Help for my friends grumpy rabbit...

[tintin]

Ecudc - I for one would be interested in reading an account of how to calm an aggressive bunny. Any chance you could post an account? It would certainly be helpful for the numerous new posters who have troublesome rabbits. I think bunny psychology is quite interesting so I'd like to know more.

 

[jubob]

I can't help with your friends bun.

an agressive rabbit will not become unagressive unless it is spayed. Spaying may help to reduce agression along with time & TLC but it isn't 100% guaranteed. If you like you can get her to contact me I have a long term foster bunny here (Kung Fu panda) becuase of his agression. If she wants to find out out how we turned him from cage raging monster to butter wouldn't melt then drop me a line.

But I would love to hear this too

 

[KoShiatar]

But I would love to hear this too

Same for me. I have some degree of confidence with Maia but I feel she could be happier.

 

[bensonlola]

We had an aggressive bun hen i was younger. Even the dog, a jack russell, was scared of her!

My mum would put her hand in the cage and got bitten and scratched, but could never work out why I didn't even after I showed her a million times.

Basically she startled easily. I found that if I knelt down to her level, talked to her in a calm voice and didn't make sudden jerky movements she was like an angel. Didn't like to be picked up still, but wouldn't attack and would accept a headrub.


Try to get them to spend calm time with her, talking to her without trying to stroke her, so she get's used to the fact that they're not attackers and them being around does not mean something bad will happen.

ETA: Obv this is in addition to the spay!

Thanks. I think they prob do go at her too quickly. I'll mention that to her aswell.:roll:

 

[bensonlola]

Ecudc - I for one would be interested in reading an account of how to calm an aggressive bunny. Any chance you could post an account? It would certainly be helpful for the numerous new posters who have troublesome rabbits. I think bunny psychology is quite interesting so I'd like to know more.

Oooh yes!! Could you post it? Then I could print it out and give it to her!

 

[ecudc]

Ecudc - I for one would be interested in reading an account of how to calm an aggressive bunny. Any chance you could post an account? It would certainly be helpful for the numerous new posters who have troublesome rabbits. I think bunny psychology is quite interesting so I'd like to know more.

Well ok.

Panda came in to Fat Fluffs about 1.5 years ago. He had been kept in a small hutch by himself as a childs pet. Never neutered, suffering from small bun big personality problems, left to his own devices a lot he started to get very agressive, the more they left him the more agressive he became.

Eventually he came to FF. Chloe had him neutered and tried with him for a few months. He would pace up and down his (by now much larger hutch and run) waiting for someone to approach that he could take a chunk out of. He bit chloe once & sophie as well, he would bite both when people went to clean the hutch or feed him as well as when being held. He then went on a small holiday to Jane dexters who had a bit more time to see if she could get him settled, jane didn't have much more sucess despite putting in a lot of time. She needed to make room for some of her rehomes so he landed up at mine in my kitchen as an emergency until we could find a space for him in HQ.

I think that these were the things which helped him.

(a) He was not contrained to a hutch. We think that after being put in a very small hutch he might suffer from cage rage and gets a bit caustrophobic.

(b) Very huge space, very small bunny. Lots of things to explore which reduced his bordom, especially with other bunnies right next door.

(c) I was always in there, morning and night. He was very aware that it was my space, not his.

(d) After a few days to settle in he didn't get his pellets/veg unless he approached me for them. I'd scatter them around me whilst sitting on the floor reading. Gradually we moved to hand feeding, then lap feeding.

(e) I got a big broom. Panda's main problem was attacking the broom. He was called kung Fu Panda because of the matrix style kick boxing moves he used to do on it. Big space in kitchen = big broom and he soon learnt that attacking the broom did no good at all as he would be clinging on with his teeth whilst i continued to sweep up.

(f) If he started to get terratorial again we moved him to a different room. As soon as we moved him he would become less agressive and we could carry on the good work. I think I moved him about 4 times before he calmed down.

(g) I didn't pick him up for about 3 months, didn't even try to stroke him unless he was sitting on my lap. Once we had built up some trust then I began to pick him up, rewarding him with food everytime.

(h) He knows I am the boss, not him. i went in with the attitude that he would not bite me & he never has. If I had to handle him to begin with I used over gloves which meant I wasn't scared.

(g) Finally he was bonded in to my three rabbits. It was one of the more extream bonding sessions that we have ever done. It was over a month until they could go in to neutral space. We tried 3 times before we achieved sucess, the first 2 times were full on locking bunnies, whirlwinds of fur, boxking and kick boxing. However if he hadn't been bonded in then he would have to have remained alone and at Fat fluffs HQ where we had tried to bond him with other bunnies without sucess. As he was getting worse and worse being by himself at HQ again he came back to be to be bonded in with my group. Being in a group of 4 bunnies with 2 much larger rabbits who dominate him has been very good for Pandas ego. He now knows his place (last) and is corrected by them if he steps out of line.

Does he love me? Probably not, but he does come for food, if I'm sitting on the sofa he will jump on to my lap to have a look. He can be picked up with a few snorts and a bit of a chase but will not bite. He is even starting to tolerate nose rubs from me and requests (and is given) grooms from the other bunnies.

These are a couple of threads about him http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=165103&highlight=panda



http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=154632&highlight=panda