Aggressive & Destructive Behaviors

[ZoeyGirl]

Ok, I have had Buddy for almost 6weeks. He was neutered about 2weeks ago. Before his neutered, he had some aggression but since his neuter, he seems more aggressive and now he's destructive.

For example of the aggressiveness, he growls very bad at me. He is also lunging and pouncing on my hands when I have to get into his cage. He hasn't bitten me but I try to be fast. He also seems more scared of me and I'm not sure if it's because he's had so many changes in the past 6 weeks or if he's just peeved off about something.

Some of the destructive behaviors is kicking out all of the bedding from his potty, tossing his pellet dish around, and chewing up the flooring. He has a variety of other things to chew on.

Now, he does come out of his cage and will sniff me but if he even thinks I might pet him, he runs back into his cage. Am I scaring him? I have been doing the firm "No!" when he does the growling and lunging. Should I stop this behavior? Also, I use the quieter, 'nice' voice when he's being good. He also will not take any type of treat from me.

One last thing to mention is that his neuter is showing no signs of infection. He's eating, drinking, pooing just fine and once he's in my lap, he's ok. Suggestions/advice is appreciated! Thanks!

 

[jcottonl02]

Hmmm, well first thing I would say was that I would still give it a few more weeks for his hormones to subside- they might just be taking a little longer.


This sounds quite territorial to me- the cage part. Some rabbits just feel very territorial about 'their' cage. Try and go into it as little as possible, and hopefully when he is out, having play/exercise time.

Incidentally, how much exercise/play time does he get? How much time does he get out of his cage? The throwing of the bowls, and destructive behaviour seems like boredom to me. Does he have many toys? He should be getting at least 3 hours of exercise time in a large space, with toys, every day, at the very very least!
Otherwise, being cooped up in a small cage for 23 hours a day, with nothing to do, would cause anyone to go crazy with boredom.

For his behaviour towards you, I would recommend trying to be less forward with him. He may be quite shy, and unsure of you, being so new. And he may not be used to being handled.
So I would start by leaving him alone- don't approach him when you are standing- this will probably scare him. I would try sitting/lying on the ground, reading a book or something, and waiting for him to come over to you. Have some treats handy, in case he will take one from your hand.
Let him explore over you, and keep low to the ground, so you are at eye level with him- this will intimidate him much less, and he can begin to feel comfortable enough around you to start bonding with you.
When you feel it's ready, reach to pet him will still laying down, and I can almost guarantee he will stay (one of my rabbits used to be like this- if I approached him while I was standing up, he would flee and hide as quick as he could. However, if I got down low, even crawling, he would even walk to meet me, as I approached him, and demanded his nose rubs etc.,would lick me, snuggle on my legs, try to leap onto me, rub his nose to mine etc. and would behave totally relaxed around me. If I stood up again straight away, he would flee).

The aggressive behaviour, and the 'fleeing' behaviour seem to indicate he just isn't quite used to human interaction. They are naturally prey animals, and are sort of 'flee first, ask questions later' types of animals. Try and slowly get him to become relaxed around you. Even silently sitting in the same room as him, ignoring him completely (!!), will probably entice him to come over and explore you.
The less attention you pay to him, the more likely he is to come to YOU. If you approach him while he is still so shy/scared, then I am not sure you will get anywhere.

Hope this helps

Jen

 

[Runestonez]

It can take about 3 months or so after a neuter for their hormones to settle down...

How old is Buddy?

What type of toys does he have access to?
Bored bunns are destructive!
How many hours of exercise does he get a day?

The lunging and growling sounds territorial and the best thing is to not let him win! A firm "NO!" and as hard as it is not snatching your hands out is the best way...try to wear work gloves if you are nervous about him nipping or biting! Avoiding him isn't going to help...it will become a learned behavior and whenever he doesn't like something he will go with what works!

Rabbits go througha phase I like to call the "terrible teens"...I'm not sure from your post how old Buddy is...but it sounds like what one of our boys went through! He was already neutered...but at about 1 year of age he went from being lovable to a total brat! He had no use for his "hoomins" he didn't want pet or cuddled, he got into EVERYTHING...I hadn't run across this before and I was pulling my hair out wondering where my beautiful boy had gone!:shock::grumpy:

He finally got through it and was back to normal in a few months. It could be a combination of both!

Rabbits are way too curious by half...so sitting on the floor in his area and reading or doing something he can't see is a great way to make him nosey. Let him explore you for a while. I usually suggest copious treats...but if your bunn isn't interested in taking them from you...
What type of treats have you tried so far?

Danielle

 

[ZoeyGirl]

Thanks for replying. I'll try those techniques. As far as exercise, Buddy gets about 3-4hrs a night. I have a few things that I put in the area for him to play w/ that are different than what's in his cage.

Some toys he has are: a rattle, *a wicker basket (untreated), a wooden block (it was a train that you paint-I took the wheels off), his little stuffed bunny-doll, a ball w/ a bell, *a cardboard box to hide in, empty toilet/paper towel rolls; I think that's all for now. I'm still looking for more "toys" for him.

As far as his age, we're not sure but when he was neutered the vet said he was fully grown. I guesstimate he's around 1 year old.

And treats I give him some commercial treats from the store-I try to stick w/ the ones w/out all the seeds & nuts and stuff. For example, I bought the chew sticks that look like carrots and another type that have alfalfa (I think). I also try to hand him his veggies.

I'll keep trying. I'm not sure where he really came from before he ended up at his previous house. They found him running around the dad's office near a cage. He was dumped there!