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Behaviour advice

lydia3101

New Kit
Hello,

I am a new, first time (as an adult) rabbit owner. We bought our Minxie, who is a dwarf lion headX female, approximately 2 months ago. She was born on 9/2/18 so is currently 4½ months old.

Ever since we bought her she has been a very loving rabbit, enjoying cuddles, following me around the house and has never been agressive or bitten, however, over the last 2 days she has started lunging and me and biting my hands in a nasty manner if I reach into her hutch to pet her or refresh her food and water bowls. She has also been biting my trouser legs and thrashing around with lots of thumpibg of her back feet. She currently lives as an only bunny but after neutering (booked for 7/7/18) we are planning to adopt a rescue bunny from a rescue centre who offer a bonding service.

My questions are:

Is this normal behaviour?
Could it be her hormones or is she being territorial?
Is it likely to continue??

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Lydia
65ba589ea30990fcedc145368a3bfb32.jpg


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She is beautiful:love: it sounds hormonal/territorial, hopefully after she is spayed and her hormones have subsided (it can take up to 6-8 weeks) this will change and she will be back to behaving how she was before:thumb: it’s great to hear you willl be giving a home to a rescue bunny :love:
 
Hello and welcome. It sounds like your bunny has reached the "teenage" years. She should be spayed as soon as the Vet is happy to do it then this behaviour will subside. She should then return to being her old sweet self. Keep in touch and good luck with finding her a lovely friend. Is she vaccinated?
 
I thought this might be the case. I have a 13 year old daughter who also thumps around and moans when I go in her bedroom so it does make sense.

Yes, Minxie is vaccinated and has had health checks with the vet [emoji4]

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Hello,

I am a new, first time (as an adult) rabbit owner. We bought our Minxie, who is a dwarf lion headX female, approximately 2 months ago. She was born on 9/2/18 so is currently 4½ months old.

Ever since we bought her she has been a very loving rabbit, enjoying cuddles, following me around the house and has never been agressive or bitten, however, over the last 2 days she has started lunging and me and biting my hands in a nasty manner if I reach into her hutch to pet her or refresh her food and water bowls. She has also been biting my trouser legs and thrashing around with lots of thumpibg of her back feet. She currently lives as an only bunny but after neutering (booked for 7/7/18) we are planning to adopt a rescue bunny from a rescue centre who offer a bonding service.

My questions are:

Is this normal behaviour?
Could it be her hormones or is she being territorial?
Is it likely to continue??

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Lydia
65ba589ea30990fcedc145368a3bfb32.jpg


Sent from my VTR-L09 using Tapatalk


Hi there and welcome to the Forum :wave:

Female rabbits get hormonal and territorial just as you've said. The best thing would be to get her spayed, especially as you're thinking of getting her a companion.

Can you find a good savvy vet to do this for you? You could take her for vaccinations if she hasn't had any, and suss out the vet at the same time. Ask questions about how many spays they do etc ...

Some info on neutering:

http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/neutering28807.pdf

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-health/neutering/

Good luck :)
 
Hi Lydia and welcome to mad bunny world! Everyone has already answered your question so thought I’d just say hi and your bunny is gorgeous x
 
We have an excellent vet who we have been with for many years with our aging Labrador. Minxie has had 4 visits so far, 2 for vaccinations, one for a free health check during rabbit awareness week and one for booking her spay which is due in 2 weeks time.

Thank you for your advice [emoji4]

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Another question: how should I deal with the biting? Should I just ignore it or do they respond to a squeak or "no!"

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Also, during this feisty period, try not to enter her space while she is in it, or give her something to eat while you are going in there.
 
I thought this might be the case. I have a 13 year old daughter who also thumps around and moans when I go in her bedroom so it does make sense.

Yes, Minxie is vaccinated and has had health checks with the vet [emoji4]

Sent from my VTR-L09 using Tapatalk

Ha, I have one of those too!

Welcome to the forum. She's very cute xx
 
Another question: how should I deal with the biting? Should I just ignore it or do they respond to a squeak or "no!"

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Just don't give her the chance to bite you. Is she in an indoor cage? I have come across quite a few rabbits which have become aggressive while living in these cages, partly I think because there is nowhere for them to run away and hide, as there would a hutch.
 
Also, during this feisty period, try not to enter her space while she is in it, or give her something to eat while you are going in there.

This definitely.

We have a beautiful lion head cross who is now 4 - she was adorable for about two weeks before we got her, then she became the monster you describe above for a few weeks before spaying and, once her hormones settled, she became adorable again. She’s now a soppy nearly four year old and she was sooo feisty before spaying. Just to reassure you! As a slave to peri-menopausal hormones myself right now I kind of understand how they go a bit crazy :?
 
Also how big is her living space? A small space can add to territorial behaviour.

She looks very lovely. Hope spaying calms her down.
 
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