Marvin and his biting! Advice needed please RU :)

I've had Marvin since October and have always accepted that he's a biter and probably won't change! He doesn't just nip however he lunges and growls before he bites and is quite an aggressive little bunny. He is very friendly toward people however and is even friendly towards me (who receives the majority of his bites). The majority of his biting occurs when I enter his room and either go to pet him, pick up is food bowl, or go to stroke Maisie so I think he is maybe being territorial?

He is neutered, has recently had a vet check up and he is apparently very healthy so i'm fairly certain it's not health related. Infact it was since the vet visit that his aggression has got worse, i fear that he feels I have betrayed him for taking him to the vet for his VHD jab :?

I am uncertain as to where his aggression stems from as he was born into a rescue, was hand reared and then I adopted him. The rescue warned me before I got him that he was a bit of a biter so I was prepared.

I am just a bit at an end with him and am not sure what else to do. My arm is covered with bites and he breaks the skin pretty much everytime. I do try my best not to react to his bites but that doesn't seem to deter him.

Is there any chance his eyesight isn't too good? Nutmeg will lunge at me sometimes when I give her a treat or go to pet her if I come from a certain angle or if she thinks I'm trying to take a treat away from her. She has a cloudy spot in her eye, she's had it ever since she came her from her first home and it must impact on her vision a bit.

Schuette said:

Is there any chance his eyesight isn't too good? Nutmeg will lunge at me sometimes when I give her a treat or go to pet her if I come from a certain angle or if she thinks I'm trying to take a treat away from her. She has a cloudy spot in her eye, she's had it ever since she came her from her first home and it must impact on her vision a bit.

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Both of his eyes 'look' fine I have no way of being sure. The vet didn't pick up on anything and neither did the rescue he came from. But I imagine it is a possibility are there any indications I should look for?

mattyp said:

Both of his eyes 'look' fine I have no way of being sure. The vet didn't pick up on anything and neither did the rescue he came from. But I imagine it is a possibility are there any indications I should look for?

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Come to him from different angles and see how he reacts each time.

Bunnys have a blind spot directly infront of them, so never approach from there :wave:

I know that they scan when their eyesight isn't great - moving the head from side to side. Other than that no idea, sorry

Yeah it tends to be when he is approached from the side on that his lunging occurs though, so I am thinking it may be a sight issue. I've tested before with a toilet roll tube (to protect my hands) and he lunges at it no matter which side I go from.

Schuette said:

I know that they scan when their eyesight isn't great - moving the head from side to side. Other than that no idea, sorry

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Eh...what exactly is scanning?

mattyp said:

Eh...what exactly is scanning?

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They basically move their head left to right slowly :wave:

GrahamL said:

They basically move their head left to right slowly :wave:

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Ohh, I havn't noticed anything like that unless he's on his hind legs which I thought was normal? Would the vet be able to do any tests as i'm taking them next month anyway?

mattyp said:

Ohh, I havn't noticed anything like that unless he's on his hind legs which I thought was normal? Would the vet be able to do any tests as i'm taking them next month anyway?

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Yeah, vet should be able to check for site issues

Have you tried talking to him when you approach.

Although his eyes are fine Bailey's brain doesn't process the images properly so he has probs with his sight. He actually uses his nose alot to check he's not going to bump into objects.

I know from experience he finds it very frightening if I don't talk to him so he knows I'm there. Before he was diagnosed I went to retrieve him from his run and he startled big style. When I actually caught him he did the death scream. Not a noise I ever want to here again. As soon as he realised it was me not a predator he was fine.

Amy104 said:

Have you tried talking to him when you approach.

Although his eyes are fine Bailey's brain doesn't process the images properly so he has probs with his sight. He actually uses his nose alot to check he's not going to bump into objects.

I know from experience he finds it very frightening if I don't talk to him so he knows I'm there. Before he was diagnosed I went to retrieve him from his run and he startled big style. When I actually caught him he did the death scream. Not a noise I ever want to here again. As soon as he realised it was me not a predator he was fine.

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This sounds probably as Marvin is a very active rabbit who isn't exactly cautious in his acts (which I suspect he would be if he was blind or partially blind). But I will try and be more vocal when appraoching him and see if there is any improvement

Thanks for the help everyone! I'm guessing that i was wrong with the territorial behaviour??