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agressive bunny!

touie

Wise Old Thumper
I have 2 6 month old neutered satin rabbits. One of them has a very sweet and gentle personality but the other is a psycho! He attacks me everyday, I have to wear long sleeves and gloves at all times! I was hoping that the neutering would help but it doesn't seem to have any effect on his attacking me! I was wondering whether anyone has any experience of how to deal with this behaviour? :?
 
Can you describe the situations in which he attacks you, it might help us work out what he's thinking :) Is he in his hutch/run or does he also attack whilst out? What are you doing when he attacks and what is he doing? Is there anything that particularly provokes an attack? Do the two rabbits live together?

Tam
 
The rabbits are brothers and have always been together (except for a month before they were neutered). He is bossy to the other rabbit but never aggressive. He can be quite a friendly rabbit, he comes when he's called, responds to a few commands (including no!), likes to sit on my lap, and generally follows me around. He seems to get aggressive with fast movents, so I try to walk slowly, he doesn't like me touching anything in his cage so I distract him to top up water and food, he doesn't like me cleaning at all! Often the aggression will start with a testing nip then progress to a full blown attack when I say no or ouch! He throws his whole body into the attack, bites and doesn't let go and gets his legs in for a kick. When this happens I've been saying no firmly and putting him back in his cage for a while. Both rabbits live indoors. I hope this has answered all your questions, thanks for the quick response!
 
I forgot to mention that they are both bucks! But they are quite friendly with each other!
 
Hello
a lot of bunnies don't necessarily like it when you start trying to clean their home area, as this is theirs... :lol: Is it at all possible to remove the bunnies whilst you are cleaning, and so avoid altogether the rather traumatic moments? If not, it seems that he is a little territorial in his cage, and this can be tricky. Is it a top lifting cage, ie, you open the top and reach down and in? This can cause some conflict as the action of you doing this, can replicate the action of a predator to a rabbit in the wild, so cause the 'fight or flee' behaviour, as the bunny has nowhere to flight, he's just left with the fight.... This can be helped by getting a cage that opens to the front, so you can be level with him, and not towering over him.

Then there is also a quick squirt with water from a waterpistol everytime he is naughty, so he associates his naughtiness with something he doesn't do, it is important that he doesn't associate the unpleasentness with you, as this will do little to assist your relationship. Water is harmless, but they don't particularly like it.... maybe worth a try.

Also, when you are doing things with your bunnies avoid any strong smelling perfume, soap etc, as this can also upset bunnies and make them re-establish territories and hierarchies.

annie
 
Thanks for the reply, the cage opens at the side as well as the top so they are out most of the time, I have tried squirting him but he doesn't seem bothered by it at all! I take the lid off completely to clean the cage he's very inquisitive when I do this but isn't usually too agressive during the process. The problem comes mainly when he is out, It seems to be movement that he has a problem with even though I try to move slowly he still attacks!
 
Is his eyesight ok? We all know that buns are long sighted, but maybe he's got a problem seeing things in general and he's getting a fright?
 
After thinking about it, I'm pretty sure he hasn't got eyesight problems as he used to play chase the glove before he was neutered and could always locate it, he also manages to jump and climb onto furnature without any distance judging problems! So I'm still at a loss of what could be the problem!
 
you don't change the furniture or the layout of the rooms that he is in a lot do you? Re-position his home etc??

Where are you in Hampshire?

annie
 
I am in Waterlooville, no I don't alter any furnature in the room. I'm wondering whether he thinks my gloves are a chew toy I might try a different pair and see if he still attacks me! He was very insistant on nibbling them and my dressing gown this morning and got quite upset when I said no!
 
I have a bunny who scrabbles at my legs and nibbles the bottom of my trousers and if I tell her to stop, she gets quite stroppy, maybe its the same thing... :lol:

If you fancy a second opinion I am quite happy to pop over and take a look. :D

annie
 
where abouts in hampshire are you? It would be good to get an opinion from someone else, although his aggression is usually directed at me alone!!!
 
Hello
well I work in winchester but live in the middle of Salisbury and Andover.

annie

be happy to come along and take a looksee. :D
 
Hey im in hampshire too, I have a bonded pair a girl and a boy. Ever since ive had the girl she has had a tendancy to get a little stroppy when im moving stuff too fast or im in her house. She has improved though over time. I think she finds it difficult to believe im not going to attack her every day but her trust is growing. She has never bitten only grumbled, thumped and dived at me occasionally.
She is called 'moaning myrtle' as in jk rowling books
 
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