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Aggression linked to handling - lesson learned

Furries

Warren Scout
I just wanted to share my experience of how the wrong handling made my bunny aggressive.

About a week ago I changed how I picked my rabbits up, for fear of them kicking their back legs and injuring themselves.

Trouble is, I started trying to scoop her up, by approaching her with my hand from the front. I couldn't understand why my doe suddenly became aggressive - I thought it was just a return to her prior aggression she'd displayed before I'd had her spayed. She was only ever aggressive though when I picked her up - if I sat in the run with them, they'd both hop over to see me and let me stroke them.

After a lot of research on the internet, I realised that she was viewing me as a threat, because I was putting my hand in front of her, when I tried to pick her up. So, I switched back to how I'd been handling them before - by putting my hand under his/her side - I was just careful to ensure that I scooped his/her bottom up sooner than I had done before. This was a couple of days ago and she hasn't displayed the aggression since.

I found this link really useful; though I'm not sure where I read to approach them from the side.

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/aggression.html
 
Thank you. That is a very interesting & helpful post. Amazing how our buns have so much wildie behaviour!
 
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