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BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BEHAVIOR Charging

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    • SunnyD23
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        So we just got Bugs a few days ago.. everytime we take him out of the cage he runs around and rubs his chin on everything, including my Fiance and I… I put a little piece of a banana on the floor, since he was being such a good boy… well, he didn’t eat it, he just rubbed his chin on it and hopped over to the sheet we have on the floor, and layed down… I went to push his banana closer to him ( because he never turns banana’s down, and for some reason he did ) and when I touched it, he charged at me. Or sometimes, when I go to move something or even just put my hand on the floor/in his cage, he’ll charge at me, and I pull it out really fast cause I’m scared he’s going to bite me, I’m not sure if this is aggressive behavior or if he is playing.


      • LoveChaCha
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          Is your rabbit neutered?

          If he is, he sounds like he is a territoral bunny.. and that is just how his personality may be. Some rabbits do not like their stuff being touched, so they will protect their things. It is like someone going into a house that isn’t theirs, it is the same with bunnies. Chinning stuff means ‘THAT IS MINE, AND MINE!’ he is saying that he owns stuf.. quite normal rabbit behavior, if you ask me I was chinned by my 1 1/2 year old female the other day.

          I would advise not to take him out of his cage, but to let him out on his own accord

          EDIT: I just read your profile and you say he is not neutered. I would advise finding a rabbit savvy vet, getting him checked out and neutered asap.

          http://www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html


        • SunnyD23
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            I still have to set up the rest of my profile Okay, I’ll have to find one.. except do you think it’s a good idea we get him neutered so soon? We just got him on Tuesday… Ohh okay, yeah he was chinning my scrubs, my boots, my fiances pants LOL and then when I got up to walk into the other room, he chased me


          • LoveChaCha
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              How old is he?

              I know of another member that got a foster rabbit and had her neutered the same week, or next.. The rabbit is hers and bonded with her other rabbit.

              i would at least call around vets and ask about a wellness examination as the first step, and ask about the procedure.


            • Tate
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                Is he neutered and how old?
                Rabbits tend to do this often- actually whether fixed or not! Their cage is “theirs”. Imagine if you were sitting in your house and your mom just came in and started rearranging things without your consent! It is best to clean out their cage when they are not in it… even just to fill up a food bowl or water bottle.
                I’m not sure how “good” of a method this is, but when my bun would lunge at me when I was refilling food and water, I wouldn’t remove my hand. He wouldn’t ever bite me. I *think* he realized that he couldn’t hurt me, so it didn’t matter if he lunged at me or anything. By removing your hand, you’re actually giving Bugs the upper hand and he thinks he can push you around!
                Again, not sure how great of a method that is. I also believe it’s important to give them their own space. But, what Bugs is doing is completely normal and not at all indicative of his “true” personality. I would try refiling/cleaning/etc when he is out of the cage to eliminate behavior.


              • Tate
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                  lol.. Chacha, you beat me to it!!! I’m far too lazy to edit my post, so just ignore it…


                • SunnyD23
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                    @ LoveChaCha, he is about one.. and I’ll definitely have to call around tomorrow @Tate, He isn’t neutered, he’s about 1… I just am afraid of getting bit, he bit my fiance the other day because he had vegetable smell left on his finger- and Bugs must have mistaken it as food, he was bleeding pretty good for some time. I’m hoping when I do get him neutered that everything is better.


                  • SunnyD23
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                      lol


                    • LoveChaCha
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                        yes, most definitely get him checked out and talk about neutering with the vet. the HRS vet list that i linked you to has good vet sources. it is not common for some people to drive a half hour or more to see a rabbit vet. it is really tough to find a good vet, so i’m glad the hrs has a source for us


                      • Lani
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                          I agree with LoveChaCha and Tate. Neutering will definitely help. However, my bun was also pretty territorial when I first brought her home even though she’d already been spayed. You say you’ve only had Bugs a few days so remember he may not know what to think of you yet, which would be a reason for that behavior. Try spending time in the room but just completely ignore him, do something like lie on the floor and read a book. Let him come to you when he feels comfortable and when he does don’t try to pet him or reach out to him, let him do all the exploring. I know this is really hard cause they’re so darn cute and you just want to pet them But this way he’ll learn to not see you as a threat. I did this for a few hours every day for a week or two and it really helped my bun realize I’m not a predator and let her get used to my scent. She now loves to climb all over me and lie down next to me

                          I also used the technique that Tate suggests when you have to do things in his cage. If you absolutely must put your hands in his cage (to put hay, water or clean up) either try to do it when he isn’t in his cage or else don’t react when he lunges, boxes, bites, etc. I know it’s *really* hard because our instinct is to pull back but that just shows him that those behaviors get results. So just don’t react. You can wear heavy leather gardening gloves to help you not react. I wore heavy gloves and an old sweatshirt so that my hands and arms were covered and the bites wouldn’t pierce the skin. This process really helped for my bun, she isn’t so territorial about her cage now. She doesn’t mind if I put my hands in her cage and will sit by and watch what I’m doing so I don’t put something back in the “wrong” place


                        • SunnyD23
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                            @ LoveChaCha, I will definitely have to look around on that site.. I’m about to do that right now @ Lani, I’ll have to try that… I was playing with my friend’s sons building blocks, and made Bugsy a little house, in the middle of it, he started chining ALL the blocks, finally, I grabbed one and he flew on the couch and bit me, it wasn’t too hard it was just a firm nip… I found out that when he is REALLY stressed out, or mad.. if I brush him he calms down and falls asleep lol– it’s cute. It’s just hard adjusting to a bunny that already knows who he/she is… I’m pretty sure it’s the same for him too… but, if we didn’t buy him, he was going to an animal shelter that didn’t have a ‘no kill’ policy and probably would have been put down.. that and he was just too cute NOT to want


                          • SunnyD23
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                              Do either of you know ( on average) the cost of a wellness check-up, and neutering? I know it depends on where you go but I just want to know what to expect, and whats considered ‘low cost’ and whats considered ‘ high cost’. I don’t want to go to a free clinic, or a super low-cost clinic.. just because I’m scared I might have to sign a waiver that I understand that the vets doing it are students and may make mistakes, or something along those lines. I made the mistake of doing that for a guinea pig I had, and she ended up having to have surgery again that was going to cost around $3000 and I had just spent $1500 on her to have her teeth and tummy fixed.. but they ended up screwing up, and I had to give her to someone else that was going to be able to help her. Luckily the lady loved her when she first saw her and had no problem taking her– so I gave her our other guinea pig since they were bonded. I just don’t want to go through the same thing.


                            • Tate
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                                I’ve been to 3 vets with the same rabbit and it was between $40-$60 for the exam. I paid $65 to neuter both of my boys but that is pretty much the lowest I’ve heard of. It seems as though average is around $150 and they some vets charge up to $400.


                              • Monkeybun
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                                  An office visit at my vet is $50.50, and neuters with him are $129.50. So not too bad Spays get more expensive, especially when you add in sub-q fluids, pain meds, etc. The extras do cost extra


                                • Sarita
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                                    I definitely recommend neutering. The charging…well, it could be a number of things. I had a rabbit who charged at me all the time even after neutering – loved him to death but he just didn’t know how to “act”. Well, act the way that we expect they “should” act. He was neutered but this charging never stopped. He was an unusual rabbit and had fear aggression. Rabbits do not have the capacity to be mean so aggression is really fear in rabbits. He eventually calmed down – not totally laid back by any means, but less charging and more relaxing. I always would pet and be gentle with him even when he charged me to reassure him, I am not going to hurt him, I’m not the enemy. He was a special rabbit and I felt very protective of him even when others perceived him as being aggressive.


                                  • Sarita
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                                      Also, I eventually had him free range and this helped immensely – he did not do good being confined at all.


                                    • brittbritt
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                                        Gabby will do what I call lunging to me. She did it before her spay and after the spay she does it less. Hers is mostly when I’m giving her a raisin treat. She’ll take one and when I don’t drop the others she lunges and sometimes paws/scratches me. When she does this I pick up the raisins off the floor of if I’m holding them I take my hand away so she sees there’s no reward for the behavior. A few minutes later I ask her if she can take it nicely and she is always better after I do this. I think she gets so excited she gets a little crazy.

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                                    Forum BEHAVIOR Charging