rabbit will “freeze” and imitate
prey that has been killed… a dead rabbit. By doing this the rabbit
will boost its chances of escape and fatal injuries.
When the predator
drops the supposedly “dead” rabbit or just relaxes its hold a bit, the
rabbit will burst to life and try to escape. Rabbits will fight as a
last resort if this fails.
 Should you “trance” your rabbit? Yes, but with caution. Putting
a rabbit in this position makes clipping nails, checking the body and
head for abscesses and other problems easy. It is a useful way to
restrain the rabbit for a few minutes. I do it once a month.
Gather everything you need such as nail clippers, etc. close by before
putting the rabbit on its back. Put a towel on your lap and turn the
rabbit over. Be gentle! The rabbit will struggle, but this normally
doesn’t last long. Be sure the rabbit’s rump is higher than its head.
Soon the rabbit will drop its head back and become immobilized. If the
feet are shaking, just touch them and they should stop. The picture
on the left shows Pogo in the initial stages of a trance.
 Can your rabbit wake-up while tranced? You bet and in a burst of
energy just like it would if it were escaping a predator. It can feel
like your rabbit just exploded to life in your lap!
If I am clipping nails, sometimes I put my forearm gently in front of
the rabbit in case he wakes up.Be sure the head
stays lower than its hind end, but there are no guarantees. Pogo is
completely “tranced” in the picture on the right.
I work fast when I have a rabbit on its back. Check for any problems
with:
Teeth, Ears & Hocks (feet)
Then I carefully:
Clip nails and clean scent glands located on either side of the anus
(just a slit in the fur). Use a moistened cotton swap or cotton
ball for this. All this in less than 7 or 8 minutes…10 minutes
tops!
I hold the rabbit firmly and gently turn over when finished. Once on
the floor my rabbits normally hop away flipping out back legs at me.
Mr. Bumble always thumps once at me! Fortunately, I am forgiven quickly.
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