Female rabbit bonding- agressive and skittish

Hello,

I really hope someone can help as I'm in a bit of a pickle. I've recently got a new lionhead doe to bond with my existing lionlop buck. The doe is about 10 months old and seemed very friendly and sweet when I went to see her.

As soon as I've brought her home, however, she's been really aggressive- growling and lunging at me and won't even let me stroke her, let alone pick her up. Occasionally, if she's distracted, I can stroke her ears, but after about 3 strokes, she starts growling and runs off.
She hasn't been spayed, but has had litters in the past. I would get her spayed if it was a fail-safe way of stopping the aggression, but I'm unsure as to whether at this point, it would make any real difference to her behaviour?

I've tried spending lots of time with her just sitting on the floor and letting her come to me, but over the last two weeks I've seen no improvement. If anything- the growling is getting worse! The buck I wanted to bond her to is really chilled out and docile- loves nose rubs and cuddles, and even hops up onto the sofa to lounge with us. The complete opposite of the new bunny.

I'm just not sure what to do. I don't want to give up on her because she can be so sweet, but at the same time - I bought her as a companion and it's looking less and less likely that she'll be suitable :-( I also want to be able to actually handle her so I can do the basics- get her into her carrier/trim nails etc and at the moment I have to wear gloves to pick her up and it clearly stresses her out.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!

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Spaying her may well significantly reduce her aggression, it would also protect her from uterine infections and uterine cancer. Both very common in Does from as young as 3.

Are you certain that she is not pregnant ? That can cause a Doe to become aggressive to their care giver which worsens as the pregnancy progresses. A pregnant Doe will also not welcome the attention of another Rabbit.

I've got a doe very similar and she has been neutered for a year or so. Her old owner bought her for her 4 yr old son so whether this has so ething to do with her behaviour I don't know. It could be when your rabbit is bonded with a male she may become less aggressive - this can happen but can't be guaranteed.

We would usually think that spaying will help with this behaviour but not always so can't say go ahead for this reason. As she has had a couple of litters it is a good idea to have her spayed so she won't have problems later on with cancer of the Uterus.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Thanks for your replies.

I'm pretty sure she isn't pregnant. She had just had a litter (the kits were 12 weeks old) before I bought her and she'd been kept on her own as soon as the kits were old enough.

I'm just finding it difficult to get my head around, because she was previously a show bunny and there's photos of her sitting very happily looking gorgeous- so she must be used to being handled/groomed etc. Maybe she just needs more time to settle in?!

tonibun is your doe still aggressive/skittish even after her spay? How do you handle her on a daily basis for things like vet visits and nail trims etc?

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Just wondered how long you have had your new doe?

She's been here two weeks now. I thought she might have settled in by now, but maybe I need to give her a month or so?
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Can she see or smell your buck?

She can see him and she might be able to smell him. Do you think if I moved her out of sight/smell distance she might improve?

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It may help to block her sight line to him - it can be simple just a piece of card board. Also make sure you wash your hands between handling them. If you smell of him, she'll react like a strange rabbit just invaded her space i.e. attack them to make them go away.

I don't think anyone can give you a guarantee for an individual rabbit but in the majority of cases neutering will at least lessen the aggression.

The aggression that neutering works on is the hormonal driven territorial behaviour. So for example when you put yourself/your hands in her space. Often in these sort of cases rabbits are particularly aggressive when in their cage/hutch, but much more friendly in a neutral space (a bit like when you bond bunnies). When you met her before, was she in her hutch when you handled her or out in neutral space?

You could try tempting her into a carrier with some food, then letting her out somewhere neutral eg your kitchen/bathroom (smallish space easy to contain her) and see how she interacted with you there. Still let her come to you, don't chase her around, offer her some treats and just hang out. If you find she's more friendly, that would be a good indication neutering would help a lot.

Again, no promises, but I expect you can make her much easier to live with, and I wouldn't rule out bonding yet.

PippaC said:

Thanks for your replies.

I'm pretty sure she isn't pregnant. She had just had a litter (the kits were 12 weeks old) before I bought her and she'd been kept on her own as soon as the kits were old enough.

I'm just finding it difficult to get my head around, because she was previously a show bunny and there's photos of her sitting very happily looking gorgeous- so she must be used to being handled/groomed etc. Maybe she just needs more time to settle in?!

tonibun is your doe still aggressive/skittish even after her spay? How do you handle her on a daily basis for things like vet visits and nail trims etc?

P
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Click to expand...

With garden gloves! I actually felt her teeth through the glove today. The previous owner bought her from PAH and she was in a small hutch in the garden. So what made her like this I don't know. Maybe she has a health problem ? I have another doe who was very similar, sprayed, pounced and would bite if given the chance and guess what, a year later she is a lovely rabbit and good as gold! Can't believe she is the same rabbit, but there was more than onced I thought of rehoming her. If your bunny has only just had a litter, her hormones will bestill be up and dow of rehoming her. She also smelled and I don't think it was an infection.

I ran out of room to type any more - anyway you can more or less get what I was saying. I haven't been on the bottle. :lol:

Yes, I would definitely try to ensure she can't see or smell your buck. In fact if it,were me I would move them to separate rooms if possible so that when she comes out of her pen she is in an area that doesn't smell of him.

Well I've moved the bun (now named Margot) away from the other rabbits and she seems a tiny bit better. It might have something to do with the fact she's on the grass now instead of the patio, so is distracted!

She's still quite vocal and skittish, but eats food from my hand now- which is a definite improvement! I've booked her in for her spay on monday so I am crossing everything goes to plan. Hopefully the hormones eventually do die down and she gets friendlier - at the moment it's a bit of a military operation to clean her hutch out, so even if it lessens her territorial aggression it will be better!

Now I just have to find a way to lure her into the pet carrier without sustaining grievous injury...

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