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My parents adopted a very young white rabbit several months ago and have been raising it since. Late this year, I plan to do a stage show and would love to include a rabbit of my own in the performance. I thought about letting my parents' little Thumper star in the show, but she's far too hard to handle--you can pet her and hold her, but carrying her any distance gets her nervous (and gets you scratched).

Do any of you active stage magicians have experience raising your own animals? How can a rabbit, for instance, be conditioned to be comfortable through the necessary trials and tribulations of a stage hare?

"Theoretical" responses, while welcome, aren't going to help much.

Thanks,
Rob

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/training.html

hehe

You just need to get them used to being handled and around people.

If she's nervous being carried, try starting by carrying her just a short distance, talking calmly to her all the time and when you're finished give her a little treat. Gradually increase the distance and eventually she'll be comfortable with it.

If you're going to use her in a stage show, you need to make sure she's comfortable with all the noise, lights, people etc as those can be very stressful for an animal. You could try having someone holding her at the back of the room during a performance to get her used to that and then eventually having her on the stage in a box.

Take it very slowly, and remember that not all animals will ever be happy on a stage environment, it's just too stressful for them.

I found giving the rabbit a little bit of Valium before the show does the trick..

taneous wrote:I found giving the rabbit a little bit of Valium before the show does the trick..

Does the trick?? haha i get it!

Thanks, Lady of Mystery, for the serious response. Do you think it would be better to raise one myself from a baby (or whatever you call a baby rabbit) or work with my parents'?

I dont think you want to treat you parents like rabbits Rob, I don't think they would take too kindly to that

Seriously, I dont think it matters, as long as you give the little hairball enough time to 'take in' his new surroundings, animals are pretty good at adapting to their environment

Increasingly in magic, animals such as rabbits and doves are seen less of, mainly I believe due to animal rights.

I don't really think it's a good thing to do in an act these days.

You may just want to can the whole project!

Seriously now (couldn't resist the last post) I used to perform with a live rabbit or a guinae pig in my kid's show. That worked fine when I was doing, say, one kid's show a month - but when I started doing a lot of kid's shows - sometimes 2 or 3 in a row, it became a bit of a mission - and not so fair on the rabbit. I eventually bought a spring rabbit and never looked back.

Most of the time the kids would think it was real - in fact if you animate it right it can look even more real than a real rabbit. Real rabbits aren't usually that interesting unless they decide to - well let's not go there. At the end of the show I just threw it in my box and it lived there until the next show. I never had to worry about producing a dead rabbit and the thing used to keep really still until it was produced (I would've been pretty freaked if it hadn't)

RobLaughter wrote:Do you think it would be better to raise one myself from a baby?

I'd say that goes with the whole nature vs. nurture thing. I think if you raise a baby rabbit and bring it to crowded places regularly it will become accustomed to them, but it also has to have a tolerance for a lot of business to begin with.

You'd be suprised how quickly rabbits learn.

I normally start with 8 and shoot the slowest learner after each week. This normally yields at least 4 world class magic rabbits within a month

When performing with rabbits, never hand a smart alec speccy who thinks they can shuffle the cards with their feet and ask them:

"Take the cards and give em a good mix in your toesies."

Am I the only one being serious on this thread? That's got to be a turn up for the books.

I don't really like the idea of using animals in magic, personally so would kind of urge against it. But as far as training goes, how old is your parents bunny? Younger ones are always going to be easier to train than older ones.

That's right. As the saying goes, you can't teach an old hare new tricks.

I pitched up at a show a few years ago and the host proudly told me that he couldn't pull a rabbit out of a hat, but he could pull a hair out of his ear.. Unfortunately I've never forgotten that.

PS. - I was being serious about the spring rabbit.