Badly Behaving Bunny

[Aliena]

Hi,

I have just taken on a foster rabbit from the SPCA as she needs to gain weight. She is super skinny and it's quite disgusting really but she is doing a good job of gaining weight. However, her behaviour is an issue and if I don't sort it out then she can't be adopted.

She's the kind of bunny that is at the hutch door every time you go over, she almost falls out when I open it, she's very in your face and so appears confident but she also startles constantly, at every little movement. So if I move my hand, shift something, put some food down, anything at all, she does these little leaps like she's getting a fright. I've only had a her a few days but now she grunts and growls along with her little leaping movement. She gets especially aggro around food. Last night I gave her something to eat and one end of the hutch whilst I rearranged her bedding at the other end of the hutch and she spent the whole entire time growling and grunting whilst she was eating. This morning she was so grumpy I could barely even put her pellets in the bowl.

Now when I'm handling her I get nervous as I do not want to be bitten but I know that if I'm nervous she will probably pick up on it.

Does anybody have some tips on correcting this behaviour? I'm hoping that once she is a little less starving she might not be so food aggressive but that might not be the case. I really need to turn her into a happy and friendly rabbit so that she can be adopted.

Any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated!

And her name isFeather - named by one of the vet nurses as she is so light!

 

[ra7751]

Give her time. And think like a bunny. We have no idea what a rescued animal has truly been thru so we have to find out their "trigger"....working with a Capuchin Monkey with just that issue right now. Make things as quiet and stress free as possible. When you approach her, get down to her level....on the floor. Makes soft movements toward her. Be patient and understanding...eventually she will start to trust you.

Randy

 

[Aliena]

I am trying to be patient and calm and have started wearing gloves so that I don'tpull awayevery time she charges me. I've had rabbits that I thought were aggressive before but this girl is phenomenal. Honestly, I have never seen anything like that. She is just so super aggro, she flies around her hutch and boxes by arm and she's opened her mouth to bite a few times but hasn't done it yet. I moved her into a different hutch today and it is up high so she is at my eye level. She seems to like it in there and because she's only been in it for today she doesn't attack me or get grumpy if I put my hands in. She also spent alot of time in a run on the grass and so I spent some time sitting with her. She didn't show any aggression when she was in the run. It seems only to start happening when she has settled into her hutch so I guess she's just very territorial. I'm now starting to wonder if she could be pregnant as I know some rabbits to get grumpy and territorial when they are pregnant, lets hope not!

I do like her alot so will do my very best to turn her into a happy bunny.

 

[kirst3buns]

My rabbit was like that when I first got him. If I reached down into his cage to do anything I would get bitten or boxed but he was sweet when out running about. I quickly moved him to a much larger pen that he could go in and out of by himself and only messed around in his cage when he was out of it. He gradually settled down and is not so aggresstive any more. It didn't happen overnight though, it took some time.