Tempermental Rabbit

[Snowballbun]

My bun has not been fixed yet and we're still trying to figure out if it's a boy or a girl. Maybe if I could get a picture, I will post it on here. A few vets said she was a girl, but you guys on the forum made me second guess it when I posted the video of her humping and courting my arm. So last time I had her back for her last Pen G shot, I asked if we could double check the sex. They seem to think now that it could look like a penis. I had already been quoted for a spay by my current rabbit savvy vet. The other ones were not so much. The only thing is the vet could not feel any testicles and I know I haven't seen any. So I don't know if it's possible they could have not dropped yet....she's between 5 and 6 months old. She has been sick with the syphillis and been on several antibiotics...so unless this did something to affect her/his development. It's so weird because I've gotten so used to calling her a girl and now it might be a boy. Many of you have told me many times the rabbits have been mis-sexed. Her parts used to be red and swollen from the syphilis but now they are back down to pink. She does not like me checking her parts though.

Many people have also told me that the "cage aggression" is typical female behavior.

But anyways, she is very friendly and sweet, except for when I go to pick her up.

She always comes to the front of the cage for pets, and for the most part I can move stuff in her cage and she is fine with it. But as soon as she thinks I'm going to pick her up, she starts batting at me and grunting, which has now been going on for a while. But now she's also started biting! And ouch that hurts. I've been trying to leave her alone a little more.

When I need to get her out, I started wearing gloves. She will still cuddle with me on the couch and be fine. But her cage is on top of my desk so I can't let her come out on her own. I want her to have time to play in her pen and in order to do this, I must pick her up to put her in.

What should I do about this? I hope she hasn't turned into a mean rabbit. (Especially from all the medicating trauma and vet visits I've had to put her through.)

 

[aurora369]

Here is our library page on sexing rabbits:
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12064&forum_id=17

The easy cheat is that boys look like a doughnut and girls look like a taco. You need to gently push back on the genitals to make them pop out a bit.

You can definitely post a picture if you get one, the Rabbitry is probably the best place for that if you do.

Males can suck their testicles up into their body. So if you do have a male, he could be sucking them up every time you look.

Sexing rabbits can be tricky!

-Dawn

 

[jcottonl02]

Try here too

http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/sexing.shtml

It has quite a few pics- go down the bottom and click the links for pics of male and female.

It can be SO hard to tell the sex of a rabbit, especially as both the vulva and penis can 'pop' out, and even professionals can get it wrong. Especially when the rabbits are young.

Good luck- tell us when u find out

 

[Snowballbun]

Ok, I will try those. Thank you! So if something "comes out" of the hole, it doesn't necessarily mean that it is a penis?

 

[jcottonl02]

Snowballbun wrote:

Ok, I will try those. Thank you! So if something "comes out" of the hole, it doesn't necessarily mean that it is a penis?

No- and that's the confusing part . So you are gonna have to study lots of bunny 'parts' pictures so you can be expert at it haha.
That link I sent is really good. It shows the subtle differences between the vulva and the penis when you 'pop' it out (gently!!) eg. the vulva seems to pop out more on one side, giving it a bit of a triangle look from the side.

It is SO hard sometimes to tell, though :?

 

[Snowballbun]

What do I do about the biting? I thought that generally rabbits don't bite.

 

[jcottonl02]

Some rabbits are just very territorial about their cage- some think of it as THEIR space, and will defend it if they feel necessary. Sometimes this can be changed, but most of the time, slight cage aggression just needs to be respected and dealt with accordingly.

Some rabbits just HATE being picked up too! Think about it- they are a prey animal, and to have something huge come swooping down on them, and lift them into the air and carry them off- that would probably bear a very real likeness to being carried off by a predator.
My rabbit Benji doesn't mind being picked up- any which way. He is absolutely fine about it. Pippin, however, hates it so much- it terrifies him. So I do it as little as possible. If I do have to pick him up, I will try and be as calm, and quick as possible, and hold him on his back, cradled like a baby (to trance him slightly), and hold him tightly and securely.

When you approach him, if he is quite a shy bunny, and hates being picked up, try (I know this sounds ridiculous) but try crawling over to him. That's what I do with Pippin. If I walk up to Pippin to stroke him, he'll get scared and dash away (of course, because I am 10 times the height of him, and his natural 'flee' instincts will take over'.
If I crawl (or even kinda army crawl sometimes), he will approach me too, and come right over for a groom, will lick my nose and snuggle me. And it's very interesting to see his fear just disappear, and him to actually rush over to me.

As for the biting, every time he does it, either say 'No!' in a firm, loud voice, in the same way each time, or squeal and whip your hand away. It depends whether he is a dominant bunny or not- if he is, I would use the 'No!' strategy, because you don't want him to feel more dominant. But if he is quite a shy, non-dominant bunny, then try a loud squeal, to show him he has hurt you.

Where did you hear rabbits don't bite? If they are scared, or not handled properly, then they will defend themselves in the best way they can- a big old bunny bite!
If you handle your bun properly, and they feel comfortable around you, then no, they should not bite at all, but sometimes hormonal issues or territorial issues can cause a bun to become a little aggressive, which needs to be dealt with by either spaying/neutering, and/or discipline (as in consistent verbal commands such as 'No' and 'Off' etc.- I don't mean physical discipline like some people pin their bunny down until they 'give in', which just doesn't work with prey animals at all, not that I think it works particularly great with other animals either, but it will just terrify prey animals even more- not calm them down, as intended).

Jen

 

[undergunfire]

You really should move her cage down to the floor, so that she can hop out on her own when she wants to come out to play. I think if you continued to reach into her cage to pick her up to get her out....her cage aggression will only get worse because every time you reach in there she is going to think she is getting picked up.

I have a foster rabbit who is cage aggressive and he will probably never get over it. Its easy to deal with (just don't stick my hands in there when he is in it or around it), but sometimes it is a pain when I am in a hurry and can't let him out in order to clean up/feed him.

 

[elrohwen]

Is there a way to put her cage on the floor so she can come in and out as she pleases? Neither of my rabbits tolerate being picked up and if I had to pick them up to get them in and out of their cages I would get some scratches too. I don't think this is cage aggression - just not wanting to be picked up, which is very common.

 

[Snowballbun]

Do you think if I put her cage on the floor it would be more prone to drafts, cold/heat? This is what my mom had mentioned when I first got my bun. My room can get quite warm in the summer and very cold in the winter.

I think you might be right elrohwen as for the cage aggression. Snowball seems to be fine when I do other stuff in her cage and wants me to pet her in there. As soon as I reach in with 2 hands to pick her up though, watch out lol. There is running and clawing and most recently, biting. Do you think this could be hormones as well? Since this behavior has been a development over the last month or so. Hopefully it's not because I've had to medicate her so many times with her sickness she had. I hope that hasn't damaged our relationship either from taking her to the vet so many times and giving her oral antibiotics, etc.

I think I do have more of a dominant bunny on my hands as well. He/she is very friendly in all other aspects though as in follows you when you walk by the cage, or comes to the front for you to open the door to pet her. She puts her front paws up on it for me to open. Once in a great while she will tolerate me picking her up. Before, she would let me all the time, except for sometimes trying to run in the corner and hide. She is still young at 5 1/2 months.

 

[undergunfire]

Her cage being on the floor will help with a heat issue because heat rises, so she will stay cooler on the floor. I don't think drafts are a worry unless she is by an open window, but on nice days I leave the windows open in the bun room and my rabbits love the fresh breezy air.

If she is 5.5 months old, then she is definitely ready to be spayed .

 

[elrohwen]

5.5 months is right in the middle of the female hormonal craziness! It could definitely be a contributing factor.

Also, having to medicate her could have given her a dislike of being picked up. Sometimes when buns require medicine like that they just learn to accept the extra handling, but others make their dislike known and are harder to handle. I wouldn't worry about it damaging your relationship with her - it sounds like you still have a good relationship. It may have just made her hand-shy when it comes to being picked up.

I should add that many many buns are ok being picked up and handled as babies, but grow out of this after a few months. It may be that she was ok with it while she was young, but is now asserting her personality and telling you she doesn't want to be picked up. I have two just like this, so I can tell you it's very common and nothing to worry about. You can have a great relationship with her and still have her hate being picked up.

 

[Snowballbun]

I appreciate the answers. I posted a pic of bunny's privates in the rabbitry, take a look.