Newly Adopted Rabbit Attacked Me

[JBun]

Cute pictures! I hope things work out between your two buns.

 

[tamsin]

Re your original post, when they get worked up, they often react to movement rather than taking the time to work out what the movement was. So she would probably have pounced the same way if something inanimate moved near her just the same as she did with your hand. The next sense up seems to be smell so if she takes long enough to sniff but you smell like the other rabbit you can still get attacked (mistaken identity). It's nothing personal, it can just take a while for them to calm enough to put all the info together a realise who you actually are.

 

[Stormlark]

tamsin wrote:

Re your original post, when they get worked up, they often react to movement rather than taking the time to work out what the movement was. So she would probably have pounced the same way if something inanimate moved near her just the same as she did with your hand. The next sense up seems to be smell so if she takes long enough to sniff but you smell like the other rabbit you can still get attacked (mistaken identity). It's nothing personal, it can just take a while for them to calm enough to put all the info together a realise who you actually are.

That makes sense and explains a lot. Thanks!

 

[Stormlark]

There's no way these two will ever get along. Today while I was at work (thankfully my husband was home), the doe managed to nudge aside the barrier between their pens enough to initiate a fight with Stelio. We've had several rabbits separated with the same barrier, and even the ones that hated each other never managed to do this. Although my husband broke up the fight and reinforced the barrier, both of them were extremely agitated when I got home. So we decided as a last resort to attempt the car ride method.

No dice. The problem is the doe is just insanely confident no matter what's going on around her. I was in the backseat, armed with my oven mitts and it was insane how intent she was on hurting Stelio. I got a few bruises through the mitts from how hard she was biting, and after about ten minutes we gave up. It's just too dangerous. She's biting too hard and being too aggressive. I don't want anyone to get hurt (myself included).

Although she was the sweetest little girl we've ever had (to us), she's just too violent with Stelio and even separated, they're still upsetting each other.






Stelio wasn't hurt, btw. I was able to keep my hands in between them enough to prevent her from biting him.

 

[agnesthelion]

Oh goodness. I'm so sorry to hear this. if there is any silver lining in this at all is that I think you should be proud that you tried Very, very hard. It's not like you gave up after a day or two. I think you were thorough and moving forward probably will cause you and the buns more stress.

So is your plan to take her back to the shelter? Will you bunny date again?

 

[Blue eyes]

I understand your frustration since we went through a similar situation. Sometimes 2 bunnies just won't get along. I believe you said you could still exchange the one? Is that what you think you are going to do?

We had to do this twice now -- once back in 2004, and once about a month ago. It worked out for the best since we ended up with good matches. (Still crossing fingers on the current match, but so far, so good).

Hope things work out well and you find the right match.

 

[Stormlark]

My plan is to take her back to the shelter later today . I'll trade her for the one I linked earlier in the thread and we'll try again. I'll tell the shelter how sweet she is to humans, because she really is a sucker for pets (if you stop, she follows your hand and squeezes her head under it).

I'll switch the pens bringing Stelio tn the bottom level, to make it easier to keep them separated, and making social time less stressful. If he's in the top level, we have to pick him up to take him out each night, which he hates. Hopefully he'll figure out where the litter box is in that level so we don't have too much of a mess.

It'll still be difficult to handle whoever lives up top, but the new doe will need a few days with some peace and quiet anyway, so it should be fine.

 

[Blue eyes]

Good luck today and keep us up to date. Post pics of the new girl when you can.

 

[agnesthelion]

Yes, good luck and post pictures. I'll still be following!

 

[Stormlark]

Some photos:

The new doe is named "Tink." I really like that name.

I did get a picture of the one we returned today, in case anyone was curios:

And a good picture of Stelio as an adult:

 

[agnesthelion]

Aww they are all such attractive buns

Tink is a cute name. I'm normally not a red eyed bun fan but she's pretty gorgeous!

Stelio is very handsome as well. Love his coloring.

Seriously let us know how this goes. I'm so curious when do you think you'll attempt things with this one?

 

[Stormlark]

I've never really thought about rabbit breeds before, but after some research today, I'm pretty sure that Stelio is a Palomino and Tink is probably Himalayan (a bit too small for a Californian).

I'm going to give it a couple of days before having them meet face to face. All I've done today is to let Stelio smell my hands after petting her. He was intensely curious about this smell and ended it by chinning my hand (cute!).

 

[Imbrium]

aww, the new girl is ADORABLE! as are the others, of course

 

[Stormlark]

I decided to do a preliminary introduction between the two in a neutral area, where I would referee and keep them from coming into contact with each other. It went OK. Positive signs were that they both ate and groomed occasionally, which showed they were at least a little comfortable in each others' presence. There was some stress, a nip at my hand, and near the end they seemed to want to get into a fight. But all in all, it went fairly well.

I'll try to do this daily, to get them used to being in the same area together, before going further. Hopefully in a week or so, they'll be more comfortable and calm.

 

[agnesthelion]

Kudos on the good first meeting

I hope it continues and things are more positive this time. Remember though, she just came home last night. Not saying its necessarily too soon but just don't rush things too much. She still has to get used to her new home too.

At the end when you say "they wanted to get into a fight" what were the signs?

 

[Stormlark]

Hmmm, Tink is definitely more timid than the last doe. I let her out last night for super-special-awesome-fun-time, but she whimpered a few times and kept thumping. I brought out a few boxes for her to hide in, but to no avail. She was scared being out in the living room and kept trying to jump up towards her cage. After about fifteen minutes, I put her back.

As for the meetings, I do think it's best to put everything on hold for now. I was trying to figure out a good course of action, and I'd like to find some see-through barriers before any more attempts. I want them to be able to see each other, but not get too close to each other, for any future dates. Also, her fear last night being out of her cage is a clear sign she's not feeling comfortable in her new environment yet.

The "fight" was simply lowered heads and running towards each other (chasing, but the other wouldn't run away, so they were going for each other). It only happened twice near the end, and I think it'd help to have an actual barrier rather than a referee. My parents have a lot of chicken wire, so I'll try to fashion something out of it. I need two barriers because I want a space in between, so there aren't any slap fights through the wires.


The idea being that if they can see each other in a safe environment, being offered their favorite foods, they might have a better association than if they meet each other for the first time face to face.

 

[agnesthelion]

That's how I've been bonding Agnes and Archie. Their cages are right next to each other a couple inches apart. They can see each other, smell each other and their bowls are close to each other so they can eat at the same time. I also switch blankets and toys back and forth too.

 

[Stormlark]

I arranged their second play-date today. The way I did it this time was to partition off the kitchen like I'd done before, and then separate that space in half using a "trap" as part of the barrier between them. The trap is basically a cage used to capture wildlife such as raccoons and feral cats. It's very long and narrow, and the best part is that it's see through without allowing the rabbits to claw at each other.

I waited until they both seemed fairly comfortable (eating the lettuce I offered and grooming themselves), then moved the inner barrier so they had a section where they could meet each other, and sat in that spot so I could referee. My strategy was to keep them separated, but with treats in the middle, so they ended up eating within about six inches of each other.

Every once in a while they'd touch noses, and once or twice there was a grunt and a bite, but it was easy to separate them and they'd go back to eating pretty soon after. Before putting them both back in their pens, I set them side-by-side and petted them until they were both quite happy. I'm hoping this will get them more comfortable being right next to each other.

My plan is to do this sort of meet-up daily for a week or so before giving them the freedom to establish dominance. The idea is to calm them down so they'll be less likely to get into serious fights that might ruin their chances of ever bonding.

 

[agnesthelion]

Well that is good. It sounds like moving very slow will work better with your buns personality. What were the bites like? Was one bun initiating biting more than the other?

If it makes you feel any better, I'm doing a slow approach to bonding too and it has bee going well.

 

[Stormlark]

The bites weren't serious at all. It was more like a short lunge and a nip, and both times it was from Tink (the doe). She seemed calm and content throughout the meeting, doing much more grooming and eating a lot more. Stelio was far more stressed about the whole ordeal, sometimes breathing so fast that it made a whistling sound. I think he's still traumatized by the crazy aggression from the previous doe.

Heck, I think I'm still traumatized myself. Every time they tried to get close to each other, I stopped them because I was too scared that they'd get into a serious fight. So I'm wanting to take things slow for my own peace of mind as well as theirs.