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[Emma Jean]

Hi, I'm not new to owning rabbits but there's always new things to learn and heard this was a god site. I am a college student who also tries to rescue everything that falls into my lap regardless of it's condition. (which at times causes me a lot of heart breaks) What ever, it is worth it when I can save them and find them a home. (at times me) I had two bunnies not to long ago but I lost my special needs bun about two weeks ago to what I believe was a grand-maul seizure. I only had him for about two years but I knew what I was getting into when I adopted a six year old rabbit who I later discovered was blind and about 5 or 6 months ago began having seizures for, according to the vet, no reason. Emma, the one I still have, was devastated since they had been living together even though they hadn't been together for long. She is very different then Milo was in that she has a BIG attitude in a small body. She is cage aggressive, doesn't like to be handled at all, food aggressive and I can very rarely even touch her with out her turning and growling or trying to claw my hand off. What can you do? I've been working with her for a little over 2 and a half years now and nothing has really changed so I guess thats just her. She was a rescue that someone had dumped in a box outside of a cat shelter. I adopted her from Petco and for all I know she has no good reason to trust people anymore but she'll always have a home with me. Well if anyone has any other questions or tips on how to help her chill I'd still like to try to calm her down if possible.

 

[magic_girl]

hi and welcome

 

[okiron]

Is Emma spayed? If not, you should look into spaying her, it helps a lot with the aggression.

 

[Emma Jean]

yeah I did that about 5 months after I got her. It didn't help.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

I was going to question whether she was spayed, you answering sort of tells me that possibly she was abused in the past and just has severe trust issues. I'm not sure, just speculating.

Poor thing, I'm so glad to hear you're in it for the long haul, that's what buns like her need, us to be there for them and to keep them in their "forever" home. The problem alot of times is change and moving homes, buns just do not handle change well at all, this is where you'll see this sort of behavior, but, this is a bit extreme, which is why I say it could have been an abuse/neglect issue for her in the past. Only patience and trust will help to ease her insecurities.

The only things I can suggest is that you don't reach in her cage and let her come out to play on her terms and don't pick her up for now. This will help her to gain trust with you, and that's exactly what you want.

Keep up what you're doing, though. Sounds like you're doing great with her!:hug:

 

[okiron]

Well my Princess has an abusive past and is a pain in the butt..hence the name Princess. It just took time and patience. Actually, I had no desire to calm her, I was fine with a crazy bun. But now that the time has past, she's coming around on her own. She doesn't nip at everyone immediately and she could actually share things with the other buns...and she's not even spayed yet. I do believe she's bondable with my other bun once she's spayed.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

okiron wrote:

Well my Princess has an abusive past and is a pain in the butt..hence the name Princess. It just took time and patience. Actually, I had no desire to calm her, I was fine with a crazy bun. But now that the time has past, she's coming around on her own. She doesn't nip at everyone immediately and she could actually share things with the other buns...and she's not even spayed yet. I do believe she's bondable with my other bun once she's spayed.

That's a great post in response Okiron!:goodjob Perfect example of what can happen, the possibilities are almost endless:?.

It just takes getting to know the bun on a one on one, and I know that takes time, alot of time and patience. Don't pressure yourself, just take it in stride.

Definitely, keep us posted.

 

[Emma Jean]

Well thats part of the reason I feel bad and think that she is very mad at me right now. She had bonded with the other male I had and to the point that they seemed to want to be in the same cage. Since he died she's been acting up again and I think she may just be lonely. Milo did help her calm down a lot though so maybe in a couple years I will look into another bun to be her buddy. Right now it would just be too much to handle since I have a brain damaged guinea pig as well. Crazy me.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

I'm also very sorry for your loss of Milo.

She's probably grieving and is showing this by acting differently. You could give her a stuffed animal to snuggle with, it might help a bit.

 

[naturestee]

Hi! My sister went to college in Winona too!:wave2

Have you checked out the Bunny 101 thread on aggression yet?
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12319&forum_id=17

What is Emma's cage like? Could you post pictures? I've found that larger cages and especially pens help with cage aggressive buns, since then they usually just pick a smaller spot to defend such as a litter box or hiding space. Since I switched from cages to pens, my girls actually want me to come in and sit with them, instead of being mad when I reached in their cages to clean even when they were already out playing.

One little trick I do with the bunnies at the shelter I volunteer at is I feed them treats by hand. If they are aggressive about the cage, then I don't open the door but feed them through the cage wire. It helps to get them used to hands, since many of them seem to have been handled roughly in the past. For my very hand shy girl Sprite (RIP), I had to start out putting the treats on a small plate and then holding the plate up to her. She eventually learned to eat from my hand.

Edit: Oh, and the stuffed animal is a very good idea. She's probably feeling a bit lonely after the loss of her friend. Many rabbits like having a stuffed friend if they don't have a bunny friend.

 

[maherwoman]

:hello:welcome1

Hi! Welcome to Rabbits Online! I can't wait to see pictures of your no-doubt beautiful Emma. I'm so sorry to hear of your guys' loss, though...

But...you're in an excellent place to learn new things about buns, and to learn about agression, and anything else about buns!

Hugs for you both,

Rosie*

 

[momofmany]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Emma Jean]

Well at the moment she's in a Marchioro cage that is fairly large. I do like the CC cage that I have made for the cavy's I have so I think I'll try making one for her thats even bigger. Maybe then she'll chill a little.

Emma Jean