(bright music) - Hi, I am Karen Kalunian, and today we're gonna talk about proper rabbit handling.

♪ Hey oh-oh-oh-oh ♪ ♪ Oh-oh ♪ Hi everyone.

We're gonna talk to you a little bit today about rabbit handling with Kara Montalbano from the Potter League.

She's gonna show you how to properly pick up the rabbit because we know that when folks get their new pet rabbits home, of course the kids tend to wanna pick them up and so there's is a proper way to do it without scaring them.

Some rabbits don't like to be held, so that's another thing you're gonna wanna talk to your adoption counselor about if you come into the Potter League.

So, Kara, here we have our little buddy over here who's very sweet and has been used to being handled.

So this will be a little bit different, but if you could just show folks sort of the best way and always, approaching slowly I'm sure, because any quick movement can scare any animal.

- Yes, so, what we wanna, what we call is like, almost like a rabbit cradle.

Rabbit vertebrae are very fragile so they can get hurt and injured very easily.

So what we wanna do, what I'm gonna do, is go underneath to hold and brace them underneath, and then hold them on top.

So, she might kick a little, we'll see, but that's also very important when picking them up.

So I'm gonna go underneath and I'm gonna hold her on top so that she can't jump out of my arms, because sometimes if, you know, like I said, she's used to being held but sometimes if they're not so used to being held they may try to jump a little.

But, you know, she was, there we go.

So now she's secure, she's against my- - She's comfortable.

- She's comfortable.

- You can see that she just settled right into your little sort of cradle, like you said.

That's a good way to explain it.

- And I can walk if I need to you know, if I'm moving her, she's secure from underneath.

- From a play area to her hutch or whatever.

- Yeah, we always suggest, obviously, if you're moving them, you know, ought to use a carrier, it's safer.

So she doesn't jump if she gets spooked or hears any sound.

But right now she's safe and- - She looks so happy and comfortable!

- So soft.

So yeah, so this is the safest and this is how we teach you know, our staff and volunteers to hold them, you know, for safety.

- And it's good practice too, with your kids at home to do it from the floor.

Whereas instead of trying to pick up from a higher point in case, like you said, they do jump at least if she sort of hops from there, she's closer to the ground and it's, again I think a lot of it is your calm demeanor and not trying to be so nervous and fidgety and just sort of letting them know that they are secure in that spot.

- Yep, and it's okay if they don't wanna be held.

Or picked up, you know?

I think some rabbits aren't like picked up or held.

- You can play with them in different aspects.

You don't necessarily always have to hold, but most of them seem to like to be pet, so, and they are so soft.

So that's the fun part of having a rabbit.

And if you were going to put the rabbit back down it's sort of the best way.

- Yep, so again, I'm still cradling and I'm putting her down so that, you know, all feet are on the ground before I let go.

- [Both] And there she goes.

- And she's gonna go pop around and have some fun.

So for more tips like this you can always check out the Potter League and they can show you how to hold your bunny rabbit and pick up any other small animals.

Thank you so much, Kara.

- Of course, thank you.

- [Karen] To watch more videos like this, visit ripbs.org/animaltalk.