Gracie won't stop charging!

[Kitty88]

I've been planning on getting Gracie spayed when she reached 1, but she's starting to get out of hand. She consistently charges me whenever I open her cage door, but stops when she reaches me. If I reach into a different area of her cage, she will charge me again. She was already 6 months old when I took her in, and she'd lived with two different families. She did spend about 4 months with her mom and litter, but it was still a rough start and I don't know what the second family was like at all, since they returned her to the first owner.

Does this sound like a hormonal behavior, or a learned behavior? Should I get her spayed sooner, or does she need to learn that charging and occasionally nipping my mother is not socially acceptable behavior? I've never had a rabbit this young or hormonal! I need advice. lol

 

[piperknitsRN]

It could be hormonal, especially if she wasn't doing this prior in your experiences with her. If it's always been the case, then yes, since you don't know her background, it's probably somewhat "ingrained" or learned (I wager any behavior that gets repeated in the same context over and over again becomes learned). This isn't to say that it can't be unlearned, or behavior modified. I've never had an aggressive bunny, though, so I'm not sure how much help I can be. I would recommend spaying her sooner or later, and realizing that hormones will take about four weeks to dissipate after you do so. Hope this helps a little bit!

 

[funnybunnymummy]

Yup, cage aggression is usually hormonal behaviour.

How old is she? Most rabbits reach maturity at about 6 months and most vets will spay at that age. Unless she's a giant breed, I don't see any reason to wait.

Hope that helps!

Rue

 

[OneTwoThree]

Sounds normal for an unaltered bun. My vet fixes females at 5 months, boys at 4.

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

Fraggles was the same way about her cage. She would growl,charge and box your hand. She never nipped though. We got her spayed and after about 5 weeks no more cranky bun.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Ditto on the neutering--rids them of a lot of "less than charming" behaviors. Kind of takes away their "charge" card.

 

[Kitty88]

Well then, I guess I'll be making that appointment soon! She's never ever bit me, but she did supposedly 'attack' my mom. (I'm sure it wasn't nearly as vicious as I was led to believe)
Also, she's about 8 1/2 months, fully grown lionhead. I've never had a bunny this tiny before, I can only assume that's why I was waiting to get it done.

 

[juliew19673]

I love a Lionhead - worked at a shelter and we had a few and they did seem to have a "tude" but really was only a problem with they were not altered. think this will fix your problem.

Just keep in mind after altering, they still need a few weeks for hormones to subside and then a few more weeks to unlearn bad behaviour (especially cage aggression). I have my foster bun Harpo, have had him for over a year and he still can get "cranky" aka growl and charge, but at this late date, its all show and I just never jump back or move - just sit and then he stops, and looks rather embarrassed about his behaviour - lol..

Good luck - you should both be fine.

 

[Sweetie]

I have a tiny lionhead. Well actually she is a tiny lionhead mix rabbit and she is very cute. When I got her spayed I was very nervous because she is so tiny. When she stretches and lays down, she is a normal size lionhead. She is the black rabbit in my avatar, as you can see she is even smaller than a Netherland Dwarf, not by much but you can tell.

 

[Kitty88]

That's so funny, Gracie is actually a mix too, her mom was a lionhead and her dad is a nethie! Gracie was 2.3 pounds at her checkup two months ago. Kashi was 7.8. LOL.

I'm actually pretty well versed in rabbit care, I'm just especially nervous since I had a lot of problems with Kashi after his surprise neuter. Including surgical glue being licked off and ingested, a bout of stasis, and waking up two days post-surgery to find him on the blocked off top level of his cage, which meant a completely vertical 3 1/2 foot jump and a possible popped stitch. Poor Dr. Stanzione saw us about 4 times in one week.

Plus, Gracie tends to be more mischievous than Kashi, so I can only imagine the ridiculous things I'm going to encounter.

 

[OneTwoThree]

Most lionheads have nethie in thier lineage Mine's a hefty 4 3/4 lb so shes mixed with something else haha.
Annyway, Samson was spayed at 5 months, pretty much before any crazy hormonal signs, and she still charges, grunts, growls, has a tude and doesn't like anyone in her cage. So keep in mind that it can also just be in her genes to be a diva, but they do have their lovable moments