Aggression?

[Briannamb310]

Hey all.
Bear with me , I’m gonna try and explain this since I’m at a loss. I recently lost one of my rabbit friends. So I saw one for adoption at a pet store who was contracting through a shelter that has a high kill rate. I wanted him out of there and here where I could best care for him and provide a happy life. I don’t know much about him. He’s 6 months old and a beveren mix. Had him for a month and a half.
I’ve tried everything that’s by the book for handling him and he panics no matter what I do. I pick him up and I have scratches everywhere. I’ve tried harnesses and he gets mad and bites. But In some way I need to let him out or handle him. He likes to be pet in his cage and lays down flat and loves it. But besides that I’m at a loss. He’s a big chewer and I have plentiful of toys. The biting is a result of him being ticked off. He’s very curious and responsive to noises. So I was wondering if he’s was mishandled ? He is quiet a large rabbit as well.
It’s astronomical the difference between him and my other rabbit who was handled out the gate and bred by a breeder.
Thanks !

 

[Hermelin]

I would first earn his trust and build a bond. While not picking him up or putting any harness on him.

Myself have a bunny that I’ve been working for a year. I’ve only taken him out on harness 3 times. Two times this summer and the first a month after I got him.

The difference between him having trust towards me and not having it’s huge. I would also recommend to teach him the harness and picking up its not dangerous slowly and build it up. So you should take baby steps, try just make a run outside his cage.

Myself have recently been allowed to pet my trouble bunny whenever I want but still not full trusting yet [emoji20]. At least no more lunging, biting, growling and becoming extremely afraid.

So take it slowly, also larger bunnies are harder to teach picking up. You can’t carry them as comfortable as with smaller breeds. So try to use a basket or travel cage when moving him around, at least until he can tolerate short times of handling.

My bunny was not mishandled but instead was misunderstood at his owner before. They didn’t understand his signals and was too pushy for him. Which lead to him getting a bad image of humans.

Maybe it can been the same problem with your bunny.