how to handle nasty bunny

[littleboo]

i have two female rabbits who have the complete opposite nature.

my youngest bun'yasmine' has the sweetest personality andloves to be stroked and kissed but myotherbun'honey' is sooo moody. she will attack my arm when ichange her feed or pick her up to put her out to play! i dont know whatto do as i cant pick her up or anything. a friend told me to put atowel over her eyes then pick her up but it doesnt work as she attacksthe towel. also she grunts, she can be really nasty.

any tips/ideas to get round thisnaughty behaviour?

 

[Stephanie]

Is she spayed? That can go a long way to helpwith problems like that. Also, most rabbits don't like to be held, somaybe refrain from that for now. She may be trying to let you know thatshe doesn't want to be held, even when you try to pet her, all she seesis a hand coming and relates that to being picked up.

 

[littleboo]

she is perfectly fine when shes out on thefloor, she will circle round my feet and is fine to pick up while onthe floor. its just in her cage that shes nasty, i cant even get herfeed bowl out of the cage as she attacks me!

 

[FlopsnWills]

all the things you've explained are commonproblems in frustrated unspayed females rabbits. even the circlingaround your feet, rabbits do this as a sign to want to reprodue withyou, so i guess you can call it a compliment! the only real way to stopthis behavior is to get her spayed, otherwise it will be a lifelongfrustration.

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/aggression.htmlheresa great site on it.. also, 99% of rabbits hate to be picked up or heldbecause in the wild, the only time it happens is when they are about tobe eaten, so its pretty understandable. stick in there, shes your babyand its normal behavior. if you dont want to spay her, you just have tofind ways around it, although spaying does help a LOT! they also havehuge chances of developing uterine/ovarian cancer by the age of 3, itsabout 80-85% chance.

 

[naturestee]

Do a search here on "cage aggression."This is why she is fine when she's out but acts mean when she's in hercage. She doesn't like you in her territory and feelsthreatened by your hand in her space. She thinks you areinvading her private space. The best thing you can do is tofind a way to let her out of the cage on her own. Put thecage on the floor, coax her into a carrier, whatever works foryou. It will make her feel much more secure and trusting.

I've dealt with this with three girl bunnies now, and this really helped with all of them.

Also, try not to flinch if she makes a show of acting mean.It can be hard, but reacting to her just lets her know that beingaggressive is getting her what she wants.

 

[SweetPeasMommie]

So if a male or female bun runs around my legsmean they want some if they are not fixed. MeatHead loves doing thatbut never bites.

 

[FlopsnWills]

yes, rabbits circle things they want to mate with lol weird huh?

 

[Pet_Bunny]

Her cage is her territory, which is where her feels a senseof security.

Pebbles, our bunny won't let my wife pick herup unless she is in the litter box. Thatis how my bunny lets my wife know when she can bepicked up.:shock: Inever have problems that my wife has inpicking her up.

In your case, leave sections of the cage where she can beleft alone and not bothered. Forexample, Pebbles is left alone when she is underher stool. If she comes out, then shegets petted and treats.


Give her a treat before you pick her up, so she can associate that as a good thing.

Rainbows!

 

[nose_twitch]

FlopsnWills wrote:

yes, rabbits circle things they want to mate with lol weird huh?

This is the only reason I would consider neutering my rabbit.I think that he is overly frustrated because he is constantly circlingme and humping my poor slippers. I don't plan on gettinganother rabbit soon, so I don't worry about reproduction. Iam only worried about making his life happy. I don't mind thecircling and humping. I am worried about him. Myboyfriend seems to think neutering is cruel, but I think in many casesit is the most humane thing to do.

 

[dajeti2]

She sounds very cage territorial. Forwhatever reason she feels she has to protect her domain. That's whyshe's angry in the cage aand a sweetie outside of it.

Here's something to try. Don't give her any treats but when sheis in her cage. You want her to associate your hand in her cage with agood thing. Open her cage at different times and give her a treat.Don't try to pick her up or anything.

As to getting her in and out of her cage, is it possible foryou to make a ramp so she can leave and get back in without beingpicked up.

As someone else said it's scary but don't back down from her.You have to show her you are the Alpha rabbit. When she starts actingout of control charging and growling, gently push her head down andtell her no.

If she isn't spayed yet, getting her spayed will help alot with this kind of behavior.

How old is she? Have you had her awhile?

Tina

 

[bluebird]

My husband also didnt like the idea of gettingour dog neutered either my daughters boyfriend wont get their dogneutered they act like its personal.Untill our dog started marking histerritory.unneutered males may get testicular cancer.soo off to the vethe went.bluebird

 

[nose_twitch]

I agree with you bluebird. The onlyreason I am considering neutering is because of the possibility that myrabbit may be more happy after having it done. I don't wanthim to get cancer, and I don't want him to feel frustrated.

If/when I get JJ neutered, it will NOT be because he gets horny andlets out a few territorial poos every once in awhile. He's ananimal. I kind of expect that.

I dunno. I'm still thinking about it.

:dunno:

 

[SweetPeasMommie]

I have spoken to my hubby awhile back that I do want to get MeatHead neutered just for a safe percaution.

 

[littleboo]

dajeti2 wrote:

She sounds very cage territorial. For whateverreason she feels she has to protect her domain. That's why she's angryin the cage aand a sweetie outside of it.

Here's something to try. Don't give her any treats but when sheis in her cage. You want her to associate your hand in her cage with agood thing. Open her cage at different times and give her a treat.Don't try to pick her up or anything.

As to getting her in and out of her cage, is it possible foryou to make a ramp so she can leave and get back in without beingpicked up.

As someone else said it's scary but don't back down from her.You have to show her you are the Alpha rabbit. When she starts actingout of control charging and growling, gently push her head down andtell her no.

If she isn't spayed yet, getting her spayed will help alot with this kind of behavior.

How old is she? Have you had her awhile?

Tina

yes i might try that treat thing and see how we go. no she isntspayed as im a worryier and scared of anything going wrong. recentlyhad to have my baby boy eeyore put down he was only 4months so im veryprotective with my other two. she is nearly 2years and ive had hersince she was 12 weeks old so its not that she doesnt know me oranything!

 

I have aquestion no one else has thought of ,

Has she always beenso grumpy when she is in hercage ? , or is this something justrecent? If it is recent you may want tohave her eyes checked , or a general checkup to make sure there isnt a problemhiding beneath the surface ,

I know with Sky Rider ( isblind due to cateracts but sees shadows )If Iput my hand in too quickwhen he doesnt see the shadowsmove he can and willactually snot and snarl at me , Thisis especaillyat nightwhen shadows are at a minimum , Just athought .

Can you time line when she is moreaggressive is it day time , night timeor in twilight hours ?

I have one and have shownvideos of one who pretends to be cageterritorial but in reality just wants toplay , altho on occasion shewill get an actually nip in , but thatsmy fault for being slow at that moment .

Her favorite thing to do is havea oatmeal container rolled at her soshe can pounce and scratch it intosubmission , maybe try something like this ?I agreespaying her will also help the situationa lot , but its your choice ,and will all depend on whats causing theaggression and how long you wantto put up with the behavior .