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Help! Mistreated Bunny With Aggressive Behaviour!

IdaMae

New Kit
Hi All,

I'm really struggling with this one. It's a bit long but it's important Rosie's story is included.

I recently acquired a new bunny, Rosie. Rosie was found living as a stray on the street near mine. She had been around for a week before anyone managed to catch her, and as I am the only person in our (tiny and rural) village who could provide for a bunny very late at night, they brought her straight to me. I started working the following day on finding her owners. She hadn't unexpectedly arrived until late at night and it was gone midnight by the time I had her settled. I took her to the vets - no microchip and she didn't match the missing rabbit report they had. I phoned all the local vets, the local shelters, the local pet shops and community centres and she didn't match any known missing reports. I gave them my details and said she'd be here. I put posters up in the local areas and used lots of different social media platforms to appeal for Rosie's owners. No response. Now, I live in a very tiny village. Rosie was lucky to survive without the foxes finding her and on some of the coldest nights so far. Everyone knows everyone and all their business, so someone would know if someone was missing a bunny. It was even put on our local village website with no responses.

We have since manage to gather information from her behaviour, professionals opinions and from vet visits. She's had two health checks since she arrived and we've started the vaccination process. The shelter who did her first health check have estimated her to be around 3 years old, and a Netherland cross. We have assumed Rosie has been dumped. She had definitely been mistreated/abused in the past, and I'm quite certain it was by a man. It has been suggested that she may have been used for breeding and since they no longer want her, she had been dumped in an area away from home and rural, with the hope the foxes would get to her first. I don't know if she's been spayed yet.

Rosie doesn't need a shelter, she needs a home where she can feel safe and secure, and begin to trust. I have decided we will be keeping her. She's currently in my girls old cage (I have two bunnies who now live in their pink potting shed), but she's not showing any signs of cage aggression. She doesn't bar bite or try to get out. I have just bought her a 6x6ft playhouse to convert for her, that I'll be picking up this evening. Right now, I'm just trying to help her settle and address some of her issues before we even think about the possibility of finding her a netured male friend.

Rosie was absolutely terrified when she first arrived, I didn't think she'd even make it through the night. As time went on, Rosie has settled down, but her behaviour is horrific. I don't know what happened to this poor baby, but I know it wasn't good. Rosie bites, scratches, hisses, pounces, flinches at the tiniest movements and she's aggressive around food. We are taking baby steps, where I'll just put my hand in her cage and she can sniff me of her own accord, but on occasion she's till trying to bite or scratch me. Rosie isn't just aggressive in her cage, she can be in her temporary run, anywhere in the house, at the vets, literally anywhere whenever anyone approaches her. She is okay to be held, if you can pick her up (her run is outside and her cage inside but too big to move). I think Rosie may have been teased with or had food withheld before. She is very possessive and will snatch and hiss vegetables from your hands. She is brilliant at eating hay though!

Her big, big issue is men. That's when her behaviour is at her worst. To the point where a male vet tried to see her, and she was so aggressive they had to get a female vet at my insistence. She settled down into an ever-anxious state with her. She hates my dad with a passion. She bites him, and only him, she thumps when she hears him, she's scared of him. She battles him in the cage if he tries to do what I can do with her, and she's always watching his every move outside of the cage. It's not my Dad's fault, we have lots of animals and he's had lots before I was born. He used to take his cat to the vets while it sat around his shoulders, another cat of his used to let his rabbits out of the hutch and take them into the house. He's so gentle and so many animals love him, just not Rosie. To see her display similar behaviour with the male vet has confirmed to me that it is a gender thing. I don't know how she can tell, but she can tell.

I'm just really struggling and I don't know how to help her. I'm not giving up on her, we will get through this and I'm sure she'll settle, but I'm fully aware it's going to take a lot of time to undo all of the damage that's been done. Any tips or strategies, or further reading material suggestions would be extremely helpful!

Thank you!
 
How sad :( Whilst I can understand you wanting to get her to feel settled first, I do think that she might become calmer if she were neutered and bonded with another rabbit. The neutering would help any hormonal issues that she has which could be contributing to her behaviour. Also another rabbit could show, by example, that there is nothing to be frightened of now. I think it could make her feel calmer.

I hope that she thrives with you. She has certainly been very lucky to survive as a stray and to end up with someone who cares about her.
 
How sad :( Whilst I can understand you wanting to get her to feel settled first, I do think that she might become calmer if she were neutered and bonded with another rabbit. The neutering would help any hormonal issues that she has which could be contributing to her behaviour. Also another rabbit could show, by example, that there is nothing to be frightened of now. I think it could make her feel calmer.

I hope that she thrives with you. She has certainly been very lucky to survive as a stray and to end up with someone who cares about her.


My only issue with this is the way she interacts with my girls. She can see them from her run and they can see her, and while they are quite happy to want to see her, she'll hiss at them from her run. I've never had to bond a bunny before so I don't know what's normal. I also don't want it to put her backwards, in the sense of if she had been used for excessive profit breeding, and then I end up with yet another rabbit. I don't have the space for any more sheds after Rosie's, and at the moment I can't financially plan for a fourth bun just yet. I can't bond her with my girls as a trio of girls isn't a great option.
 
Hi All,

I'm really struggling with this one. It's a bit long but it's important Rosie's story is included.

I recently acquired a new bunny, Rosie. Rosie was found living as a stray on the street near mine. She had been around for a week before anyone managed to catch her, and as I am the only person in our (tiny and rural) village who could provide for a bunny very late at night, they brought her straight to me. I started working the following day on finding her owners. She hadn't unexpectedly arrived until late at night and it was gone midnight by the time I had her settled. I took her to the vets - no microchip and she didn't match the missing rabbit report they had. I phoned all the local vets, the local shelters, the local pet shops and community centres and she didn't match any known missing reports. I gave them my details and said she'd be here. I put posters up in the local areas and used lots of different social media platforms to appeal for Rosie's owners. No response. Now, I live in a very tiny village. Rosie was lucky to survive without the foxes finding her and on some of the coldest nights so far. Everyone knows everyone and all their business, so someone would know if someone was missing a bunny. It was even put on our local village website with no responses.

We have since manage to gather information from her behaviour, professionals opinions and from vet visits. She's had two health checks since she arrived and we've started the vaccination process. The shelter who did her first health check have estimated her to be around 3 years old, and a Netherland cross. We have assumed Rosie has been dumped. She had definitely been mistreated/abused in the past, and I'm quite certain it was by a man. It has been suggested that she may have been used for breeding and since they no longer want her, she had been dumped in an area away from home and rural, with the hope the foxes would get to her first. I don't know if she's been spayed yet.

Rosie doesn't need a shelter, she needs a home where she can feel safe and secure, and begin to trust. I have decided we will be keeping her. She's currently in my girls old cage (I have two bunnies who now live in their pink potting shed), but she's not showing any signs of cage aggression. She doesn't bar bite or try to get out. I have just bought her a 6x6ft playhouse to convert for her, that I'll be picking up this evening. Right now, I'm just trying to help her settle and address some of her issues before we even think about the possibility of finding her a netured male friend.

Rosie was absolutely terrified when she first arrived, I didn't think she'd even make it through the night. As time went on, Rosie has settled down, but her behaviour is horrific. I don't know what happened to this poor baby, but I know it wasn't good. Rosie bites, scratches, hisses, pounces, flinches at the tiniest movements and she's aggressive around food. We are taking baby steps, where I'll just put my hand in her cage and she can sniff me of her own accord, but on occasion she's till trying to bite or scratch me. Rosie isn't just aggressive in her cage, she can be in her temporary run, anywhere in the house, at the vets, literally anywhere whenever anyone approaches her. She is okay to be held, if you can pick her up (her run is outside and her cage inside but too big to move). I think Rosie may have been teased with or had food withheld before. She is very possessive and will snatch and hiss vegetables from your hands. She is brilliant at eating hay though!

Her big, big issue is men. That's when her behaviour is at her worst. To the point where a male vet tried to see her, and she was so aggressive they had to get a female vet at my insistence. She settled down into an ever-anxious state with her. She hates my dad with a passion. She bites him, and only him, she thumps when she hears him, she's scared of him. She battles him in the cage if he tries to do what I can do with her, and she's always watching his every move outside of the cage. It's not my Dad's fault, we have lots of animals and he's had lots before I was born. He used to take his cat to the vets while it sat around his shoulders, another cat of his used to let his rabbits out of the hutch and take them into the house. He's so gentle and so many animals love him, just not Rosie. To see her display similar behaviour with the male vet has confirmed to me that it is a gender thing. I don't know how she can tell, but she can tell.

I'm just really struggling and I don't know how to help her. I'm not giving up on her, we will get through this and I'm sure she'll settle, but I'm fully aware it's going to take a lot of time to undo all of the damage that's been done. Any tips or strategies, or further reading material suggestions would be extremely helpful!

Thank you!


Hi IdaMae :)

Poor girlie, but very lucky that you have taken her on and understand her needs.
Neutering may help, but with an adult rabbit it doesn't always change a female's behaviour, sadly.

There's a book that might cover some of the things you mention:

http://www.therabbithouse.com/behaviour/


Also some other reading:

https://rabbit.org/faq-aggression/

http://www.therabbithouse.com/behaviour/problem-aggressive-rabbit.asp


I quite understand that you would want to get to know her better and have her settled before she is introduced to a neutered male. I can also see that she reacts very badly to men and that could well be some trauma that she has experienced in her past. Being with you, and with a gentle and patient approach, it looks like you are already beginning to win her over.

Bless you both :love:
 
In this case you will just have to care for her the best you can, go slowly though as many rabbits do not like you putting your hand into their cage or picking them up. I would just let her settle in with you and reassess the situation in a few months. You might be surprised! If she is allowed to go near your other 2 rabbits, it could start them fighting, so be aware of this. It's called Referred Aggression.
 
Poor little bun, she sounds like she's had an awful time of it before coming to you. No real advice to give but I hope that with time she can learn to trust you and others, what a lucky bun to have found someone willing to give her the life she deserves.
 
Aw poor little bun. I have just adopted a bunny who used to lunge at me and growl but now she lets me stroke her and will hop around me and nudge me. She’s bonded with my little boy bun so that’s helped I think. I hope you can persevere as I’m sure it will pay off.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
You are very kind taking her in and I hope in time she will start to trust you and realise she's safe now.

One of our rabbits, Dottie, who was a gumtree bun was living in the tiniest two level hutch, but with even the ramp missing.

She's always been aggressive and will often bite me, if I'm not quick enough. Even spaying didn't mellow her. She hates anyone stroking her head and we suspect she has been mishandled in the past.

But.. we bonded her with a lovely boy Ziggy (who sadly passed 8 days ago :( ) who kept her on her toes. They lived a lovely life together will full time access to their play house with a 16ft runaround tunnel leading to an 8ftx6ft run.

I've accepted that she'll never be a cuddly bun and that's perfectly ok, she lives life on her terms and I'm fine with that :) x
 
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