my new bunny is VICIOUS!! Y

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lil2rich4u2

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Ok i had a rabbit for 5yrs or so and he died. Ilove having the rabbit and i love the fact that i somewhat saved hislife by buying him or adopting him, whichever the case may be.

I went to the store with the intent of getting 2 small bunnies to keepeach other company, i often felt bad for working long days when i hadjust the one. They had a guinea pig and a rabbit in one cage and theywere doing fine so i took the both of them, I have a large cage.

Ok there is really no problem with them fighting, however i think theguinea pig is very scared in there with him, he doesnt move very much(or maybe this is normal?).

My bunny however is a vicious little thing! The secondi putmy hand in the cage to play with either of them, the rabbit dashesacross the cage from wherever he is, and it seams as though he wants toattack me! I always yank my hand out so im not sure if he actually willor not.

I let him roam around while im home, and he doesnt seam like he everwants to attack at all, its only when i go to pet him in the cage!

Is there a way to train him not to attack me? Or to teach him i am the boss and he shouldnt eat me? heh

Been 3 days now and no change.

Dont have a pic handy, but he is avg sized, pure snow white, and has red eyes it seams.


 
Please remove that poor Guinea Pig (Cavy) from thecage. Rabbits can carry pathogens that are fatal to cavies,and as the vicious rabbit becomes more protective of *his/her* "warren"the poor "piggie" may be seriously mauled. The vicious rabbitmay even turn on it's companion as it reaches sexual maturity anddecides to stake out it's "claim".

You may find that transferring your territorial rabbit to a top openingcage can help when removing the rabbit. So far the rabbit hasbeen quite successful in training *you* to keep your hands out of thecage :?

You may find it helpful to gently place a towel over the rabbit toremove it from the cage, or let it come out on it's own (only do thisin a small room, where you will not have to chase the bunny to catchit).

Some rabbits will forever remain protective of their home and willnever willingly let someone remove them from the cage. Thatwas how our precious Princess was (may our sweet little girl rest inpeace). She loved to be held and even slept with me when Iwas pregnant and ill, but may the Lord protect those who tried tomanually remove her from her cage. ;)

You may find that although your little bunny has anirascibletendency, the little stinker can be quite charming once removed fromthe cage and showered with love and a few little carrot chips :)

Pam
 
pamnock wrote:
Pleaseremove that poor Guinea Pig (Cavy) from the cage. Rabbits cancarry pathogens that are fatal to cavies, and as the vicious rabbitbecomes more protective of *his/her* "warren" the poor "piggie" may beseriously mauled. The vicious rabbit may even turn on it'scompanion as it reaches sexual maturity and decides to stake out it's"claim".

You may find that transferring your territorial rabbit to a top openingcage can help when removing the rabbit. So far the rabbit hasbeen quite successful in training *you* to keep your hands out of thecage :?

You may find it helpful to gently place a towel over the rabbit toremove it from the cage, or let it come out on it's own (only do thisin a small room, where you will not have to chase the bunny to catchit).

Some rabbits will forever remain protective of their home and willnever willingly let someone remove them from the cage. Thatwas how our precious Princess was (may our sweet little girl rest inpeace). She loved to be held and even slept with me when Iwas pregnant and ill, but may the Lord protect those who tried tomanually remove her from her cage. ;)

You may find that although your little bunny has anirascibletendency, the little stinker can be quite charming once removed fromthe cage and showered with love and a few little carrot chips :)

Pam


Pam thanks for the advice about removing the guinea from the cage, makes perfect sense too.

FYI; the bunny isnt trying to prevent me from removing him, he justdoesnt want me in his cage period! lol. The second he notices my handis in there, he does this little attack charge of his, and since mylast post i have learned that he does infact have every intent to biteheh.

Its funny though, my last 2 bunnies i had never had an ounce ofcomplaint when i was fooling in their cage, strange how this one is sodefensive of *his* space.

Im thinking that once they start seeing a patern that i am the onegiving them food, water, and treats ... maybe he will losen up a bit?

I bought him some berry treats he really liked and he allowed me tohand feed him, although when he was on the other side of the cage and iput my hand in, he would still charge me even if i had the treat in myhand.

Very strange and frustrating that i cant play with my new pet :(

I hope it gets better, this is very awkward

BTW i am Richie
 
Hi Richie,

Unfortunately, some rabbits show no mercy to the hand that feeds themand will still charge. Some never get over the instinctualdrive to protect the "warren". These are often the dominant"queens" who rule the roost, terrorize their ownersand bullytheir subordinates. Gotta luv 'em :D

Pam

http://www.geocities.com/pamnock/
 
pamnock wrote:
Hi Richie,

Unfortunately, some rabbits show no mercy to the hand that feeds themand will still charge. Some never get over the instinctualdrive to protect the "warren". These are often the dominant"queens" who rule the roost, terrorize their ownersand bullytheir subordinates. Gotta luv 'em :D

Pam

http://www.geocities.com/pamnock/


is there a way i can punish him without actually punishing him? Id likehim to learn there is going to be a price to pay if he bites me :/

any ideas?
 
I'm going to suggest something that might not sitwell with some people. I have a buck, who is bondedto a doe. Both are pets and have beenneutered. The buck has a history of biting me when I enterthe hutch, when I pick him up, and even when I might be stroking him.

One "cure" suggested to me was to place my thumb andforefinger around his neck, behind his head, and "pin" him tothe floor of the cage in a "predator" hold whenever he demonstratesanysort of aggression toward me of anykind.

This is not a pleasant task for me and it breaks my heart to feel"forced" into doing it, for he does thrash wildly about in an effort tobreak loose, but once he recognizesescape is fruitless, hewill lie still. While this is going on, I tell him that I amthe boss, the dominant rabbit and he has to acquiesce. Oncehe submits, I release him and he usually refrains from further attack.

It seems to have worked, by and and large, for the frequency which Ihave to do it has become less and less as time goes on, and I no longertake the heavy punishment and scarring I used to endure from him at onetime. Were he not bonded to the doe, I probably would havegotten rid of him a long time ago, plus, my wife thinks he just ismisunderstood and all that and wants him to stay.

The downside to this practice is that it does not bring himparticularly close to me as a pet. He will allow me to pickhim up from the hutch, hold him and pet him without beingbitten. When it is time for him and his mate to bereturned to the hutch,after a full day of free ranging in our backyard, he will not let me pick him up, whereas my wife can. Imust use a crab net in order to trap the little critter.

So, if you are at your wits' end with him, I'd say it may be worth atry, but, you know, he hasn't yet been with you for a while.Give him a little space and patience before you have to play the BigKahuna Rabbit, the Alpha Rabbit, the Big Boss Rabbit. He maycome around as he learns to trust you more. Hand feedingseems to be a step in that direction.

Rabbits are much more wary than we are for they are a prey species, sothey relax in a much slower/longer time frame than we do. Tryto adapt to a "Rabbit Time Reference" before you do anythingradical. JMHO

Buck
 
Any type of physical punishment (such as hitting) will be perceived as an attack and make the rabbit more aggressive.

I am going to disagree with Buck for the very first time, and probablythe very last time, as I highly respect his opinion :) Anytype of physical restraint where the rabbit may thrash could result ina fractured neck, back or leg.

The "experts" can easily deal with the agressive bunn simply by havingfast hands and grabbing the rabbit so quickly that it doesn't have timeto react. I compare it to snake handling -- hesitate for onesplit second andit's all over for you LOL:D



Pam
 
I usually give my bun a little pat on the nose and say no then she hops away. Seems to work fine for me.... :)
 
pamnock wrote:
Anytype of physical punishment (such as hitting) will be perceived as anattack and make the rabbit more aggressive.

I am going to disagree with Buck for the very first time, and probablythe very last time, as I highly respect his opinion :) Anytype of physical restraint where the rabbit may thrash could result ina fractured neck, back or leg.

The "experts" can easily deal with the agressive bunn simply by havingfast hands and grabbing the rabbit so quickly that it doesn't have timeto react. I compare it to snake handling -- hesitate for onesplit second andit's all over for you LOL:D



Pam


i agree i wouldnt do anything physical to him at all, id sooner get rid of him than have to do that.

BTW nothing has changed since my first post, he is still wanting to eat me alive if i go in the cage :/

I am considering bringing him back to the place and trading for another.
 
Why would you want to return him if the only thingabout his behaviour that you can not change is his territorial "ness"over his home?since you did say that you have no problemsremoving him or having him come out....I once read on theHoused Rabbit Society web page ( and this was stressed) that it wasbest to clean their homes AFTER they have left it...and withtimemight come to see what you are doing ~ tosupervise so to speak. Just curious because maybe I am missingsomething? Or I could be waaaaaaaaaaay off but if so I am sure to becorrected. Some rabbits behaviour is completely differentwhen inside their cage compared to roaming.

Cher
 
Yeah, yeah, I know I seem like an ogre with mysuggestion, Pam, and others, but it is the only thing that worked forme with this particular rabbit, in as much it flies in the face of whatmost rabbit experts say about dealing with rabbits I thinkI've had to apply the predator hold three or four times in the pastyear, the last time being several months ago, with no recurrences ofbiting since then.

There is a certain degree ofvalidity to the method, as peranimal psychology and behaviorism precepts,and it does makeme feel like a bully, but I would prefer that to emergency room visitsfor myself and/or visitors, especially young ones who come to see ourfree ranging buns.

Buck
 
LOL Now you will be known as "Buck the Ogre" ?

Nah . . . Just doesn't seem to suit you :)

Many types of animals will actually use that type of restraint on eachother -- but not rabbits --so they will have a difficult timeunderstanding the intent. Works quite well on horses though :)



Pam
 
Your rabbit's color and eyes seem the same as mine.My New Zealand Mix is pure white but with gray ears and a gray nose. Hewas never "mean" like the way he is now. He has bitten me a few times,and is very aggressive to me. I raised him like all my other rabbits(they all are fine and nice now), and I still pet him, but I am afraidthat he'll bite me again, so basically, I am afraid of him. I reallywant to show him that I'm the boss. He is in a cage by himself and heisnt fixed, so that may be the problem, but I think he is too old toget fixed, he is about 2 now.This isn't just when he is inhis cage too. He doesn't bite when he is out of hiscage, buthestill scratches and seems aggressive when he is out ofhiscage.I let him rome around my backyard all thetime,since he lives in a hutch, and I feed and water himwell, andgive him treats, so i am not sure what his problemis. I still consider him as my baby, becuase he was a big baby when hewas little, and it breaks my heart now that i cant pet him or hold himwithout being diced intolittle peices by scratches orbites.When he does bite me, I hit him on his nose and say"No" in a stern voice...but he just hops away and acts like a lil fartand doesnt pay any attention to me. So if anyone knows what his problemis, please tell me. (this isn't new, its been going on for about 8months)
 
I've heard other recommend tapping on thenose. Some have said it works, others say it won't.Never worked for me.

I don't think two years old is too old to castrate a buck. Wehave have had it done to a buck older than that, and hesurvived. I think it is more imperative that a doe be spayedearlier than two years, as opposed to bucks being altered asearly.

Buck
 
Once, my Mr. Cuddles attacked me and bit me.I was trying to watch TV and pet him at the same time, when he nippedmy hand and scared the &*$% out of me!!! He stopped after a dayor so, and I didn't even have to train him! Wierd, eh? maybe this'llhappen to your bun too.
 

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