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Do you try to correct aggression?

Do you try to correct aggression (if you don't have aggression problems don't vote)

  • Yes I try to correct it and have had success

    Votes: 4 25.0%
  • Yes I try to correct it, but it doesn't work

    Votes: 3 18.8%
  • No, I just leave them to it (as long as they are not fighting)

    Votes: 9 56.3%

  • Total voters
    16

Stator

Warren Veteran
When you have aggression between bonded rabbits, perhaps caused by referred aggression towards you or the arrival of food etc, do you try to correct the behaviour by, for example, spraying them with water or a tap on the nose with your finger? Has anyone had success with this?

My first tactic is to minimise the behaviour through my own actions and trying to be careful, but wondering whether anyone has had any success trying to correct the behaviour or if you just leave them to it?

It never results in injury because the submissive rabbit always runs away and they are always friends again soon after.
 
I dont correct it by any of those methods. I feel they are not appropriate because neither rabbit is doing anything naughty, just what is natural. I also don't 'leave them to it', which I think is not fair, especially having seen full on fights where someone does not submit. I wouldn't risk my rabbits like that.

I look for the reasons behind something, and then work to change it so that the situation doesn't arise again.

For example, Candyfloss and Dusk had to have their bond repaired a couple of times because Candyfloss attacked Dusk. She did it after I removed him to cut his nails and essentially put him back smelling different and she didn't realise it was him. so now she always comes out first, and he second, so he goes back in smelling of her.
 
If they are aggressive towards me, I tell them off (either loud voice or tap on nose) and gently push my arm towards them, so they know that being aggressive isn't going to make me go away, ie aggression isn't going to work. I have never jerked away from an aggressive rabbit, and to date, they are rarely aggressive to me.

When I was younger and we had other rabbits, I just to move away if the rabbit was aggressive, and the rabbit learned that to get you away, she needed to be aggressive, so she become very aggressive and unhandleble, even though as a youngster, she was fine.

By the way, I would never hit my rabbits, or hurt them. Any reactions to aggression are just gentle pushes, or taps on noses.
 
If they're humping or chasing each other in a cirle (both trying to hump the other at the same time :roll:) I'll either take one away for a few minutes or just try distract them. Usually a knock on the window or another fairly loud noise will stop them, and then they'll do something else
 
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i remember the occasions and 2 consecutive years with spring fever and rosie going for mowgli, i got soo fed up i ended up putting them in bathroom, as mowgli got too scared of her and it made her worse :lol: i said sort your differences out in their i shut the door stood behind it for 10mins, and then they seemed to sort their problems out :lol:
 
I don't try to correct it as such & definitely wouldn't tap them on the nose if they were doing something I didn't 'approve' of - it may not be enough to hurt them, but I can't imagine it being something they would find pleasant either.

Like Sky-O said though, if it's something that has an obvious cause then I try to work around that to avoid the trigger. Alfie usually chases Bubbles when I give them their morning feed and so stuffing a few pellets through the bars gives him something to do while I'm faffing around with the locks on the kennel.
 
No I dont try and correct the behaviour as the 'behaviour' is one of the ways they communicate. The way I look at it is, if you got some sort of negative reinforcement everytime you argued with your partner youd stop, and then you'd never sort out problems or get frustration out and the relationship would slowly become unhappy. Basically I dont want to meddle, because I dont speak their language, so I could make things worse.

Having said that, Barney is always 'searching' Annabella if there is food about, quite roughly, and he pushes her out the way, sort of herding her as well. He also does it in new places. She doesnt seem to be distressed by it, but hes a lot bigger than her and it is also very controlling behaviour, and it means it is difficult to give her treats, or let her get her fair share of food. And I do wish there was a way I could stop him doing it.
 
I wouldn't say I correct, but I definitely try to distract, rightly or wrongly. If one's chasing the other upstairs I'll open the hutch door as I know they'll come over to see if I've got food and hopefully the chasing will be interrupted.

I wouldn't tap or spray or anything, I don't believe they'd recognise what I'm doing and would be able to relate it to what threy're doing.
 
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