Is my rabbit agressive because he's mature? Help!

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MichelleandThumper

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I recently got my 4 month old dwarf named Thumper. When I first got him he was the sweetest rabbit he could be and now hes so mean! A few days ago I went to put food in his food dish and refill his water and all of a sudden he lunged and had bitten me. I figured this was because he may have been teritorial over his cage so I left him alone for an hour. Then when I came back to refill everything I wore a glove to protect myself is anything were to happen and nothing did. I was a little shakey over why my bun randomly turned agressive but I shook it off through out the day. When I came eback to excersize him he was fine until after 3 hours he bit me out of the blue so foolishly I tapped him on the nose and he hopped up on the arm of our couch and made a growling sound and lunged at me. 5 mins later I was standing up and he did the same thing to my leg. All this was within the same day and it frightened me. I think most of the behaviour is from reaching sexual maturity beause all this was being followed by circling my feet with a quiet humming sound. He has an apt with the vet to get him neutered but I'm worried if its realistic enough to believe that his agression will be magically solved by simply neutering him. He has these odd mood swings that worry me because he could be lunging at me one minute then rolling over on his side in relaxation the next. Please help me ): Will neutering him actually solve this?
 
I think neutering will help this. It could take a few weeks after he is neutered for his hormones to settle down again. My male didn't get really mean towards me though he just started peeing right next to his cage and chewed everything in site. He even got worse after he was neutered but it settled down after the 3rd week. So definitely get him neutered I am sure he will get back to his old self. In the meantime I would do whatever you need to do in his cage with him outside of it. I am not sure if you reached in his cage while he was in it when you refilled his water bowl and gave him his food. I always make sure I do cleanings and things like that while my rabbits are running around playing. It might help. Best of luck!
 
Sounds like typical hormonal behavior to me. Aggression, lunging, biting, circling, spraying urine are all potential signs of hormones.
Neutering should certainly help. Just don't expect an overnight change. It can take a month (sometimes up to 2 months) for those hormones to dissipate post-surgery.
 
I recently got my 4 month old dwarf named Thumper. When I first got him he was the sweetest rabbit he could be and now hes so mean! A few days ago I went to put food in his food dish and refill his water and all of a sudden he lunged and had bitten me. I figured this was because he may have been teritorial over his cage so I left him alone for an hour. Then when I came back to refill everything I wore a glove to protect myself is anything were to happen and nothing did. I was a little shakey over why my bun randomly turned agressive but I shook it off through out the day. When I came eback to excersize him he was fine until after 3 hours he bit me out of the blue so foolishly I tapped him on the nose and he hopped up on the arm of our couch and made a growling sound and lunged at me. 5 mins later I was standing up and he did the same thing to my leg. All this was within the same day and it frightened me. I think most of the behaviour is from reaching sexual maturity beause all this was being followed by circling my feet with a quiet humming sound. He has an apt with the vet to get him neutered but I'm worried if its realistic enough to believe that his agression will be magically solved by simply neutering him. He has these odd mood swings that worry me because he could be lunging at me one minute then rolling over on his side in relaxation the next. Please help me ): Will neutering him actually solve this?

Maybe

I got the two rescues I got fixed which were FEMALES.. one was REALLY SWEET before and I could carry her around like a baby doll. I could sit and watch the news and she would sit and just snuggle with her head in the crook of my shoulder. NOW..
Forget it.. she grunts and snorts and paws the same way that you are saying... I was talking to some other people who run a rescue in CT and
she was telling me that it's happened to some that they get a personality change to where they were sweet and loving and now are different. It should fix him since it sounds like simple hormones, but just be prepared in case ...

Vanessa
 
Sometimes aggressive rabbits stay aggressive. It depends on the rabbit. I really think it will help in your case, though. Sometimes it takes 4 weeks for the hormones to dissipate after the neuter, so get some heavy gloves to handle him.
 
Okay thanks everyone! I've been keeping an eye on anything else that could possibly make him aggressive and so far nothing has, I haven't bothered him or scared him because when he's out I'm really cautious not to move too quickly or anything. So far the only thing that made sense was getting him neutered he has an appointment this Tuesday for it hopefully all goes well in his weeks of healing after the surgery. I'm making a larger cage for him so he can have a generous amount of room incase he's grumpy from being in his cage. No matter how long he stays out of his cage for he sill hates it in there so maybe it's because he would like more room other than all that he's usually a happy bunny
 
Hormonal behaviors *can* become learned and therefore continue long after the hormones are gone; however, that's mainly only an issue with rabbits who are hormonal for at least a few months before they're fixed. As Blue eyes said, it can take as much as 6-8 weeks after the surgery for a male's hormones to dissipate completely (4 weeks for females) so it may be a while before you see results. Males reach sexual maturity around 3-5 months old, I believe, so he's definitely "at that age"... and his behavioral changes definitely sound hormone-driven. Don't expect him to revert back 100% to his personality as a baby - like humans, bunnies' personalities change and develop as they grow up. The completely irrational aggressive behavior is likely to fade as the hormones do, but he may continue to be pushier/more assertive in general. Also, behaviors that involve an external trigger (like food and/or cage aggression) have a higher risk of becoming "learned"/sticking around after the hormones are gone.

he was fine until after 3 hours he bit me out of the blue so foolishly I tapped him on the nose

I'm glad you realized your mistake! There is something you *can* do to punish a bunny, though - as soon as he bites, gently but firmly press his head to the ground and hold it for 2-3 seconds. This is how a momma bunny disciplines her kits, so rabbits instinctively know what it means. I made a video recently on handling/nail trims, etc... if you skip to about 13 minutes in, I talk about using this technique and attempt to demonstrate it (though it doesn't go well because Gazzles knew she was getting scolded for no reason). I actually misspoke when I said I hadn't used that on them in ages - I thought I must not have because it was the only reason I could think of in the moment for why it wasn't working (because Gaz was fighting me/pushing back so much)... Nala did let me demonstrate, though (probably because even when she's not actively being naughty, she knows she's still thinking naughty thoughts! :p)... anyway, I went back to talking about other stuff and then - at about 16 minutes in - Gazzles hauled off and bit me while I was trying to apologize for making her be a demo bunny! When she bit me, I reflexively pressed her head down and that time she allowed it.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1qGcjM7syk[/ame]

~~~~~

By the way, since you mention building a larger cage, don't forget to either wait until after he's recovered or leave yourself a way to limit him to a very small space (by keeping the old cage if you're replacing it or making it possible to section off a small part of the cage if you're renovating it) for a bit. It should be a small space without opportunity to jump - the ideal options are a 2W x 2L x 1H (in cube lengths) NIC enclosure, an XL dog crate, a store-bought "rabbit" cage (remove the little ledge if it has one) or an x-pen arranged to provide no more than 4-6 square feet of space.

I'm not sure how long males are supposed to be restricted for, but it's 7-10 days for females... I'm guessing it's less for males, though, as neuters are less invasive. Norman (my new guy) was neutered on Dec. 22nd and I adopted him on the 28th... no mention was made of restricting him (of course the HSPCA folks are very un-savvy about bunnies, so not being told that doesn't mean much - they looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language when I tried to get them to give me transition pellets), though he'd obviously been restricted at the shelter simply because of how pathetically small the rabbit/GP cages are. Your best bet is to ask your vet and stick to their recommendations for how long to keep his movement restricted.
 
Okay, the one problem with disciplining him like that is his cage opens at the top and it's hard to find a way to get around to his head with it like that. As well as he likes to jump out of his cage whenever I open it acting like he didn't get out all day he always gets 4 hours of out time though. I just really hope his aggression will go away because after he lunged at me 4 times in one day he scares me even though he's only small the bite still hurts and I'm wondering of he knows that and picks at me even more
 
Wear thick gloves! You need to be able to shove your hand in his face and let him bite and not withdraw your hand. The neutering may solve everything, but you also don't want to chance this becoming a learned behavior. You don't want him to learn that biting makes you take your hand away. Remember, though your bun is cute and fluffy and you love him, you are still the boss! And he needs to know this, though in a kind way. Too many people let their pets take over and wonder why they end up having behavioral problems. The momma bun holding down method works for some buns, time outs may work better for other buns, or treat training may work well. Find what works best for your bun.
 
You can line it with a mesh hardware cloth. 1/2" works well. Just be careful with the edges as they are sharp after cutting. Either make sure they are right in a corner or fold the edges under so that the sharp edges can't hurt your bun.
 
Ah, maturing bunnies with attitude problems. Always a fun topic. Boy do I remember my breeding project bucks. Some of them were sweet as pie. Others were little devils in fluffy, adorable bodies.

My brattiest little buck was named Wesley. He was a black otter holland lop and oh-so-cute. But, he had an attitude problem once he hit maturity. He would try to charge, bite, and tell me off with his grunts and growls. But, I adored him. I decided that I loved him enough to pull him from my project and make him a house rabbit. I wound up getting him neutered and a lot of his poor behavior lessened. However, that being said, it did take some time and effort on my part.

I fully endorse the mama bun method. Each time little Wes would charge me or try to bite, I would push his head down and count for 5 seconds. I had a lot of success once he learned that I was going to remain consistent. He just wasn't going to get away with being a pushy bunny! It did take effort and I didn't always want to have to deal with his behavior. But, I knew it was best for both myself and for him.

I'm happy to hear that you realized that they way you "disciplined" your bunny was inappropriate. In the end, that will not cause your rabbit to respect your position as alpha. Rather, it will likely do the opposite as well as cause your bun to fear you. The mama bun method many have spoken to is a good way to express your authority without causing your rabbit to become more aggressive or fear you. I've also done time-outs and they have proven successful as well - when bun acts out, they go back in their cage with a firm no. I typically give them a 5 minute cooling off period and then try again. If the behavior persists, back in the cage. It certainly isn't fun being a disciplinarian to a cute, fuzzy rabbit with an endearing face. But, it is part of responsible pet ownership.

I do feel that neutering your bunny will prove beneficial. But, being secure in your capability in being alpha is also a necessity. Good luck and please keep us posted.
 
You can line it with a mesh hardware cloth. 1/2" works well. Just be careful with the edges as they are sharp after cutting. Either make sure they are right in a corner or fold the edges under so that the sharp edges can't hurt your bun.


My boy Rabbit "Toffee" bites the cage bars a lot too. I will use That idea as well. Thanks :)
 
*sigh* I typed up a really long post and right at the end, I pulled up a couple pages to get the links... then as I was closing them, I screwed up and closed this one as well and lost it all :tears2:. Ugh. I'll try to come back and re-write the cage suggestions a bit later - too cranky to do it now!

The first couple of things I was going to say were that the holding their head down trick is good in many situations but isn't ideal for cage/food aggression anyway, so don't worry about not being able to do it. The way to cope with that stuff is to ignore the attacks completely as though they don't faze you a bit - you CAN'T back down or he'll learn that attacking you is an effective way to get what he wants (ie for you to GTFO). Since bunny bites hurt like hell, this is where the thick gloves Jenny suggested come in handy! Gardening gloves would be perfect; you can get a cheap pair for like $3.

Regarding the "time out" tactic, make sure you don't use his cage as the time out location since he's not 100% free-range. While it sounds like a good punishment based on the fact that you know he doesn't like to be stuck in there, he won't understand that he gets put in there for different reasons at different times. It'll undermine what you're trying to do if he gets locked in there for being bad sometimes but other times, he's locked up simply because his free-run time has come to an end. If you wish to try time outs, you'll want to designate a specific area that he ONLY gets locked in for time outs (a car carrier or perhaps a small bathroom would work well).
 
Okay thanks for the help everyone! This morning instead of just sticking my hand in his cage I distracted him with his favourite food lettuce and carrots! And then I reached for his water to refill and he didn't lunge! After 2 months after he's been neutered I'm thinking of getting him a buddy! Because I think he's bored and lonely and that may be why he's biting his cage bars. I tried replacing the bars with wooden chews and toilet paper rolls as well as salt licks and he ignores them. So I think getting him a buddy will help. I'm gonna wait until after all his hormones are okay and I'll keep both in separate cages for awhile until if believe they can be together for playtime then I'll home them together. I just don't know where to find adoptable rabbits within my area that are neutered
 
I'm not sure where you're from, but if you are looking for an already spayed or neutered rabbit, the best place I know would be a local shelter or humane society. I know that all of the shelters here spay and neuter rabbits prior to adoption - just like any animal, they want to ensure that they're not going to breed and produce even more pets in need of homes. And, since most bunnies in shelters have no known histories, a proper breeder would not necessarily want to use a rescue as a breeder.

Also, I would recommend, once it's time, to look into a spayed female. Since your little guy is a male, the best bet for bonding would be with a spayed female. Two neutered males can be bonded, but the process is often more simple when you have a mixed gender pairing. And, another point for shelters is that most will let you bring your rabbit in for bunny dates so that you can find a compatible bun.

Good luck in getting Thumper neutered and then, once he's ready, finding him another bunny to pal around with.
 

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