What breed is this stray?

Female, rather large 8+ lbs. Very mean and active.

IMAG1595 by StonesChickens, on Flickr

IMAG1583 by StonesChickens, on Flickr

IMAG1575 by StonesChickens, on Flickr

Looks like a beveran mix to me, what do yoy mean she's mean?

She charges at you when you come near the cage and when you try and feed she thumps and attacks your hands, she also has tried to bite me. I usually have to hold her back in order to safely feed her.

looks like a younger new zealand doe. if it may help, toss an alfalfa cube in there and let her chew on that while you feed. I have to do that with some of my momma's when they have kits in the box.

I would also say new zealand. Poor thing must be very afraid. Were did you get her?

I've tried distracting her, doesn't work. I caught her in my back yard after I spotted several strays running free.

I'd also say New Zealand is most likely. She looks to be purebred.

Beverens are rare, have china blue eyes, and the white ones have longer coats.

I agree with the New Zealand. They're usually one of the mellower breeds. Our boy Hoss was a big teddy bear. It will take time for you to gain her trust, especially since she was out on her own--Indicates that someone didn't care for her or take care of her that much.. Good luck.

Rabbits are never mean, they are fearful. And many rabbits are territorial of their pens. Does she have hay in there?

OneTwoThree wrote:

Rabbits are never mean, they are fearful. And many rabbits are territorial of their pens. Does she have hay in there?

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I don't really agree with this. We had a mini rex named Shippou that we got from a breeder who was going to cull him when he was 9 weeks. He was never fearful and always curious, so it would not have been fear.

Gradually, over time, he started to get confident and he started to get mean. We kept him until the point where if you walked past his cage, he would literally throw himself against the cage to bite you. We couldn't let him out to run around because he would insist on biting, chasing you around and not let go. After taking him in to the vet, she agreed that his behaviour was off (Something that is afraid would not rather chase the source of the 'fear' when we gave him plenty of areas to hide while he was out. Even when you weren't in the pen, he would pace and bite the bars trying to get out. If you stepped too close, he would go ballistic. I never thought I would ever see a rabbit behave like that, it was just so weird) and she suspected that he might have brain tumors or something that was causing the excessive aggression. We ended up giving him back to the breeder, we were afraid to even walk past the cage thinking that he might wind up hurting himself.

While the vet suspected that there was another cause that aggression was not caused out of fear. It is possible to have one that is being mean and not afraid.

THAT BEING SAID, I do agree that this girl is not being aggressive, but she is afraid. She probably has never been worked with by a person and doesn't know what to think of it all, she must be on complete mental overload right now by all the changes.

As for this girl, she looks like a New Zealand to me.

Strays can definitely be worked with if you take it slow. We have one of the rabbits in our club, Autumn, who was a stray and she's just the sweetest thing now, you would never know where she came from. There are others who have been rescued from similar situations.

Just be sure to take it slow and I'm sure she'll come around eventually.

"Something that is afraid would not rather chase the source of the 'fear'"
This isn't true at all. Rabbits very commonly will charge or chase something they are afraid of, it's their only way to defend themselves. They are a prey animal, they simply don't have it in them to be mean. Pain will also cause them to be defensive, which is what you saw to be true.

I agree, Looks like a New Zealand, Does can be pretty nasty, I have one here that is mean when shes bred and have a litter, I just show who's boss, I dont show gear, at least i try not too. And i pinned her down and feed or whatever i need to do without getting bite

Thanks everyone, I'm just trying to stay consistant with her. I always feed them in the same order, give snacks in the same order, show attention in the same order. I try to keep things exactly the same every day.

All the rabbits have shavings for bedding, hay for eating and nest making, they all get clean water as needed (Only one of my six buns will actually use a waterer, instead they like bowls of water), they all get fed in the morning and night.

This particular bun doesn't seem to care for the feed I'm using, I had some "junk" feed (has all the colorful crap in it) left over so I did mix some of that into all the buns food as a treat and she ate the treat parts and some of the feed. She gets fresh stuff almost daily, though she gets very mean during snack (usually produce or even just some fresh clipped grass) time.

Now if she was running loose with other rabbits is it possible that she is pregnant?

Yes I have a nesting box for her, put some hay in there for her to build (all she did was eat it though) and I did try to feel if she was pregnant but couldn't tell. I marked the day I caught her on my calendar so I would know when the all clear would be.

OneTwoThree wrote:

Rabbits are never mean, they are fearful. And many rabbits are territorial of their pens. Does she have hay in there?

Click to expand...

Rabbits can be mean. Some rabbits are mean, and it isn't from fear. When a rabbit is afraid, they run/hop and hide. They don't attack like a dog does. Rabbits who are pregnant can be aggressive because they are protecting their kits from predators.

I do agree that rabbits are territorial of their pens/cages. Sweetie is protective of her cage, she will not let another rabbit go into her cage, but she will let me in there to clean and such.

Rabbits may be prey animals but they will become mean to any human or animal because they are protecting their area or even themselves from being hurt. Rabbits become mean because of different reasons. But it is never from fear.

It is very possible that this rabbit is pregnant and that could be the reason that she is mean. She might calm down once the babies are born and they are weaned. Keep working with her getting her trust and once you have it, keep that trust.

I agree that the possibility of pregnancy could be contributing to the aggression. It would be an extremely stressful time for her if she is, going through so many changes at once. Poor girl.

OneTwoThree wrote:

This isn't true at all. Rabbits very commonly will charge or chase something they are afraid of, it's their only way to defend themselves. They are a prey animal, they simply don't have it in them to be mean. Pain will also cause them to be defensive, which is what you saw to be true.

Click to expand...

What I was describing was a rabbit in completely nuetral territory and a very large area with plenty of places to hide. So no, I still do not believe this is a natural reaction. When it comes to fight or flee in a nuetral area with no babies to defend, I don't think a rabbit would choose fight. Like any animal, there can be mean ones. Each rabbit has their own personality, so why can't it be one that isn't friendly? It's that way for every animal, just like people.

Rabbits can't be mean. Yeah, and all politicians are honest too. We had a Netherland Dwarf that would bite you bloody and another Nethie from 9 weeks that was well taken care that would try to bite any chance he got. The first one took 4 years to become friendly and the other never did, but he did stop biting.

This is why I threw out the pregnancy though. All that temper could be from a mamma to be.

I am positive that is a New Zealand White doe, she looks exactly like my Cinder. Cinder can also be mean on occasion.It's probably due to me not having her fixed yet.Your bun may also have been abused since we don't know what happened to her before you rescued her. Give her some time to get used to you. Have her claws clipped, and try to greet her with treats, slowly start to hold her and she should come around.Good luck with her she is beautiful:bunnysuit: