Aggresive lunging

Hello,
I am sure this has probably been asked a bunch of times, so sorry, just not a lot of time to read through old threads right now.

My neighbors gave me a rabbit they found stray in our neighborhood. They tried to find an owner without success. I have two rabbits, so they gave her to me. She appears to be a Netherland dwarf, not sure how old, likely unspayed. She lunges at us and even comes up on her back feet whenever we get near. She seems very territorial and aggressive, but has not bitten anyone yet.

I realize this can be normal in unspayed females, it is just not something I have personally experienced before.

If I cannot find her owner I will keep her and have her spayed. Will this behavior stop once she is spayed, or is their something else I should do? Or nothing that can be done?

Thanks for any thoughts. I have had a lot of rabbits, and never dealt with this. I have a female dutch rabbit currently who is as sweet as can be. This little lost bunny is scaring me a little though )

Also, in case anyone is worried, lost bun is separated from my other two buns for now - maybe forever as they are bonded and I will not rock that boat.

Spaying might help, it might not. It depends on if she learned to behave this way (generally though, it does help- and helps prevent future diseases!). Is she just territorial about her cage? What about when you let her out?

Thanks for your response.

She is certainly territorial about her cage, but also behaves "wild" or skittish when she is out of it. At first she would lung and scratch my hands even when I was just putting food in her enclosure. I was not trying to touch her or even get near her, just putting food a safe distance away, and she would run from one side of the cage to attack my hand.
When out of her cage she is generally not approachable, and I have not pressed the issue. If anyone gets close to her she will usually run back to her cage. The few times I felt like I had to pick her up I saw a real set back in her behavior afterwards. Meaning she was less approachable, more noisy, and likely to rear up the next time she was approached after having been picked up.

Just yesterday my children and I were able to pet her successfully. We figured out that if we approach her by making a petting motion with two fingers she will sit and allow us to pet her. Without trying to pretend I know what she thinks, it seems she is most bothered by the idea of being picked up, and will run away, or lunge and grunt if it seems she is going to be picked up. I would normally pet my other rabbits with my whole hand, but this rabbit seems to associate a whole hand approach as threatening, or someone attempting to pick her up.
I spent quite a bit of time petting her last night, and she laid down and did some teeth grinding. She has also started showing interest in us when we approach rather than running away, or lunging at us always.

I will definitely have her spayed if no one claims her. I think some of her behaviors may resolve in time and with patience since she is now seeming less upset by our presence.

A rabbit running lose, whether he was 'released' or escaped probably didn't have a very good time outside. Especially a Nethie, a breed known to be skittish and nervous. With the change of environment and family, especially with strange rabbits in the house, it wouldn't be surprising if she were super stressed out and defensive. Combined with hormones (which also tend to manifest themselves in worst ways when you've got other rabbits, even neutered / spayed, in the house) she sounds like a normal rabbit to me. If you keep her, I think time and a spay should indeed help her calm down a lot. I also have to add that Netherland dwarves have the worst record for biting and hating on strangers. Most rabbit breeders will let visitors pet and handle the lops and such but never the Nethies. I have one - it took me a long time to earn her trust and she's now even pretty cool with my parents and sisters when they visit but someone she doesn't know all that well won't be well received (or received at all if she has anything to say about it). She's 8 now and calmed down a lot, but I have to hold her myself during the vet visit because she will bite and scratch the staff like a demon from hell if they try... I love her, she's the best ^^.

Thanks Aki. I know very little about netherland dwarfs, but it sounds like a lot of her behaviors are breed related. I also realize that her time as a stray has had an impact on her behavior. I feel really lucky that she has not bitten anyone.I am just not used to having such a feisty bun, so it has been a new learning experience for me.

Things are getting better very slowly with her. I have a vet who is able to spay her as soon as next week. I hesitate a little just because I will most likely commit to keeping her if I have her spayed. I am not feeling super eager to take her on as a forever pet, mainly because of my other rabbits. I hope they could all get along after a spay as I don't have the space to house them all separately indefinitely.

rabitgrl said:

Hello,
I am sure this has probably been asked a bunch of times, so sorry, just not a lot of time to read through old threads right now.

My neighbors gave me a rabbit they found stray in our neighborhood. They tried to find an owner without success. I have two rabbits, so they gave her to me. She appears to be a Netherland dwarf, not sure how old, likely unspayed. She lunges at us and even comes up on her back feet whenever we get near. She seems very territorial and aggressive, but has not bitten anyone yet.

I realize this can be normal in unspayed females, it is just not something I have personally experienced before.

If I cannot find her owner I will keep her and have her spayed. Will this behavior stop once she is spayed, or is their something else I should do? Or nothing that can be done?

Thanks for any thoughts. I have had a lot of rabbits, and never dealt with this. I have a female dutch rabbit currently who is as sweet as can be. This little lost bunny is scaring me a little though )

Also, in case anyone is worried, lost bun is separated from my other two buns for now - maybe forever as they are bonded and I will not rock that boat.

Click to expand...

oh,dear-even thou we believe a rabbit can see well-they do have one blind spot--you guessed it,--right in front,,-these behaviors may calm down,but approach slowly and cautiously-let her smell you,try to keep her in a quiet environment-perhaps with a mirror-food water poop box--you have other bunz perhaps not to close but let them all get to know each other--fences make good neighbors..sincerely james waller:wiggle:hug2: