OK SO, as some may know, I got Dala from a meat vendor on Valentine's day when he was estimated 4-6 weeks old. He's finally been properly sexed today (definitely male), but has been growing increasingly aggressive since bringing him home. He free roams my bedroom, and would squeeze through the bars of his cage at night when it was time to go to bed, so I gave up trying to contain him and just have been letting him do as he pleases. The cage opens from the top, so I threw a fleece blanket over the door to create a sort of tent on the inside that he sleeps and shelters in when he isn't feeling sociable.
His diet has been consisting of hay, cucumber, spinach, green bell pepper, lettuce, and more recently cilantro (which he adores). The pellet mix that was given to us by the vendor consists of pellets, dried corn, small sunflower seeds(in shells), some other tiny white seed that I can't identify, and dried sorghum. He prefers literally everything but the pellets, which he eats around until that and some sorghum are all that's left so I have to dump it out and refill. I've read that seeds are bad for bunns, and assume that since he was bred specifically for meat, they don't really care what their diets were like since they wouldn't be around for very long. His poops seem to be normal size and texture, although his pee is off and on cloudy/white.
Since he has been free roaming, he essentially litter trained himself, except for when he got big enough to jump onto my bed, which he insists on pooping and peeing on every chance he gets.
His overall behaviour, however, is what one might call "very aggressive". When I enter the room, he usually comes out of his shelter and makes the grunting noise in tandem with charging at me. If I reach down to pick up his food dishes, he lunges and does more grunting. Same if I try and pet him, both when he's eating or not. He even goes as far as "boxing" and nipping at me, though has never broken the skin. I've tried bribing him with cilantro, which he takes, but with the same attitude of grunting and lunging for it, with a hit or miss ratio of letting me pet him while he chows down or grunting and running (tail wiggling almost always included in his shenanigans). I have tried pressing his chin to the ground and saying "SHH" when he does this to establish dominance, but he only grunts more and wiggles away. When he's on the bed he's slightly more docile, and allows me to pet him while he lies like a loaf with his chin to the bed and ears pressed flat on his back, but as soon as I'm done he goes back to running around and pooping/peeing everywhere (which I assume to be a territorial thing). When I'm asleep he wakes me up a few times a night with crawling onto the bed, which I have to shoo him away or fight to pick him up so I can place him on the ground. Although one night I had been thoroughly passed out drunk and when I woke up he was lying against my leg above the blanket, which warmed my heart but I was too confused to really appreciate it at the moment.
There are times where I will sit on the floor for hours with him and he runs, plays and throws toys around, binkies, hops in 360 degree circles, and just carries on. He even used to lick my feet and legs when I sat until about a week/two weeks ago when he really just started being an a-hole. When I go to feed him sometimes I squat and he runs under/around me and stands on his hind legs like he's curious, but if I try to touch him he just acts how described before.
Is he just being a rowdy teenager? Will he calm down? Is there anything I can do to help him chill out and feel more comfortable and safe around me?
Like, it's understandable to a point, since he wasn't bred for companionship and was hardly handled as a baby, but I really want him to be safe and happy and know he doesn't have to be so defensive all the time.
Any suggestions and tips are welcome!!
His diet has been consisting of hay, cucumber, spinach, green bell pepper, lettuce, and more recently cilantro (which he adores). The pellet mix that was given to us by the vendor consists of pellets, dried corn, small sunflower seeds(in shells), some other tiny white seed that I can't identify, and dried sorghum. He prefers literally everything but the pellets, which he eats around until that and some sorghum are all that's left so I have to dump it out and refill. I've read that seeds are bad for bunns, and assume that since he was bred specifically for meat, they don't really care what their diets were like since they wouldn't be around for very long. His poops seem to be normal size and texture, although his pee is off and on cloudy/white.
Since he has been free roaming, he essentially litter trained himself, except for when he got big enough to jump onto my bed, which he insists on pooping and peeing on every chance he gets.
His overall behaviour, however, is what one might call "very aggressive". When I enter the room, he usually comes out of his shelter and makes the grunting noise in tandem with charging at me. If I reach down to pick up his food dishes, he lunges and does more grunting. Same if I try and pet him, both when he's eating or not. He even goes as far as "boxing" and nipping at me, though has never broken the skin. I've tried bribing him with cilantro, which he takes, but with the same attitude of grunting and lunging for it, with a hit or miss ratio of letting me pet him while he chows down or grunting and running (tail wiggling almost always included in his shenanigans). I have tried pressing his chin to the ground and saying "SHH" when he does this to establish dominance, but he only grunts more and wiggles away. When he's on the bed he's slightly more docile, and allows me to pet him while he lies like a loaf with his chin to the bed and ears pressed flat on his back, but as soon as I'm done he goes back to running around and pooping/peeing everywhere (which I assume to be a territorial thing). When I'm asleep he wakes me up a few times a night with crawling onto the bed, which I have to shoo him away or fight to pick him up so I can place him on the ground. Although one night I had been thoroughly passed out drunk and when I woke up he was lying against my leg above the blanket, which warmed my heart but I was too confused to really appreciate it at the moment.
There are times where I will sit on the floor for hours with him and he runs, plays and throws toys around, binkies, hops in 360 degree circles, and just carries on. He even used to lick my feet and legs when I sat until about a week/two weeks ago when he really just started being an a-hole. When I go to feed him sometimes I squat and he runs under/around me and stands on his hind legs like he's curious, but if I try to touch him he just acts how described before.
Is he just being a rowdy teenager? Will he calm down? Is there anything I can do to help him chill out and feel more comfortable and safe around me?
Like, it's understandable to a point, since he wasn't bred for companionship and was hardly handled as a baby, but I really want him to be safe and happy and know he doesn't have to be so defensive all the time.
Any suggestions and tips are welcome!!
