Piper Crying and Aggression

Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Love your rabbit
Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
LedaHartwood

LedaHartwood

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2008
Messages
205
Reaction score
0
Location
Kansas City, , USA
Our newest and FINAL bunny addition cries in the "I'm sad and scared" way. The people we got her from seemed a nice enough home. They said they used to let her run around the house and play with her all the time. But then they weren't able to give the attention a bunny girl needs. Thus, her being with us now.

Could she just not be used to us? She had been so sweet when we first met her. She fell asleep in Curtis' arms within minutes of holding her. We hadn't even decided if we were going to take her home at that point! (It's been maybe half a week and all our other bun-kids warm up really fast. With in days) Or she is have anxiety from the switch of families? I don't know. She doesn't lunged or box. She allows peting after a time, but we keep this short to not scare her any more then we already have.

By the way, her nails are a tad long. We have to trim them. Could this also be cause for her to cry?
 
LedaHartwood wrote:
Our newest and FINAL bunny addition cries in the "I'm sad and scared" way. The people we got her from seemed a nice enough home. They said they used to let her run around the house and play with her all the time. But then they weren't able to give the attention a bunny girl needs. Thus, her being with us now.

Could she just not be used to us? She had been so sweet when we first met her. She fell asleep in Curtis' arms within minutes of holding her. We hadn't even decided if we were going to take her home at that point! (It's been maybe half a week and all our other bun-kids warm up really fast. With in days) Or she is have anxiety from the switch of families? I don't know. She doesn't lunged or box. She allows peting after a time, but we keep this short to not scare her any more then we already have.

By the way, her nails are a tad long. We have to trim them. Could this also be cause for her to cry?
Click to expand...
Do you mean that she make a whimpering sound?:?
 
Yes. It's the same whimppering noise I remember my mother's rabbits made when they were scared. They would shake and freeze in place. It's almost canine. I don't know.

But Piper does it. You think she's scared of me? Or the smells of the home?

And thank you for posting. I can see that this thread has been veiwed alot, but no one has offered any advise. The whole reason I joined was in the hopes of geting helpfull hits on raising happy bunnies, and finding fellowrabbit-owners......
 
OurDaisy Mae sounds like she is crying at times when we put our hand in her cage. My hubby always says "Don't cry sweetheart". I really don't think she's scared, I say she is a Little Brat, but hubby says she's not.

Sometimes I think she just doesn't want us to be in her cage. She never bites us though. I should try to get a video of her doing it. Of coursewhen igo to take it she'll be "Miss Innocent" and not make any noises.

Susan:)
 
Please don't confuse the number of views with the amount of advice you will receive on any given topic. Many members don't have personal experience with ALL rabbit issues.
If I don't know what I'm talking about, I'm certainly not going to speculate about someone else's problem, and give them stupid, inaccurate "advice".:shock:

I shut up, and wait for someone to come along who actually knows:)

That being said, when Evie first came to me 3 months ago now, there was a lot of whimpering and stomping. I took that as fear and concern on her behalf. I think she was telling me (verbally) where the limits were. Over time, lots of gentle pets and craisins, she has stopped vocalizing completely.

I did not try to pick her up except out of complete necessity while she was settling in. Personally, I didn't trim her nails at the time, as I felt that it would be too scary for her, and give her a very bad impression of me.

Half a week is too short to expect her to trust you. When you met her, she was in a comfortable environment. Now, she is in a place where there are a lot of unfamiliar bunnies that are likely sending out "we don't know you stranger" signals to her. She sounds very docile if she isn't boxing you. Evie boxed like crazy.

Go slow, lots of treats... It took Evie probably a month and a half to get comfy. I also wouldn't attempt to have her interact with the other rabbits in anyway until she regains her confidence. That was my mistake with Evie (intro to da boys), and I believed that considerably slowed down her adjustment.
 
Poor baby bun! She sounds scared to me. It breaks your heart, doesn't it? One of our rabbits used to cry like that, too. It took quite awhile, and a lot of patient love,gentle talk, and reassurance, before she stopped cowering and whimpering every time we put a hand in her cage. (She was fine once she was out, but it just took awhile for our Blueberry to realize that the hand coming into her cagewas friendly.) I think that since rabbits are by nature prey animals, they are naturally frightened when they're "cornered" - even in their own cages.

I'm withNorthernAutumn - the poor deardoesn't have her confidence yet. It's tough to be the new bun on the block! ;)




 
Sometimes people who don't know what to say because they don't know much on a topic will read everytime someone post to see if they can learn.

So the veiws go up while the post don't.:)
 
Does she shake or freeze while whimpering?

Toby makes that whining/crying noise right after I feed him his food and pet him. He makes that crying noise while eating. I've always thought of that noise as a happy noise for him.

That's my only experience with cryin' bunnies...
 
I'm very sorry about that out burst. I was just scared that I wouldn't be able to make Piper happy and comfortable at her new home.

Thank you for the advise.

I haven't intro'd her to any of the other rabbits. In fact, she's been in the computer room. I'm sure she can smell the other bun-kids, but they haven't come face to face as of yet.

She'll let Curtis hold her, but if I try she raises hell. I suppose I have any other Daddy's girl in the making.....

I'll just spoil her with treats. Craisens.... What other things can I give her. I fear if i buy a bag of craisens, they won't make it to the bunny :biggrin2:. I saw that WabbitDad fed his rabbits banana chips. Would those be a treat that I give in small amounts. I know too many greens lead to poopie-butt or water-tail. How do the bunny's deal with dried fruits?
 
Like Craisins, Banana chips and papaya cubes iz bunneh crack.
I should REALLY cut back on the amt I give my guys (high sugar= fat bunnies), but who can resist those little begging paws and faces.
They always get a good night treat (or three).... I know, I know... bad:?. But they really like it:biggrin2:

Raisins, fresh apples. banana, grape... Bunnies like sugar (like all of us... but not so much)
 
To me, it sounds like she just needs some time... and, of course, love.

As for the sound, I've heard my bun make crying (whimpering) noises like this when she's scared, but just recently she's started making a "happy" crying sound. Here's what I think: Another bunny can tell the difference, but to us humans, they sound alike. so we have to pay more attention to body language, overall circumstances (etc.).

You've had her for a *very* short time, really - and all bunnies are different, as I'm sure you already know. This little girl sounds like she needs for you to just be with her. (Without much petting, and/or trying to pick her up.) Hang out with her on the floor if you can - just read, talk on the phone, watch TV, and let her come to you. Let her explore you and the area around you without touching her. And have a couple of treats handy, whether it's her favorite veggie, banana bits, what have you. Let her take the initiative, and I think you'll be surprised.

Time, patience and love are the key. :)

Edited to add: Remember, she's a prey animal. I know that might seem obvious, but... I think it's very important to keep in mind; also that it's difficult for us humans (predators) to understand what it feels like to be a member of a prey species. Startle/fear reactions are hard-wired in bunnies, and I think the fast transitions you've had with other rabbits are actually a bit unusual.

You might want to take a look at these articles, which were a huge help to me when I 1st got my bun:

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/shybun.html

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/firstrabbit.html
 
You haven't given her nearly enough time. Since she was very calm and snuggly with you while in her former home, that is a good sign that she will be the same with you once she settles in. Don't try to pick her up, try not to reach into her space (cage, pen, whatever) unless you have to, and like EC said, just "hang out". Don't even make an attempt to pet her unless she comes to you. Lots of treats, jsut sort of drop them where she can see them at first, and then coax her to come to your hand to get them later on.
 
How's Piper doing these days?

I just wanted to add my experience. Maybe it will help. We bought Hershey at a pet store when he was 7 weeks old. The sales girl said he had a sister that had been sold a week ago. So the poor baby had been all alone for a week!

In the car I took him out of the box and held him on my lap. He looked at me for about 10 mins. then scampered onto my shoulder, snuggled up to my neck. He made those squeaky, dog whining sounds then too. I figured he was just very loney and so happy to have some company!

2 years later, when he's in a snuggly mood, he'll snuggle up to my neck and make the same noises.

So, if Piper was used to a lot of attention, then everyone got busy and she was neglected, she might just be happy to have some company!
 
I'm a royal idiot!

After weeks of doing as advised on this thread, Piper was still being aggressive. I'd only invade her space when I had to feed her. (which is in the morning and before bed). We gave her hay to nibble as a treat, but still, no bunny love. I'd talk to her as I sat in the room and would then turn my head, and leave her be (She's in the computer room)

I'm so stupid!

Piper is housed across the way from our male foster-bun, Dougie!

I'm going to move Dougie, and hope this changed Piper's 'tude.

I should know better. I really should.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top