Aggresive girly

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bunnylovin1093

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Hello. I have not posted anything for a while but now I am back with a new bunny and a problem. About 3 weeks ago me, my mum , my antie and Bambi (My sweet boy bun) headed to the RSPCA to pick Bambi a companion. I really liked a female named Betty. She was so adorable. So Bambi and her met. Thy got on exceptionally well for a first time ever a lot better then I excpected. So I signed the adoption papers and we took Betty and Bambi home. I put up a barrier in the middle of the run made of a couple of x pen panels. They were very curious sniffing each other through the bars. Betty was curious checking out everything. She had one of those horrible e cones on her head at the time because she has just been desexed and the RSPCA said she had to wear it for a few days. (I don't think she should have had it). Anyway she settled down for a nap and I left her for the rest of the day. The next day when I went into the run I was shocked to find that when I walked past she lunged at me and chased me. She continued to biting about a week . Now I have to wear boots track pants and leather gloves whenever I go in the run. I never dare clean at all without putting up a barrier. We have been trying things we read on the internet such as whenever she runs up to lunge and bite pat her from behind whilst gently pressing her head. But she is not really improving. I don't know what to do. I don't want to be terrefied whenever I want to pat Bambi or give them some food. Please help :pleaseplease::pleaseplease::pleaseplease:
 
Patting her from behind could just make you the aggressor and reinforce her aggression. That is my opinion.
Holding her head down, gently yet firmly, for several seconds after an offending act is a better option.

I would've guessed from your description that she is hormonal. Perhaps there are still lingering hormones? But I wouldn't think it would not be that intense still for that long after surgery. Perhaps something else is going on. Maybe she's uncomfortable, something physical, ailment-wise??

I don't know.... just tossing out some ideas.
 
You may have already seen these videos- they are of people taming aggressive rabbits, petting with a brush etc... they might be helpful if you haven't already seen them....

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxV0j7SwBbk[/ame]

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6ZMmdAMBdI[/ame]

I've had a little bit of aggression over food and cage from some of my boy rabbits, as they become adults it has completely disappeared, so hormones must play a strong role in aggression I think. If she was just spayed she might still have hormones in her system reeking havoc for a couple of months so I hope with time she will calm down.
 
Agree that she is still hormonal and territorial. Also, she's likely to make very slow progress if she lives in an outside run, because that means she probably gets human contact/sight/smell less than 5% of the time. It's hard for her to get used to you if she hardly sees you. She's just being defensive at the sight of an unfamiliar large creature suddenly coming into her space. You need to be spending lots of time with her so she can learn you won't hurt her.
 
She has been spayed for over a month. The lunging and chasing has stopped. Right now I am quite confused. I have been spending as much time with her as I can. The very weird thing is she acts very friendly like nose bonking me and today when I sat down in the little pen just outside the run to play with her a bit she climbed into my lap and sat there while I patted her. But after 10 seconds she started trying to bite me. I was wearing long pants so she was not actually biting me. It was confusing. It is like she wants to be friendly and spend time with me but at the same time she wants to bite me. Could it be that is just what she does to everything? She always bites wire, bowls, toys, litterbox, hutch, fleece etc. What do you think?
 
Does she lick and bite? Or is it a sudden aggressive bite?

My bun will just lick if he's had his fill of some pellets, but if he hasn't had enough pellets or thinks i have some it with turn to biting. Not in an aggressive way just a, he thinks i still have food, way.

Does she do the same thing if she's just been fed?

She might even still be settling down from being spayed, perhaps some hormones are still going round and she's a bit confused.
Hope she settles soon :)
 
I had an aggressive rabbit and worked with her for a while.. She eventually go use to me and she was okay for a while then she got pregnant and went all hormonal and stuff.. Soon after giving birth they died (got out of cage and died) it all depends on your rabbit and what she responds too.. There are some interesting videos on YouTube… rabbits101 is a great channel for all your bunny needs/advice… they have a video about aggression, I used there technique and it worked.. Trying with a un desexed female, which will be a challenge as she is in a bad cage😪😋 good luck with her, she will be okay hopefully, she could just be territorial especially with a male around
 
Oh and ps. The rabbit in the bad cage isnt my rabbit, it's a friends rabbit, all mine have large hutches that met the requirements of the RSPCA etc..
 
She sniffs intently and bites. She does not bite at feeding time. It is not sudden normally. Once though when I was giving them there pellets she leaped and bit me and hung on. Normally though she sniffs heaps and then bites normally. Not hard just normal. At the same time it is not a gentle nip.
 
Maybe she doesn't like the smell of something on your hands or clothes. Have you started using something new, or are you using products that have a strong scent to them?
 
I sometimes wear a little bit of impulse spray. I have not been wearing any new scents.
 

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