Grunting Bunny - new baby bunny.

[kat70]

Just got a new bunny very timid !

She is fit and healthy.Im handling her as much as poss .Not to sound horrible but when i go to get her out of her hutch or feed she grunts like a pig and goes to bite me.

I have never heard a rabbit grunt as loud !! She is a giant so i need to get her tamed as she will grow so big!Once i pick her up she chatters her teeth and gives me a nip.

She is biting all the time and is 13 weeks old .Any advice.I cant really describe the sound as ive had lots of bunnies but never had a bunny that grunted !!

 

[ilovetegocalderon]

Sure is scary isn't it?! The first time I heard a bunny grunt was when I got my third one, Marshmellow. (Rice and Beans never grunted or bit.) Rabbits grunt when they're scared or aggravated. She just needs to get to know you. Marshy used to grunt for the first couple weeks every time I did something in her cage and she even bit me once. Now she is a big lovey mush ball.

 

[kat70]

Ive only had her 4 days she is 100% tamer than she was but still untame if you know what i mean.She just cowered in the corner thumping.Now she's running rund the room sniffing at me but when i go to stroke she runs off.The grunting is when i go into her hutch.

 

[ilovetegocalderon]

Yea, Marshy did the same thing. She's just protecting her territory. She's grunting cuz she's aggravated that you're in her territory (the hutch). She'll eventually get over it. Marshy stopped after a little less than 2 weeks.

 

[kat70]

Isnt 13 weeks a little young to be so aggresive?

 

[ilovetegocalderon]

It does sound a little young.....where did you get her from?

 

[kat70]

she came from a breeder.

 

[ilovetegocalderon]

Do you know this breeder well? Maybe she was mishandled by the breeder....:dunno

 

[kat70]

Hi all the rabbits were well looked after.

The bunny is fit & healthy im taking her to vets next week for mixy jab.Ive never heard a bunny grunt so young!She really does go for it when i put my hand in the cage ! Im handling all the time to show her that its ok.

 

[JimD]

Our Binkie was like this when we first brought her home. She was young too, probably around 12 weeks.

She was (and still is) very territorial and protective of her cage. Grunting, charging, headbutting, and BITING.:X

Once she's out of the cage she a real mush-bunnie.

Spaying her would likely calm this behavior, but other medical issues have been prevented this.

~Jim

 

[ilovetegocalderon]

JimD wrote:

Spaying her would likely calm this behavior, but other medical issues have been prevented this.

aww, like what?

 

[kat70]

Hi,

Ive never had a rabbit like this ! She is so timid and scared ! panics when i pick her up too.

 

[JimD]

ilovetegocalderon wrote:

JimD wrote:

Spaying her would likely calm this behavior, but other medical issues have been prevented this.

aww, like what?

Binkie had an abscess in her dewlap that had to be surgically removed. The vet had scheduled tospay herat the same time, but was afraid that it would be too much for her.

Binkie recovered from the surgery very well, but now she has started chewing at her dewlap, and not in the same place as the surgery. She managed to chew a 1" diameter hole a couple of weeks ago. We put an e-collar on her (aka "the lampshade") and she has almost healed up. The vet is concerned that it might be a obsessive compulsion and she may do it again as soon as the collar comes off. We may need some bunnie-Zolof:bunnynurse

Ah, yes....life with bunnies is anything but boring, says I.

 

[ilovetegocalderon]

Poor Binkie :?

 

[JimD]

kat70 wrote:

panics when i pick her up too.

A lot of bunnies will act this way. It's a prey animals normal action, especially a burrowing animal.

They're used to being on the ground and are reacting to a larger animal scooping them up...and in the wild you can imagine what their fate might be.

~Jim

 

[Nadezhda]

When I feed Fred raisins, he grunts very loudly. I had hidden a couple raisins at the bottom of his food dish once, and he finally found them in the middle of the night, and woke me up with the sounds of his happy grunting!

 

[kat70]

She isnt " HAPPY GRUNTING" my other bun grunts but he is happy.

The prob is with Giant buns there too big to be aggresive so i have to tame her and get her use to being handled .Obviously she has not been handled .