Bad Behaviour

Has anyone had any experience of a certain type of dried food causing bad behaviour? I know it sounds ridiculous but I am having real problems with Bertie at the moment. They currently have excel lite.

Anyone at all???

I've heard of excel causing tummy problems, which I guess could cause grumpiness, but 'bad' behaviour is usually either rabbit's natural behaviour like chewing, digging, biting etc, or it's hormonal if they are at the 'teenage' stage around 4 months old.

Tell us a bit more about the bun... what kind of bad behaviour... how old is the bun... is he neutered...:?:

Quite the opposite - Mango and Chutney have Excel Lite and they are :angel: :lol: :lol: :lol:

well, I have posted on here before about Bertie being very aggressive whenever there is food around and no one seems to have experienced the same problem. Over the last few months though, Bertie has become more and more aggressive not only to my husband and I but also towards Daisy, his bonded friend. I haven't made any changes to routine, housing etc. I am getting to my wits end now, he is like jekyl & hyde, one minute being really loving and licking my hand and the next minute he will go for me..... any ideas would be very gratefully received. I have a vets appointment for them both this week just to check it's nothing medical. :roll: i feel so bad for him and i adore the little monster. he is neutered and his is just under 2 years old.

Wizbit said:

well, I have posted on here before about Bertie being very aggressive whenever there is food around and no one seems to have experienced the same problem. Over the last few months though, Bertie has become more and more aggressive not only to my husband and I but also towards Daisy, his bonded friend. I haven't made any changes to routine, housing etc. I am getting to my wits end now, he is like jekyl & hyde, one minute being really loving and licking my hand and the next minute he will go for me..... any ideas would be very gratefully received. I have a vets appointment for them both this week just to check it's nothing medical. :roll: i feel so bad for him and i adore the little monster. he is neutered and his is just under 2 years old.

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I have a foster & a permanent - both territorial, & aggressive around food.
Both are neutered, one paired up. One has been fully checked to ensure he is not in pain, the other is having a check-up tonight. TBH I just kind of work around it.

My permanent- Calel flies at me, but minutes later accepts a nose rub. He bit at his last home, & has moved around quite a bit (due to his aggression). He is marginally better than he was now he has some stability, but I think this is pretty much it. I don't put my hand in his cages. If I feed, I put a full bowl down first, before removing the empty one. I don't stroke him unless invited. He is currently eating out of my (ungloved) hand, but it's taken a year to get there. Changing a litter tray, is hilarious as i distract with one glove & dart in with the other:roll: :lol: I'm not allowed to touch his partner. I separate her twice a week to check her over.


My foster has only been here a couple of months. His aggression seems to be purely territorial, although vet will confirm that hopefully tonight. I moved him to another room last night, & this morning it was back to nose rubs & licks

.Here's my thread with pics on the link of my Calel-suit

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=94470&highlight=calel+pics

Thanks for that Angie, I am so glad to know that Im not the only one!!! I was starting to think it is something I have done. Once I have had him checked and I know it's nothing medical I will feel better as that does worry me. As I say, he is very unpredictable, although he doesn't mind me giving Daisy attention or emptying the litter tray and cleaning his cage. At present I am trying to get in touch with a behavioural person just to see if there is anything obvious. As you say, I do work around it at the moment, and Calel makes Bertie sound like a gentle little lamb!!! Thanks again for your reply.

Just bumping this up to see if anyone else has any ideas for Wizbit:wave: :wave: :wave: :wave: :wave:

pehaps you could try a little prior distraction with a treatball? Then go a put food in. Separate bowls for him and her would mean he could only visit one at a time so hopefully and food agression to her would reduce. Looking at your bunnys, they look a very nice weight but is it possible that he's really hungry i.e. feedings spaced too far apart or he's not eating enough hay?

Thanks for your reply. Problem is that the treat balls cause a row, I have tried with one and then got another as it caused a problem. I have to supervise when they have treat balls..:roll: They have a dish each, I have tried one bowl, I have also tried scattering the food... I am now in touch with Anne McBride to see if she can help!!! They have constant access to both meadow hay and timothy hay and Bertie eats hay constantly. I have worried in the past that he is actually starving but my vet says he is a perfect weight. Thanks for your ideas.