Jealous rab

Hi,

I have a two year old house rabbit whom I rescued from a pet shop - he was in the adoptees section apparently he was there because he would not mix with other rabbits.... I let him have the run of the flat. I work full-time but I think he sleeps during the day and I think he seems happy enough. He gets a lot of attention when I am at home. At weekends I sometimes take him to my parents so he can go in the garden and be totally free.

My problem is when I have a boyfriend, and he stays over, he (the rabbit) gets really jealous and tries to jump on the sofa or the bed. Or he just sits outside my bedroom door blocking the entrance and scrabbling at the door (for the entire night) and gives my boyfriend dark rabbit looks. Ideally I know it would be nice for him to have a furry mate but my flat is quite small and I really do not want to feel overrun with rabbits.

Do you have any advice for his jealous streak? It can be amusing but not when he starts throwing things round the living room at 3am and blocks the door to the bedroom so that my boyfriend says 'er your rabbit is behaving a little strangely and is just staring at me!!'.

Many thanks, AJ

Hi and welcome, is the rabbit neutered/spayed?

Charmednm said:

Hi and welcome, is the rabbit neutered/spayed?

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Exactly what I was going to ask. Non-neutered rabbits can often be very territorial and aggressive, and when your boyfriend stays over, bunny will think his space is being invaded, and go for the invader!

The solution is to get him neutered if he isn't already. As well as removing the hormones responsible for aggression, it will also stop your lovely wee man from spraying wee everywhere, a lovely trait which adult males LOVE to show off :mrgreen: Neutering also means you would be able to get him a friend, as rabbits are sociable animals and work better in pairs. You get the odd bunny which prefers to be alone, but they are few and far between. A lot of singles are alone purely because they haven't been neutered and will fight with other rabbits. I understand that you don't want to feel overrun, the solution being to squeeze a small one in :lol:

Anyway, welcome to RU! We all love pictures here if you have any of your wee man.

rabbity123 said:

Hi,

I have a two year old house rabbit whom I rescued from a pet shop - he was in the adoptees section apparently he was there because he would not mix with other rabbits.

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That would be the hormones then :roll: Honestly, why can't these flippin shops at least give out decent advice :evil:
He needs neutering :wave:

... I let him have the run of the flat. I work full-time but I think he sleeps during the day and I think he seems happy enough. He gets a lot of attention when I am at home. At weekends I sometimes take him to my parents so he can go in the garden and be totally free.

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Please be careful switching from inside to outside. A bun experiencing changes in temperature like this can result in snuffles

My problem is when I have a boyfriend, and he stays over, he (the rabbit) gets really jealous and tries to jump on the sofa or the bed. Or he just sits outside my bedroom door blocking the entrance and scrabbling at the door (for the entire night) and gives my boyfriend dark rabbit looks. Ideally I know it would be nice for him to have a furry mate but my flat is quite small and I really do not want to feel overrun with rabbits.

Do you have any advice for his jealous streak? It can be amusing but not when he starts throwing things round the living room at 3am and blocks the door to the bedroom so that my boyfriend says 'er your rabbit is behaving a little strangely and is just staring at me!!'.

Many thanks, AJ

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He's probably frustrated, bored and wanting a friend of his own kind. He needs neutering & then ideally a speyed female bun for company :wave:

My boy used to do this to my boyfriend! He was neutered and had been for months and whenever my bf would come over he'd start thumping and if my boyfriend went to cuddle me on the sofa he'd either give us evil bunny stares and look uncomfortable or jump on our laps and sometimes start digging on my bf's legs, he would angrily try to pick my bf's feet up and remove them as well :? and he would pester me for attention SOOOOO much!

I made my bf spend some "quality time" with Harvey to build a relationship, got him to offer Harvey his favourite foods and lay on the floor with him, and then when Harvey accepted he was no threat I got my boyfriend to give him head rubs (which he loooves) and now Harvey is fine around him