why-animals-do-the-thing:

vviiral:

becausedragonage:

herwinnen:

herwinnen:

Do not put your bunny on it’s back.

It may seem ‘‘relaxed’‘ or ‘‘sleeping’‘, but this is incredibly unhealthy.

They are  in a state of tonic immobility and are not relaxed, hypnotized, or insensitive to pain.

Scientists believe that this is a defense mechanism brought on when a rabbit has already been ‘caught’ by a predator. If the rabbit appears dead, the predator may release its grip momentarily and allows the rabbit to escape. Research has shown that rabbits in this state show an increased heart and respiratory rate with elevated plasma corticosterone levels, indicative of fear-induced stress.

The stress caused by this position can be fatal if rabbits are already suffering from respiratory and cardiovascular disease, and the sudden transition to from passive and active escape can be unpredictable and instantaneous which can result in significant injury to the rabbit. Sudden noise or painful stimuli can interrupt the trance and there is considerable variation in individual susceptibility to the technique

Your rabbit will display the following behaviors if it is tranced:

• Closed eyes
• Shallow fast breathing
• Relaxed limbs

It’s honestly sickening to see people buying bunnies for their cuteness and softness, but not educating themselves on how to actually take care of it. If you keep trancing your bunny on purpose or bathing it, you deserve to have your pets taken away from you.

Reblogging because Easter is coming and there are always people who blindly buy a bunny for their kids on Easter without educating themselves on how to take care of it. This is just another example on what NOT to do.

Same thing with chickens. It’s not cute. they aren’t relaxed. Stop doing this to rabbits and chickens. 

@why-animals-do-the-thing

is this all true? because i see rabbit handlers do this a lot.

It’s legit, and not a kind thing to do to your bun.