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New bunny- Advice please!

luna

Mama Doe
Hi everyone,

I havent been on for a while as both myself and my son had a bug and I'm only getting my energy back now. As some of you know I adopted a bunny called Rosie from the DSPCA a few months ago. She is no longer living with us as she was a very shy little bun and I felt our house wasnt suited to her as she was terrified of Dylan, ( my very active and noisy toddler). My brother in-law and his girlfriend were looking for a bun to bond with their girl so we decided that his home would be more suitable and quieter. Rosie and Daisy are now happily bonded but that still left my bun Bobby looking for a friend. Iv been searching and putting ads up looking for a neutered female for some time now and the DSPCA have had no buns for the last while so yesterday I saw an ad on gumtree for a bun who was looking for a new home as her owners were moving to the UK and couldnt bring her with them and I rang up and decided to adopt her.

I was told she was 8 months old and came with a cage and all her things etc for free so I was deighted with that as it meant I didnt have to set up a c&c as i usually do with new buns. I couldnt go collect her as I was putting my son to bed so my husband kindly offered to go get her and he knew all the things to check for and questions to ask etc. He said they were nice and the girl was nearly in tears handing over her bun and gave all her details so I could keep her updated on how things went but unfortunately the rest is all very negative. When Danny came home and showed me the cage my heart just sank for the poor little thing. It was a hamster cage :cry: It was one of those plastic cages with a grill on the top and it was barely a foot high. Infact I barely think it was suitable for a syrian hamster as it wouldnt even fit a 12" wheel without knocking off the top. I was horrified by this and I was given a water bottle and I have no clue how they even put a bottle in the cage. They gave me a bag of tesco rabbit muesli and said she gets two bowls of that a day, they never gave her hay and she got a carrot once a week. I felt so saddened by this. So straight away I got started making a c&c cage because there was no way i was letting her spend one more minute in the 70cm cage.

My husband was saying that they let her out of the cage in the evenings to have a run around but not for too long as she poo's everywhere. This didnt bother me as she is not neutered so that explains that but I am concerned now about her health having been in these conditions and I am also concerned that she is aggressive. Danny was saying she growled lastnight when her owner picked her up when she was free ranging in her house and lastnight she lunged at me and then this morning when I went to greet her she growled at me. Any time someone walks by her cage she runs at the grids and I dont think its curiosity. I think she is very territorial and who would blame her.

My only problem is and I dont want to sound heartless but I am very nervous about keeping this rabbit now. My little boy is very good with our pets and likes to be involved in their care, helping me in the evening to give them their dinner and I cant keep an aggressive bunny that could make him fearful.

I know that this little girl has had a rough start, and I know she needs to be neutered because alot of this behaviour could be to do with her hormones driving her mad but how can I be sure that neutering will solve this prolbem? I am afraid I will spend the €130 and she might still have those behavioural problems and I might need to find a new home for her anyway. I really dont know what to do. I have never even heard a bunny growl until lastnight and it made me nervous, especially the lunging.

She is such a beautiful little thing and when I say little she really is little. she is smaller than my netherland dwarf. Id say she couldnt be more than 900grams. Whatever the outcome whether she stays with us or I find her a new home I will do my utmost to make sure she goes to a caring home with all the space and attention she deserves.

Here is a picture of the little lady:

http://www.gumtree.ie/cp-other-pets...tiful-white-and-black-dwarf-rabbit-448772695#

Sorry for the lenght of the post. I just wanted to explain the whole situation. If anyone has any advice or has been in a similar situation with territorial behaviour I would love to hear your stories especially if they had positive outcomes .

Thanks:)
 
She looks adorable :love::love::love:


When I got Poppy, she had also been kept in a cage 95% of the time, on shavings and fed cheap meusli and no hay. I was told she had been neutered, but she hadn't! She also growled at me if I went to get her out of the cage, and would also lunge.. it was totally hormonal, territorial behaviour. I had her spayed within days of adopting her, and gave her much more space 24/7 and she became a completely different bunny. She is the most adorable, laid back and affectionate bunny you could imagine...in fact she is the only one of my buns that likes to be cuddled!

Also, I have had no health issues with Poppy at all apart from when she scratched her eye on a bit of hay (needed eyedrops for a few days).

I wouldn't assume that your new bun will stay aggressive, she probably just needs spaying, a bit of time and TLC and more space than she has had in the past. But in the mean time, try wearing long sleeved gardening gloves when you (or your son) go near her... and have patience!
 
When we got parsley he was cage aggressive.
The rescue had done a lot of work with him to bring him out his shell
We've had him since may and he is now amazing, he jumps onto my bed at 6:30 every morning foe noserubs and a cuddle. And he sleeps at the foot of the bed.
She's not used to her new space and may be worried it will get taken off her.
Give her time to settle and im sire you'll see a different bun.
Id reduce the amount of food she gets gradually then gradually move her onto whatever food you like to feed eg pellets.
Id also sit with her on the floor with herbs about you and let her explore and come to you.
Let her know that love and noserubs are good things.
Id explain to your wee boy that this bunny is scared that she won't have as much space again and that her thinking she might be put back into a cage like she was in makes her really grumpy because she can't get to run around. So that's why he needs to let her get used to her new family for a while. Id allow him to sprinkle her food or some herbs over the side of the cage, or get him to help make toys out of toilet roll tubes stuffed with hay, that'll make him feel like he's doing something for her. :)
I honestly think she needs ppatience and love and time to heal and learn to love you.
Getting her spayed once she's settled in a bit and is easier to handle and medicate is how I would approach it. You'll more than likely also find that the bond between you will grow as you care for her after her spay.
Angel was Always a bit grumpy, uses to charge and growl at me, and nip me a bit, I got her spayed and after she was a different bunny, she now sits for ages and grooms my knees :love: also angel had a cyst on her ovary which was more than Likely causing her hormone imbalance, pain, and phantom pregnancy.
Being in pain no wonder she was so grumpy, so it may be something like that also.
Hope this helps.
 
neuter her and give her a few months to settle down, try and keep your little ones fingers away from her maybe let him put food in the bowl but not into the cage etc there really is no way to tell how she will behave after neutering
 
When we got parsley he was cage aggressive.
The rescue had done a lot of work with him to bring him out his shell
We've had him since may and he is now amazing, he jumps onto my bed at 6:30 every morning foe noserubs and a cuddle. And he sleeps at the foot of the bed.
She's not used to her new space and may be worried it will get taken off her.
Give her time to settle and im sire you'll see a different bun.
Id reduce the amount of food she gets gradually then gradually move her onto whatever food you like to feed eg pellets.
Id also sit with her on the floor with herbs about you and let her explore and come to you.
Let her know that love and noserubs are good things.
Id explain to your wee boy that this bunny is scared that she won't have as much space again and that her thinking she might be put back into a cage like she was in makes her really grumpy because she can't get to run around. So that's why he needs to let her get used to her new family for a while. Id allow him to sprinkle her food or some herbs over the side of the cage, or get him to help make toys out of toilet roll tubes stuffed with hay, that'll make him feel like he's doing something for her. :)
I honestly think she needs ppatience and love and time to heal and learn to love you.
Getting her spayed once she's settled in a bit and is easier to handle and medicate is how I would approach it. You'll more than likely also find that the bond between you will grow as you care for her after her spay.
Angel was Always a bit grumpy, uses to charge and growl at me, and nip me a bit, I got her spayed and after she was a different bunny, she now sits for ages and grooms my knees :love: also angel had a cyst on her ovary which was more than Likely causing her hormone imbalance, pain, and phantom pregnancy.
Being in pain no wonder she was so grumpy, so it may be something like that also.
Hope this helps.

In bold great advice!! How old is your little man? :wave:
 
Hi everyone,

Thanks a mill for taking the time to read my post and I really appreciate all your feedback and advice. I was feeling like the whole situation was doomed yesterday but after reading about your experiences it really lifted my spirits and I feel much more positive now. I have booked Pippa (Pip) in for her procedure next Tuesday and in the meantime Im just taking small steps to get to know her. She seemed to calm a bit as the day went on. I finished her cage and this morning I have let her out for free range time on the upstairs landing and she is having a ball. I sat on the ground and covered myself in coriander and she had no problem coming over to me.

She is super hormonal. She circles me and follows me everywhere honking but then when i put my hand out for her to smell she thumps her feet and growls and heads off and then she is straight back circling me again. Also it turns out that Pip had a phantom pregnancy just two weeks ago. My husband forgot to tell me. So I think the poor little thing is tormented at the moment and doest know whether she is coming or going.

I have started adding some pellets to her muesli and they are being ignored. Its really hard to know what she is eating with that muesli feed, I think there are only a couple of bits she likes from it. She is loving her hay which i am pleased about. i thought she might not like it as she had never had it before.

She still gets quite upset when my son is around and growls every time he goes past the cage, she feels quite threatened by him. He is very energetic and always running about and she thumps every time he goes by the cage. I am keeping him downstairs for most of the day and he is only upstairs when getting ready for bed so im not sure if im doing the right thing here. she wont get used to him if he is not around her much but i just dont want to stress her out. So i will prob just increase her time with him very gradually. Dylan is only 3 so although he likes the animals and wants to help me with them I still cant trust him with them. As soon as i had my back turned lastnight he threw his kermit teddy at Pippas cage so he is just at that stage where he is unpredictable and i have to strictly supervise him. It can be abit stressful at times. He is going through the "NO" phase !!!

Thanks again for all your insight , will keep you updated on how we progress :)
 
it sounds like you are doing the best you can. i think spaying will help though. my three were fighitng before their spay and now love eachother to bits so it does make a difference. and the circling /buzzing is all hormones. its early days so i think she will settle. poor little poppit:love:
 
Well, I think she's lucky. Poor little thing is probably being driven gaga by her hormones. Once she's settled, I think she could have 'quiet time' with Dylan, just hang out with him and you.

:wave:
 
She really does sounds very hormonal and a bit scared to me.

I bunny sat for my friends un-neutered doe and she was very grunty, she circled me all the time and would lunge when you went to stroke her. She got spayed and I bunny sat for her a few months later and she was so different.

The wee girl is gonna have so much of a better life now that she is with you. What a sin her being in that wee cage for any length of time.

The gumtree ad is off now so I canny see her pic :(
 
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