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Puzzled by a boarder's behaviour - pic post #19

teejay

Warren Scout
Hi all

I have a bunny, Bobo, staying with me at the moment, approx 2 years old, a lionhead, who was recently castrated. He's a house bunny (from what I can gather, he has plenty of free-range time at home) and he's a single rabbit. His owner made the decision to castrate him because he'd got a bit intolerant of her young daughter (about 6 years old) and a bit scrappy with her, and the owner also wanted to put an end to his spraying. ;)

Bobo has stayed with us several times before, so we know him really well, and whilst he's never been the cuddliest rabbit, he's never been aggressive towards us, more just a bit stand-offish and not particularly bothered about having human attention.

After he was castrated (about 10-12 weeks ago, if my memory serves me right), he totally lost his appetite and quickly went into stasis for which he made a couple of follow-up visits to the vets for gut stimulant injections and pain relief.

The vet wasn't particularly bunny savvy, and basically told the owner to go away because that there was nothing more they could do for Bobo, so the owner turned to me for support and advice on how to tempt him to eat and what kind of things she should be trying him with.

As she was at a complete loss, I put together an emergency bag full of tempting treats (fresh forage, fresh herbs, etc) and a selection of different hays for the owner to offer Bobo. It was touch-and-go (the owner recently confessed that she feared he was going to die), and he required some pretty intensive nursing, but he made a full recovery from the castration and the stasis. :D

When he came to stay last week (first time since the castration) the owner warned me that, since his recovery, Bobo's aggression had really ramped up. He's just such an angry bunny....:evil:......he grunts, squeals and attacks whenever I go anywhere near his pen. He tries to attack through the bars of the pen :( and he even attacked the feed bag recently, when I was giving him his pellets, ripping it to shreds (good job it wasn't my hand!)

As he's the only rabbit we have boarding at the moment, we're allowing him to free range as much as possible. He's very happy just mooching around the house and he's also very happy to be near to me or my husband when he's free-ranging.....he'll happily climb all over me if I'm on the floor with him, and he'll tolerate a certain amount of nose rubs and fuss.......but the decision to have fuss and attention has to be his decision. If I approach him, for example, he spins, grunts, squeals and tries to bite me.

This is all very puzzling.....why would agression get worse after a castration? He's a sweet little thing, I really do like him, and he's obviously unhappy about something going on in his life, but what?

I don't think he's being territorial, as (according to the owner) he behaves the same when he's free-ranging at home and when he's free-ranging at our house (although he's definitely more mellow when he's out of the pen). Another thing I've considered is that he may be still in some pain from the castration. He does look well, he's regained the weight he lost post-op and he's a picture of health, but I guess there could be something going on internally.

I actually suspect the problem may be that he's lonely......but then that's not my call, and there's not much I can do to ease his loneliness while he's staying with me!

Any suggestions anyone?

Tracey
 
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Could the 6 year old child have done anything to make him wary of being approached ?

I was thinking the very same. Maybe she has got to an age where she wants to pet him/play with him and has started to annoy him. She could be cornering him in the cage and thus making him fear aggressive in his cage.

If he hasn't been like it previously, I would suspect someone is annoying him and he now associates all hands as annoying things to attack to get rid of.
Especially if he seems himself outside of his cage in all other aspects.
The neutering could just be a coincidence.
 
I was thinking the very same. Maybe she has got to an age where she wants to pet him/play with him and has started to annoy him. She could be cornering him in the cage and thus making him fear aggressive in his cage.

If he hasn't been like it previously, I would suspect someone is annoying him and he now associates all hands as annoying things to attack to get rid of.
Especially if he seems himself outside of his cage in all other aspects.
The neutering could just be a coincidence.

Yes, I agree with the posts above. Also the neutering could be seen as insult to injury in his case!
 
Could the 6 year old child have done anything to make him wary of being approached ?

I did think this might be possible, but she's a very timid and quiet 6 year old.....not boisterous and rowdy like some children of that age can be!
 
I was thinking the very same. Maybe she has got to an age where she wants to pet him/play with him and has started to annoy him. She could be cornering him in the cage and thus making him fear aggressive in his cage.

If he hasn't been like it previously, I would suspect someone is annoying him and he now associates all hands as annoying things to attack to get rid of.
Especially if he seems himself outside of his cage in all other aspects.
The neutering could just be a coincidence.

He's definitely much better outside of the cage/pen, but he's still a bit grunty and nippy even when free-ranging. But then, I suppose if the problem is the little girl, then she may well be pestering him when he's in the cage and free-ranging.
 
He's not in any pain is he?

He doesn't appear to be in any pain - he's bright, alert, active and eating well - but then I did consider he might have something going on internally.

I might suggest to his owner that she gets him checked out by the vet when she gets back from her holiday.
 
With such a marked difference in his behaviour I too would be thinking along the lines that he has been either very frightened by someone or something.

If there are no health issues, IMO this points towards the above.

Bless him. I hope he starts to be calmer and more settled very soon. x
 
With such a marked difference in his behaviour I too would be thinking along the lines that he has been either very frightened by someone or something.

If there are no health issues, IMO this points towards the above.

Bless him. I hope he starts to be calmer and more settled very soon. x

Hi there, I'm coming round to that way of thinking actually.

I've met the owners daughter on a number of occasions, and she always seems so quiet, well behaved, timid and shy, but that's not to say she's the same when she's at home (we all know what young kiddies can be like, don't we? :D) She could be an absolute tyrant when she's at home!

Anyway, the longer Bobo's here, the more chilled-out and less aggressive he's getting.......when he's free-ranging with us, we pretty much leave him to mooch around as he wants, and he'll happily approach us for a bit of a lovely nose rub. He still goes into full 'attack mode' when we try to touch him, though, so we basically have to leave the decision up to him.

To be honest, his aggression doesn't really affect the way we care for him, we've had aggressive rabbits to stay before. But the difference in his behaviour is just so striking that it puzzled and concerned me. And, of course, I hate to see him so angry, poor bun.

But, bearing in mind he's going back home in a week or so, all we can do is make his stay with us as calm and pleasant as possible.

Thanks everyone for your input.

Tracey
 
I would personally think that this could be a culmination of several things. Being scared of the little girl (possibly she tries to pick him up, hence the aggression towards hands) the traumatic time he had after his castration and being frustrated at being a lone bunny. I would try to sit down with the owners and explain that a behaviour change generally means a stressed out/unhappy bunny. I would also see if you can find a rabbit savvy vet for them to take him to, just to rule out any pain.
Just a thought, how is his eyesight? I have a bun that charges, lunges, growls and bites at anything that moves in front of her because she is partially sighted and can be quite insecure. My other bun is very vocal and also squeaks, growls, grunts and he spins and lunges at me but this is because he is a very bossy bunny and is very territorial about certain things in the room (his litter tray :roll:). Being calm and gentle around them both is important and definitely knowing body language means that I can always tell when either are going to "have me" :lol: and can avoid it.

I hope he will be ok, bless him. xx
 
Just a thought, how is his eyesight?

As far as I can make out, his eyesight is fine.....he certainly shows no signs of being partially sighted.

He's a lovely bun, he really is. Not only is he as cute as a button, but he also obviously craves a bit of attention, but it's like something is just stopping him from fully dropping his guard, you can see the confusion in his eyes.

Tracey
 
Poor bun :(

Maybe the child picks him up in a painful way or something without realising?

I can't imagine there are many 6 year old children out there who know how to or are physically capable of handling a bunny properly :shock: so that seems quite likely.
 
As far as I can make out, his eyesight is fine.....he certainly shows no signs of being partially sighted.

He's a lovely bun, he really is. Not only is he as cute as a button, but he also obviously craves a bit of attention, but it's like something is just stopping him from fully dropping his guard, you can see the confusion in his eyes.

Tracey

I think something must have happened to him (maybe the little girl tried to pick him up and dropped him or something), or maybe something happened to him before they had him - my tia was an abuse case, and she does EXACTLY this, she forgets for a second, lets her guard down, then boom, remembers, and you can just see from her eyes that shes remembering something..... that something might seem 'minor'.

I reckon its probably accumulation of this incident (perhaps, a few ?) along with the castration, and being a lone bun maybe, I agree with the others, try explaining to his owners... he sounds gorgeous xx
 
aaah poor bun.

I also thought eye sight...but reckon something has happened...and iof course the operation is perhaps coincendence...and pain related too..he doesnt understand why he is hurting ...
Id say the owner is very caring and will try to make the right changes for him..she needs to watch his body language and re-actions.

Perhaps it might be possible for her to make sure her daughter is not allowed into the buns cage area at all..and only she is...then he will hopefully have a safe place to run to.

I think loneliness might also be an issue..if he is lonely and craving attention...and then the little girl accidentally hurts him...he will be very angry and upset and even more lonely - a viscious circle..a confident relaxed bunny friend might be of some help to him...

would the lady be happy to make notes on his behaviour and to discuss with you - perhaps she might be happy to work this through with you and help him become a happier bunny..? I hope she is open to this idea.
 
I think something must have happened to him (maybe the little girl tried to pick him up and dropped him or something), or maybe something happened to him before they had him - my tia was an abuse case, and she does EXACTLY this, she forgets for a second, lets her guard down, then boom, remembers, and you can just see from her eyes that shes remembering something..... that something might seem 'minor'.

I reckon its probably accumulation of this incident (perhaps, a few ?) along with the castration, and being a lone bun maybe, I agree with the others, try explaining to his owners... he sounds gorgeous xx

Poor Tia....it breaks your heart, doesn't it?

I'm pretty sure that whatever has upset him happened after his castration......like I mentioned earlier, he wasn't aggressive in the slightest before the op. A bit introverted, maybe, but definitely not aggressive.

He really is gorgeous......pic anyone? :D
 
aaah poor bun.

I also thought eye sight...but reckon something has happened...and iof course the operation is perhaps coincendence...and pain related too..he doesnt understand why he is hurting ...
Id say the owner is very caring and will try to make the right changes for him..she needs to watch his body language and re-actions.

Perhaps it might be possible for her to make sure her daughter is not allowed into the buns cage area at all..and only she is...then he will hopefully have a safe place to run to.

I think loneliness might also be an issue..if he is lonely and craving attention...and then the little girl accidentally hurts him...he will be very angry and upset and even more lonely - a viscious circle..a confident relaxed bunny friend might be of some help to him...

would the lady be happy to make notes on his behaviour and to discuss with you - perhaps she might be happy to work this through with you and help him become a happier bunny..? I hope she is open to this idea.

The owner is very caring - she was beside herself with worry when he was so ill after his castration.

I'll definitely see if I can gently have a word with her when she collects Bobo - I know she'd want absolutely the best for him and when she brought him to stay with us last week, it was plain to see that she was puzzled and unhappy that Bobo had gotten so aggressive all of a sudden.

I've spent about the past two hours on the floor with him, and the difference in him is marked......he's only (gently) grunted at me twice and he's let me stroke his back and his ears (he's not too sure about nose rubs this evening). He's definitely more comfortable with being approached from the back or the side......he's not at all happy when I try to stroke him from the front.

But he's definitely losing some of the aggression.....he's such an inquisitive little fella, and so clever.....he just disappeared for 5 minutes, and when I went to find him, he was upstairs in his litter tray....bless him!

Here's a pic of the cutie pie!

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Blimey, digital cameras....I didn't realise how scruffy our skirting boards had got! Looks like we need to do some painting!
 
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If he had to have a lot of intense handling after the neutering and he wasn't that keen to start with it may just be his way to say I don't like people trying to handle me and he's anticipating situations when he thinks that may happen and heading them off with aggression.

I'd agree with the vet check, just in case, and then try and not react to the aggression, so he learns it's not a successful tactic. You might need extra protection to do that. Maybe practice things like calling him over to get a treat and walking up to him but not talking/reaching towards him so he doesn't think you going near means you'll instigate something ending with handling. Just a gradually process of getting rid of the old associations and making new ones :)
 
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