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Can Rabbits be bad tempered?

C

ciaramaxwell467

New Kit
So I recently baught a bunny and he has been super grumpy, he has a litter tray that he uses and has free run of my room and a little cage that he takes naps in sometimes, but sometimes he gets angry at me for the smallest things and he will pick up my books or work and tear it up and throw it around when I'm not giving him attention, but when I try to stroke him and give him fuss he completely ignores me. I've had him for a month now and he seems to enjoy or tolerate strokes a bit more now but he's still a very fussy and angry bunny and has tantrums at the smallest things like if I'm doing work or if I move my stuff away from him so he cant chew it up. He seems to enjoy my company but he gets set off by the smallest things, is this normal or is he bad tempered?

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How old is he?
Is he neutered?
Can you get him a bunny companion? He has no-one to talk to who speaks his language.
Rabbits do express their opinions. Search ‘the language of lagomorphs’.
Also a lot of the natural behaviour of rabbits is not particularly compatible with living in a house. I had four house rabbits for nine years. Tabitha didn’t like me to speak on the phone, so would bite through the cord on the landline, to put a stop to my conversation.
 
Last edited:
happybun said:
How old is he?
Is he neutered?
Can you get him a bunny companion? He has no-one to talk to who speaks his language.
Rabbits do express their opinions. Search ‘the language of lagomorphs’.
Click to expand...
He's only a few mounths old and he isnt neutered yet, he doesnt have a bunny companion sadly because I'm in a rented house so animals are limited he does love my dog who sleeps in the same room though ahaha, but apart from that he's pretty anti-social and just seems happy being in the same room as others or exploring rather than playing or cuddling people which he avoids.
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ciaramaxwell467 said:
He's only a few mounths old and he isnt neutered yet, he doesnt have a bunny companion sadly because I'm in a rented house so animals are limited he does love my dog who sleeps in the same room though ahaha, but apart from that he's pretty anti-social and just seems happy being in the same room as others or exploring rather than playing or cuddling people which he avoids.
1266f9f902091030e5165f048198a909.jpg
2d349c9c3cc9410e3c0090a192e199cd.jpg


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Click to expand...
He is super cute though!
 
He is gorgeous:love: he’s probably just hormonal, if you can get him neutered at a rabbit savvy vet, that may help settle him down. Does he have plenty of hay to eat, things to chew - you can give them apple or pear tree twigs for example, those willow balls, chill and chew mats, you could put his pellet ration in a treat ball to make them entertaining and last longer. Sometimes this behaviour is from lack of space, but in your case is he free range all the time? If you are shutting him in his cage for any length of time at all that might explain his frustration. If you have to enclose him you can use puppy pen panels to make a large run, which should be at least 10ftx6ft
 
Zoobec said:
He is gorgeous:love: he’s probably just hormonal, if you can get him neutered at a rabbit savvy vet, that may help settle him down. Does he have plenty of hay to eat, things to chew - you can give them apple or pear tree twigs for example, those willow balls, chill and chew mats, you could put his pellet ration in a treat ball to make them entertaining and last longer. Sometimes this behaviour is from lack of space, but in your case is he free range all the time? If you are shutting him in his cage for any length of time at all that might explain his frustration. If you have to enclose him you can use puppy pen panels to make a large run, which should be at least 10ftx6ft
Click to expand...
Okay thanks : )

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ciaramaxwell467 said:
So I recently baught a bunny and he has been super grumpy, he has a litter tray that he uses and has free run of my room and a little cage that he takes naps in sometimes, but sometimes he gets angry at me for the smallest things and he will pick up my books or work and tear it up and throw it around when I'm not giving him attention, but when I try to stroke him and give him fuss he completely ignores me. I've had him for a month now and he seems to enjoy or tolerate strokes a bit more now but he's still a very fussy and angry bunny and has tantrums at the smallest things like if I'm doing work or if I move my stuff away from him so he cant chew it up. He seems to enjoy my company but he gets set off by the smallest things, is this normal or is he bad tempered?

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Click to expand...


Welcome to the Forum :wave:

Bunnies are their own 'people' and you never quite know what you're getting unless you adopt an adult from a Rescue. Then you know their personality. Many rabbits are like yours, and neutering should help *to some degree* but bear in mind he may never be a human friendly rabbit. Getting a companion is always a good idea and he will probably become more friendly were you to adopt a friendly female for him.

Some info on neutering:

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

He can be neutered from around 4 months old. Take him for his vaccinations, he will need two of them, and suss out a good vet who you would trust to do his operation. The vaccinations he will need are Novibac/Myxo and RHD2 - given a couple of weeks apart. See my thread below for info on this new strain of RHD called RHD2. It's becoming a killer around the country so many people would get that done first.

Lastly, your rabbit isn't bad tempered. They get bored easily, need company and also with their hormones can feel this way.
He's very gorgeous :love:
 
MightyMax said:
Welcome to the Forum :wave:

Bunnies are their own 'people' and you never quite know what you're getting unless you adopt an adult from a Rescue. Then you know their personality. Many rabbits are like yours, and neutering should help *to some degree* but bear in mind he may never be a human friendly rabbit. Getting a companion is always a good idea and he will probably become more friendly were you to adopt a friendly female for him.

Some info on neutering:

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

He can be neutered from around 4 months old. Take him for his vaccinations, he will need two of them, and suss out a good vet who you would trust to do his operation. The vaccinations he will need are Novibac/Myxo and RHD2 - given a couple of weeks apart. See my thread below for info on this new strain of RHD called RHD2. It's becoming a killer around the country so many people would get that done first.

Lastly, your rabbit isn't bad tempered. They get bored easily, need company and also with their hormones can feel this way.
He's very gorgeous :love:
Click to expand...
Okay thank you so much : )

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Can Rabbits be bad tempered?

Yes, they can. Our Willow can be quite grumpy sometimes. All domestic animals have definite personalities. Years ago we kept a cockerel and a hen and the hen was pretty vicious while the cockerel was quite a gentleman.
 
My vets will neuter males earlier providing their testicles have dropped and they are over 1kg in weight. I believe Richard Saunders also works on this guideline.
 
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