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Feeling so sad about Ralphy, any advice would be appreciated

Candiflare

Mama Doe
Hi Guys, I don't know if you have been following but I adopted a new (female) bun, and since she has been in her hutch indoors with us, Ralphy my other (neutered male) rabbit has gone from the dream rabbit to completely psycho. I change and wash my hands when I from handling one to the other, but even that isn't enough. He has bitten her through the cage, bitten me countless times and it culminated in last night him charging at my legs while I was sat on the chair in the living room viciously for ten minutes I was batting him away (literally had to almost throw him across the room at one point) to stop him going for me. My hands are covered in bites and my legs are covered in scratches. He sits in his usual place on the sofa, completely lies out with his legs behind him and he will not move even if I try to get him up to put him back in his hutch, he just bites! He's been neutered and I don't understand why he is so angry. Do you think i have spoiled him too much in the past? I think he definitely felt like he was bonded to my OH and I --always licking us and snuggling up with us. Maybe this was a bad idea if we were planning on introducing another rabbit to the equation? It is making me so upset. I haven't even started bonding them yet, and already there is so much hate being thrown around!

I've tried posting this on the behaviour and bonding thread, but not much luck yet.. has this happened to anyone before? And can you offer any sort of advice?
 
Could he be jealous?

I have a bunny who was so close to me and when my crew expanded he got so, so jealous. It was so sad.

How do you act when Ralphy is acting like this? What emotions do you feel?

Is your girlie spayed?
 
Thanks for replying Sky-O. She isn't spayed yet, and other people have suggested that it could be because of that and therefore a hormone issue, but I have been really vigilant about getting all the smells off myself and the room so he doesn't feel that his territory is being invaded.

Ralph and I are very close, I know it sounds crazy, but I definitely feel I have a good communication thing going on with him and he's very good at reading my mind. I've had him since he was a baby and spent 24/7 with him because I've been working from home since we got him. It could very well be jealousy, and if so, how could I deal with it?

What happened in your situation and what did you eventually do?
 
I'm wondering whether we have sexed Ruby (the female bun) properly? Maybe Ralphy is actually reacting to a boy rather than a girl...
 
My Sweep is the same since neutering. Took me and my mum 10 mins to get him out of his run yesteday, he just kept trying to attack me. Some days I can't even get his dinner into his bowl - he was an angel before neutering, now I don't know what to do anymore :(
 
I would think he is still smelling her on you because they have such a heightened sense of smell. Try putting a dab of vanilla just above his nose and seeing if that changes his behaviour. If it does then its probably smell driven.

My Sky was my rock for a long time before my world was over taken by other buns. He is absolutely the most special guy for me.

His problems started when he was neutered (which was around the time the new crew were developing hormones). He spent a week in the living room, which he loved, and he had a horrid neuter because he had an undescended testicle. I didn't leave his side for three days straight (other than short bits and bobs when I went to the loo or grabbed a quick nap when someone else could watch him) and our bond was so super close.

After that time he had to go back into his hutch outside and I have never seena more despresse drabbit in my life. So I got a tiny hutch and moved him into my room. No, not ideal, but better for him because he was so super happy to be with me, even if it meant sharing my room with 4 other bunnies (all of whom lived together in an NIC cage).

After that he would get grumpy. Not to the extent of Ralphy, but we now have nipping and charging, biting, 'phwapping' as I call it, grunting, the lot. It's just me he does it for, but then I am his friend and I 'cheat' on him with other buns.

I make sure I spend really good quality time with him, moreso than the other buns, because he really needs it, and that has worked a lot better. Also, since I first moved him into my room two years ago I've had a big rearrange and he has a nice big cage in my room, and some of the other buns have gone outside.

It's really important, however hard it is, to not feel any emotion about how he acts towards you. You have to remember its nothing personal, he is just expressing how he feels, as rabbits do. The more emotions you feel, the more he will feel them and the worse he will react. So when he gets nasty just be calm. DON'T reward him with positive attention or anything. Try ignoring him, or calmly and gently holding his head down (he will see this as a move of dominance if there are no emotions attached to it), turning him around but not looking at him or talking to him or anything. If he learns he wgets positive things from that behaviour he will keep doing it. Set aside time to give him a huge fuss though so that he knows he still gets it.

What I would say is that you may struggle to bond Ralphy and your new girl yourself because he will probably see the new girl as an invader. If you can find someone who can help you bond them, or bond them, it might be easier. I would love for Sky to have a friend, but he only wants me. If I could find someone else I trusted with my special boy then I would think it would be easier for him to bond with them.
 
Sorry it took so long to post that. I wrote it a couple of hours ago and then my laptop died. I was SO surprised to find it still there when I restored my firefox session.
 
As I mentioned on your previous post, my loveable house bunny, could smell us from upstairs when we had been to visit a rescue. He charged at us with such a menacing look that my son and I ran back out into the porch:lol: We had to strip off and come back in without our clothes, hop into the bath and remove all smells, before he returned to his normal gorgeous self.
I doubt you are managing to remove all traces of the unspayed female before going near Ralphy.
 
i think there are a few things 1, she isnt spayed,
2 its his house his territory and you belong to him therefore he is gettting grummpy,
3 he could be in pain(get a vet check to ensure this isnt the case)/

if its 1 or 2 then once she is speyd get them to meet on a neutral territory away from you and the house i would suggest a rescue trys to bond for you. x
 
Guys, thank you so much for your response. I think I was just feeling so upset about it all and wanted to know that it wasn't the end of the world! It was keeping me awake at night! And Sky-O thanks so much for your long message, just helped to know you were there!

I think only time will tell. I will take him to the vet and get him checked over, then get her spayed. Do you think I should have them living next to each other in their hutches so they're around each other all the time?
 
Maybe see how they react. If they are comfortable living next to each other than go for it, but if not, then don't.

Just keep reminding yourself this is not personal, this is just him telling you how he feels and he has no other way to do it. Shame we can't teach them to talk, it would make things sooooooooo much easier.
 
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