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She attacked me!!!

unalakey

Mama Doe
Well here goes, today i went to pick up a new bunny to be eventually bonded with my rabbit 'Lily', The new rabbit 'Charlie' is a 12 month old ,male,already neutered. I brought him home and he was in the pet carrier in the garden whilst i got his hutch ready, Lily was in the garden and came and sniffed the pet carrier, i bent down to speak to her and she lunged at me growling and bit my ankle straight through me jeans. :shock: Lily has never shown this amount of agression to me before only abit of growling when she sometimes comes into the house and you touch her boxes that she plays with behind the settee. Can anyone give me any advice? will she always do this now? She has really upset me and i am cautious near her now. I feel sorry for 'Charlie' as he seems really quiet and scared and by the looks of things he has alredy been bullied has he has bite marks on one of his ears :(
 
Is Lily spayed, unalakey? If not, my guess would be that she can smell Charlie on you and wants to defend her territory. That is just my guess though - hopefully there'll be someone more knowledgeable along soon who can offer a more informed opinion! x
 
Is Lily spayed? Hormones play havoc with a Doe!!

You and your clothes probably smelled of lots of other Bunnies if you went to the Rescue. Lily will act on what she SMELLS before what, or WHO, she sees. To her your ankle was a strange Rabbit cos thats what it smells of to her.
New introductions are often fraught times but Lily did not mean to hurt you. It was a case of mistaken identity!! Just try to ensure that you wash your hands after handling Charlie before you attempt to handle or stroke Lily. That way you will smell of you and not Charlie :D

Janex
 
Thanks Jane, charlie my new rabbit is from a animal rescue but they only had three rabbits, i originally went yesterday to look and spotted Charlie but was concerned that he had a slight head tilt which he dosent, he has one upright ear and one lopped ear and it makes him look abit lob sidded :lol:
 
He sounds lovely, lets hope Lily loves him once you try them together, good luck - sounds like you might need it :wink:
 
I expect your doe was just upset by the smell of another rabbit. This does not mean that she will hat him - or you!! It was just new and unexpected for her.
 
Thankyou for all your replies. Lily is still being grumpy, when i went to feed her this morning she was stomping. She has been out and hanging around Charlie's run but wont let me go near :shock: she looks at me as though she's gonna pounce!!!
 
She sounds very territorial, Sylvia is like this (though she has never bitten ME over territory!) Maybe you need to take them both to some neutral ground and try and start the bonding process that way? If Lily is being very territorial around 'her' property, this may aggravate things when you come to try and bond them later. ht
 
She probably is very territorial, but now i am wary of her and i will only go out with my husbands work boots on (steel toe capped!) :lol: Jokes aside i am so nervous near her now!! I only hope this settles and i do not have to return Charlie as he is a lovely bun with alot of character. Any ideas of when i start to do the dreaded bonding, i only got Charlie yesterday
 
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