"Evil" Samara!

[Fergi]

Alright, Sam is driving me insane. She is sooooomean. During the day I switch her and Fergi from their hutch to anoutdoor pen so they can enjoy the grass and a change of scenery. Sammakes it really hard to take her out of the hutch, as soon as I have myhand in the hutch she is either attacking me or Fergi (she gets alongfine with Fergi as long as I am not around). If I take Fergi out firstI can hear Sam thumping at me as I come back to grab her. She thenmakes a noise that sounds to me like she is petrified, rolls her eyes,and darts around the cage.

I have had her since the day she was born and she has always beenhandled, she is spayed, she has been irritable since she was about fourmonths old. I know they don't like to be picked up but I don't want herto have to sit in the hutch day in and day out. I have triedplacing my hand over her head and telling her no, she will be gooduntil we get close to the pen or hutch and then she freaks out, I havesome pretty sad scars from her on my arms now. Even if I cover her eyesshe knows how many steps and turns it is to the pen andhutch.The last straw was last night when she actually bit mefor the first time, before she just attacked with her paws and that wasbearable but I hate getting bit!

Does anyone else have any tips I can try, I have ran out of ideas onhow to make it more pleasant for both of us. She won't take treats fromme when she thinks I am planning to move her so that is a no go. I havetried just sitting there and talking to her with my hands placed in thecage but she still freaks out. Thanks for any help!

Fergi's mama

 

[jordiwes]

Have you tried building a ramp out of the hutchso that she can leave of her own free will? I know my bunnies like tobe coaxed out rather than carried. It might take a while, but I thinkshe'll be more confortable once she knows she can make her own way...

 

[Fergi]

Building a ramp is not a possiblility because ofthe location of the hutch to the pen, they are in different parts ofthe yard. Thanks for the suggestion though. I guess I will just have todeal with having a crabby bun!

Fergi's mom

 

[dajeti2]

Have you tried picking her up at other times besides when she goes to the run?

Maybe you can work with her. Whenever you approach her cagebring a treat, bribes work wonders. Get her used to your hands meaningtreats.

Have you tried picking her up at other times? I mean besideswhen it's time for her to go to the run. Maybe getting her used tobeing carried. Walk around the yard with her.

Have you tried wandering around a bit on your way to the runwith her. Instead of taking the same route mix it up a bit and maybethat will help.

Tina

 

[naturestee]

Could you coax her into a carrier?

 

[Fergi]

naturestee wrote:

Could you coax her into a carrier?

That is what I was doing for awhile and it worked well enough, maybe I will go back to that.

I will also try to handle her more in "non-threatening" situations butsince she has been handled since day one I don't know if it will makemuch of a difference. Thanks guys for the help and advice!

Fergi's mom

 

[bluebird]

You can always go to the hardware store and get work gloves.sometimes they stop biting when you arent imtimidated.bluebird

 

[black_jack]

have u tried changing her name?

I am not having a laugh at ur expense.

We called our new kit scamp and she runs a mile when we're in the room with her just like her name.

We recently changed her name to kellar and now she comes for strokes.

Samara is the name of the evil girl in the ring so maybe she is evil by name not nature?

lol... yes im insane and no im not on any medication lol xx

 

[black_jack]

Fergi wrote:

Building a ramp is not a possiblility because of thelocation of the hutch to the pen, they are in different parts of theyard. Thanks for the suggestion though. I guess I will just have todeal with having a crabby bun!

Fergi's mom

put the pen around the hutch??

rabbits really cant stand being picked up and they like it even lesswhen u invade there territory (the safety of there hutch) to do it.

 

[RaspberrySwirl]

Wow, what a mess!:?I can't believe after all that all of us went throughwatching those babies grow up with you, she turned out to be such agrouch! :XI'd be mad as heck if I was you! I don't even haveany advice. Sebastian has never minded being picked up and I don'tunderstand it when people say rabbits hate it. He will actually standon his hind legs and wait to be picked up if you ask him if he wantsup.

Sam is a pretty good size too, isn't she?I'd be frightened if I wasn't feeling any love from her and she wentafter me every time I tried to interact with her... It makes it a bitdifficult to feel warm and fuzzy!

Raspberry

 

[Nicky Snow]

when i saw the name Samara, i thought of the girl from the Ring. (Scary)

Fergi- i hear your troubles, my 5 month old Kweli, has started bitingeveryone for no reason. although it seems that she prefers anlkes, ifone is not available, anything else will to. i really hope this is justa faze.

i think that Tina is right about not only handling her at times thatyou are trying to move her. My older doe Rue HATES being picked up, soi try to oblige her by not doing it, she has a cage with a door on thefront.but you don't really have a choice because of the styleof cage you have. my only suggestion is a different cage. it would bemore $$ of course, but it might be worth it.

hope everything gets better!

Nicole

 

[Saffy]

[suP]Phew ..someone else who has a grouchy bun ! I've just cometo the conclusion that BENJi isnt a touchy bunny ... even when I do sitwith him by my side, stroking him for ages, which he seems to love ..he'll turn round at the most unexpected time, and take a chunk out ofmy leg or arm ! (I seriously wish his teeth woulddrop out ! *chuckle*) He's actually notbeen out of his outdoor cage for two days as each time I go to let himout he lunges at me with ears flattened and teeth bared ![/suP]

 

[loppylove]

RaspberrySwirl wrote:

Wow, what a mess!:?I can't believe after all that all of us went throughwatching those babies grow up with you, she turned out to be such agrouch! :XI'd be mad as heck if I was you! I don't even haveany advice. Sebastian has never minded being picked up and I don'tunderstand it when people say rabbits hate it. He will actually standon his hind legs and wait to be picked up if you ask him if he wantsup.

Sam is a pretty good size too, isn't she?I'd be frightened if I wasn't feeling any love from her and she wentafter me every time I tried to interact with her... It makes it a bitdifficult to feel warm and fuzzy!

Raspberry

you are VERY VERY VERY VERy lucky to have a bunny l;ike that iwould love to be able to have a bunny that is a sweetie like that,don't get me wrong i love my bunnies and we get along fine when i comedown to theyr level (floor) or they come to mine (jump on furniture)they do not like getting picked up. a long time ago i had a bunny thatwas an outside bunny, i would have loved to bring her inside but at thetime could not. but she loved to be picked up you could pick up like ababy and she loved it!. unfortunatly she passed away .... again veryvery lucky!

 

[loppylove]

Saffy wrote:

[suP]Phew .. someone else whohas a grouchy bun ! I've just come to theconclusion that BENJi isnt a touchy bunny ... even when I do sit withhim by my side, stroking him for ages, which he seems to love .. he'llturn round at the most unexpected time, and take a chunk out of my legor arm ! (I seriously wish his teeth would drop out! *chuckle*) He's actually not been outof his outdoor cage for two days as each time I go to let him out helunges at me with ears flattened and teeth bared ![/suP]

how do you do it? that would make me not want to be with himi wouldnt like that either but everytime you pet him andare getting along fine..he bites you:Xtahts mean!

 

[loppylove]

Fergi wrote:

Alright, Sam is driving me insane. She is sooooo mean.During the day I switch her and Fergi from their hutch to an outdoorpen so they can enjoy the grass and a change of scenery. Sam makes itreally hard to take her out of the hutch, as soon as I have my hand inthe hutch she is either attacking me or Fergi (she gets along fine withFergi as long as I am not around). If I take Fergi out first I can hearSam thumping at me as I come back to grab her. She then makes a noisethat sounds to me like she is petrified, rolls her eyes, and dartsaround the cage.

I have had her since the day she was born and she has always beenhandled, she is spayed, she has been irritable since she was about fourmonths old. I know they don't like to be picked up but I don't want herto have to sit in the hutch day in and day out. I have triedplacing my hand over her head and telling her no, she will be gooduntil we get close to the pen or hutch and then she freaks out, I havesome pretty sad scars from her on my arms now. Even if I cover her eyesshe knows how many steps and turns it is to the pen andhutch.The last straw was last night when she actually bit mefor the first time, before she just attacked with her paws and that wasbearable but I hate getting bit!

Does anyone else have any tips I can try, I have ran out of ideas onhow to make it more pleasant for both of us. She won't take treats fromme when she thinks I am planning to move her so that is a no go. I havetried just sitting there and talking to her with my hands placed in thecage but she still freaks out. Thanks for any help!

Fergi's mama

that is sooo starnge that she has been handled since birth and actslike that! i don't understand! but i beleive that everyanimal, just like a person, is born with a certain mind setalready.Likes, dislikes, attitude and so on just like aperson, how it is raised will affect and influence some things...butsome are already built in. I'm sorry about what you are going throughand i wish i had some good advice for you

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

How old is she now? (Sorry if you said, I didn't see it.)

It's quite possible that this is the teen stage. I know that Mocha wasreally mean from 6 months to 18 months. He would attack my hand (well,bite)and claw the heck out of me. He was handled lots fromdays one because I got him at 6 weeks and my friend and I handled thema lot as babies. Luckily Mocha grew out of that stage and has only bitme once in the last year.

Hopefully that's the case with Samara, too.

For now I'd suggest using the carrier for the most part, I know whatit's like to have no will to touch them or spend time with them becausethey always bite so preventing biting and that should help with some ofthat. Don't stop handling her completely but I don't see a problem withusing the carrier if she's that bad.

 

[Fergi]

Well thanks everyone for the help! I nevernoticed that Sam was named after the girl on the ring, lol! It meansprotected by God, hmmmm.

Raspberry, it sure does make it tough to love a that hates you butshe's stuck with me, lol, no one else would understand her! She is abit on the big side but long and lankey more than round and chubby. Atleastshe has her moments of kindness. A few weeks ago I wasseriously considering giving her up, I told Tony about it and we agreedto think on it. That night when I went out to do their nightly choresshe nudged my hand, I thought, can she really want me to pet her? Ofcourse she did, she was a huge lovebug for that night. Next day it wassame old same old.:?

She hasn't bit me again so that's a good sign and I have been handlingher more and she is tolerable of it for the most part. She is now ninemonths old and could very well be a cranky teenager even with havingbeen spayed already, who knows.

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

Iwas wrong, the boys hit the teenstage at about 9 months old. They had already been neutered for 4-5months and still both had there moments. Spice only had spurts of itbut that was worse because I never knew when he'd strike, at leastMocha was predictable because he always bit.