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New bunny going crazy, just after some advice

ShivyRex

Mama Doe
Hi all :wave:

Well I have had Winter for 4 days now. He seems to be ok but as Zion and Fia are such little darlings as I have no trouble from them at all, some of the behaviour being displayed by Winter is worrying and a bit scary.

Well first of all I believe he is a neutered male but I am going to take him to the vets to have this confirmed. It was apparently my vets who told the previous owners he was a neutered male as he was found as a stray. He definately has no plums and I think he is a neutered male as he has some loose furry skin around his bits but I am still not sure.

Main thing is he seems incredibly attached to his hutch/run and gets very stressed whenever I go out to change his litter tray or feed him. He always seems on a mission to get out when I open the door but then y'day I put him out in the PWS run and he seemed petrified and just trashed the corner of the run closest to his hutch trying to get out and I presume back into his own hutch/run.

When I feed him and when I put his bowl in he gets up in his hind legs and scrabbles at my hand with his front paws (don't worry I am wearing gloves). He ignores the food as he's too interested in me and then when I go to take his litter tray out of his bed area he hops in an goes a bit mad and I have to shut the door then he goes out, I try again etc etc. He then started digging up all the newspaper and it seems everytime he seems to stress out he eats the newspaper :roll:

It's this behaviour which got me questioning whether 'he' is perhaps an unspeyed female. I need to know for def before I try to bond him.

Funny thing is he is absolutley fine to pick up and handle once picked up. He also binkys in his run when I go out and I talk to him and he even did a happy bunny flop in his run y'day :D

I think perhaps he associates hands in his hutch with unpleasant things as apparently the little boy who had him before kept trying to grab his feet and paws and the dad did mention he was starting to nip.

I am just paranoid that I am doing something wrong. Do you think it is just going to take time? Hopefully once I have him in a new hutch he won't be so possessive as he will have more space and hopefully a new friend to calm him down :D He will also have less chance to escape when I open a door etc.

Just want to check if anyone else have had neutered males who have displayed this behaviour. He is very bolshy but I don't know if that is confidence, nosiness or reactionary fear.

Sorry it's so long :oops: I can never write short posts!

Shiv
 
I am thinking that this is a new environment to him and as such he is none to pleased with his hutch being "invaded" as this has become his "safe place"...I DO think this is going to take time regardless of sex yes, it is a HUGE change in his little life and he is going to take a while to get used to it.

TP;)
 
Thanks guys :D

Well I have just rang the previous owners and they have told me that they adopted him from a local rescue and have not taken him to the vets since they adopted him so he is out of date for his jabs :evil:

In some ways this is fab news though as they say he is definately a male and was neutered at the rescue so I don't have to worry about him being an unspeyed female.

I will give them a call tomorrow and let them know that I have now adopted him and ask them to fax over any info on him to my vets to go on his records. Hopefully I will be able to find out about how old he is as well.

Thank goodness it is national vaccination month and hopefully I will get his myxi vaccs cheaper. And get him on a course of panacur.

Then time to get him a new house (hopefully my OH will agree) and then a new friend. After all this he should chill out and get used to his forever home. Poor bun he must have been moved around so many times.

Anyway anymore experiences of neutered buns arriving a new homes behaving like this would be appreciated :)
 
Humph seems to be getting worse :( Some rather extreme grunting and scratching tonight when I went to feed his veggies. I hardly got my hand in the door before he went crazy at me and knocked the bowl out of my hand spreading the veggies everywhere.

Whats the answer if he keeps doing it? Do I just leave my hand there until he calms down or just try and get it in and out ASAP? I am worried that it communicates that its ok for him to do this :?

Do people think he will only change when he is put in a new hutch/run? Food obviously isn't working because he doesn't care what is in the bowl he just goes mad at the fact you're putting your hand in his hutch.

Hmmmm its stressing me out a bit. :?
 
Humph seems to be getting worse :( Some rather extreme grunting and scratching tonight when I went to feed his veggies. I hardly got my hand in the door before he went crazy at me and knocked the bowl out of my hand spreading the veggies everywhere.

Whats the answer if he keeps doing it? Do I just leave my hand there until he calms down or just try and get it in and out ASAP? I am worried that it communicates that its ok for him to do this :?

Do people think he will only change when he is put in a new hutch/run? Food obviously isn't working because he doesn't care what is in the bowl he just goes mad at the fact you're putting your hand in his hutch.

Hmmmm its stressing me out a bit. :?

My advice is a calming voice, try and do something nice to him, as soon as he wants out (which is going to be straight away for a while) leave it and try again later.

try feeing him from a distance, i.e. carrot in between you and the bunny...
 
My advice is a calming voice, try and do something nice to him, as soon as he wants out (which is going to be straight away for a while) leave it and try again later.

try feeing him from a distance, i.e. carrot in between you and the bunny...

I do tend to talk to him with a calming voice.

I have no idea what nice thing I can do. I am trying to feed him but he just will not tolerate my hand anywhere in his hutch so he ignores the food and just grunts like mad and scratch my hand.

I will try using a whole carrot and hold my hand in the door but make sure he can't get out and see if he eats whilst I talk to him. Unfortunately the lid doesn't lift so I can't do it that way, although he'd probs jump out anyway.

I think it's just going to take time. It will be much easier when he has a new home then I can sit in the run with him without me getting worried he will escape and he will just have to lump me being there.

Hmmmm hopefully he will calm down soon.

Shiv
 
I do hope things improve soon hun :D I have a scared REW that just runs off when I go near his home :shock: Im trying to gently hand feed him and speak to him calmly, it is paying off. He doesnt show aggression though. Good luck :D
 
Awwwww....bless his cottons :love:. He is obviously still a scaredy bun at the moment and just needs a little time to understand that you're his friend not enemy. You don't really know how he was treated/handled in his previous home so he is probably very wary at the mo. Buns usually come around in the end it just takes time and him learning to trust you etc. Just take things slowly at first. Will he allow you to stroke the top of his head? Most of my buns love their heads stroked. Could you perhaps coax him into the run area before you place his food, veggies hay in the hutch part so he doesn't have to worry about a hand lunging in.

When I first put Primrose in the new outdoor run she was quite scared and took a while to get used to the new smells, sounds etc. I expect he sees his hutch and run as his little erky post where he feels safe. When he sees you coming onto his erky post he wants to escape and vice versa when he's outdoors in an unknown area he wants to get back to his erky post.

I'm sure he will soon learn that you are a friend and mean him no harm over time. The way I get round my buns is bribing them with veggies. I stay at a comfortable distance away, even if it means poking the veggies, dandelion leaves through the wire but try hand feeding treats that way. Another good idea if you had a run that you can sit in with bunny, sit in bunnys run and just stay there quiet and still and let bunny have a sniff of you and check you out, over time they will get braver and braver and sometimes just completely ignore you. But he will soon realise you're no threat to him at all.

Is he close enough to smell/hear the other bunnies? Sometimes that in itself can be a comfort to them.

Some buns are more bolshy than others. I must admit I do love the bolshy bunnies with a bit of character. A couple of my boys have a little grunt at me sometimes or scrabble at my hand if they're in a bolshy mood and they're adorable. They are such little characters.

Hoping Winter settles soon and realises you are his friend. He will over time. Just try and remain as calm as possible and if he does scrabble or try and have a little nip try to stay chilled, any sudden movement will freak him out further. He'll soon get used to you, especially if treats are involved :D and once he has a bunny friend he may feel safer and more content.

Hugs to you and Winter,

Nicola and Harvey xxx
 
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