How to Make a Bunny Burrito (step-by-step)(for pet rabbits)

It’s time to get in the kitchen and learn how to make a yummy, veggie burrito for your bunny.

Just kidding! 

A bunny burrito is a technique where you wrap your bunny in a towel in a way that makes them look similar to a burrito. It’s used to immobilize your rabbit when you need to take care of them. For example, when you need to feed them medicine or critical care. 

What is a bunny burrito?

Learning to make your bunny into a ‘burrito’ is a basic skill that everyone is expected to know, but no one is ever taught. They’ll say to just wrap your rabbit in a towel, but I’m sure by now that you’ve realized it’s not as easy as that. Your rabbit always manages to wiggle out.

The bunny burrito is a specific technique you can use to safely and snuggly wrap up your rabbit. It’s similar to swaddling a baby; the gentle cocoon of the towel keeps them from struggling and hurting themselves, but it also becomes a comforting pressure for the rabbit.

How to burrito a rabbit

You don’t need any special supplies for making a bunny burrito. A standard size bath towel is the only thing you need. Don’t use a small dish towel or hand towel, since they won’t wrap around your rabbit enough to have a secure hold.

I also recommend wrapping your rabbit on a high surface, such as a table or countertop. This will help to keep your rabbit from hopping away while you try to burrito them. During this whole process you want to stand directly behind your rabbit to keep them from backing off of the surface.

1. Put the towel flat on your surface then put your rabbit on top of the towel. Try to place your rabbit closer to one side of the towel instead of directly in the center. This will help ensure you have enough towel to wrap all the way around later. 
2. Pet your rabbit to calm them down. Spend a couple minutes to pet your rabbit and calm them down. The flatter they are against the towel, the more securely the towel will be able to hold them and keep their feet pinned underneath.
3. Fold over the front of the towel. You want it to be above your rabbit’s paws, but under their chin. Don’t want to pull it so tight, since you don’t want to choke your rabbit, but you want to make sure your rabbit’s paws can’t shake free.
4. Fold over the shorter side of the towel around your rabbit, then tuck it under their abdomen. Lift your rabbit’s body to tuck the towel under and let the rabbit’s weight keep it pinned down. Ensure that the front of the towel is still covering your rabbit’s paws.
5. Lift the back portion of the towel up, over the rabbit’s bottom. This will keep the rabbit from backing out of the burrito. It will also help prevent your rabbit from injuring themselves by backing up off the side of the table.
6. Continue wrapping the length of the towel all the way around your rabbit. Wrap it as many times as it will go, gently lifting the rabbit to tuck the towel underneath. Make sure the towel is snug as your rabbit, but not so tight that it causes your rabbit distress.

Never leave your wrapped rabbit unattended. Without you there to hold everything together, your rabbit might try to squirm out of the burrito and in doing so may accidentally fall and injure themself. So, it’s best to have everything you need ready to go so that you can quickly give it to your rabbit and let them free again.

When should you wrap your rabbit?

While this is an excellent technique to have in your arsenal for rabbit care, you probably won’t need to use it very often unless you have a rabbit with frequent health problems.  For example, I had to give my elderly rabbit, Tenshi, her arthritis medication every day. Tenshi was pretty stubborn, so I had to wrap her in a burrito to make sure she would take the medication.

The main times you will need to use the bunny burrito technique include:

• Giving medicine: When you’re giving your rabbit medicine, the wrap can prevent struggling and ensure an accurate dose is administered.
• Feeding critical care: if your rabbit isn’t eating or is recovering from an illness, the vet will often recommend feeding critical care via syringe to keep your rabbit eating.
• Nail Trimming front paws: If you’re seriously struggling to trim your rabbit’s nails. You can slightly alter the rabbit burrito to allow your rabbit’s front paws to poke out a bit. However, this will not work for trimming back paws. (learn more about how to trim a rabbit’s nails)
• Weighing: If you have a pet scale and can’t get your rabbit to sit still, you can burrito them for an accurate weight. Don’t forget to weigh the towel separately too, so you can subtract that from the combined weight.