Forum

OUR FORUM IS UP BUT WE ARE STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF UPDATING AND FIXING THINGS.  SOME THINGS WILL LOOK WEIRD AND/OR NOT BE CORRECT. YOUR PATIENCE IS APPRECIATED.  We are not fully ready to answer questions in a timely manner as we are not officially open, but we will do our best. 

You may have received a 2-factor authentication (2FA) email from us on 4/21/2020. That was from us, but was premature as the login was not working at that time. 

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.

What are we about?  Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules

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 Help! What do i do?

Viewing 7 reply threads
  • Author
    Messages

    • Funkybee
      Participant
      3 posts Send Private Message

         Well it kinda sucks that this is my first post but here it goes. I got my bunny, Fizzgig, in december from a couple off craiglsist and I believe he is just under a year old. He gets free run of the house whenever i’m home and stayes in his cage when I’m not. He is courious and will approach and sniff us all the time but will NOT let us touch him, catching him is always a challange although most of the time I’m able to herd him into his cage at the end of the day. My problem is he has bitten me three times. Once was understandable, when i got him his nails were quite long and so they had to be clipped and he was scared and trying to get away. The second time i was holding him and he resorted to biting to get free, I didn’t immediatly let him go because i didn’t want him to think biting was effective but he chomped down on my palm so hard that i pulled my hand away and he took off. Then a few days ago i managed to pick him up, which he of course was not thrilled about, I held him for a short time and then put him down at which point he squirmed like crazy so i kept my hands on him until he calmed down and then i let him go. He promptly turned around and chomped down on my pinkie finger so hard that i squeeled and started swearing and pulled my hand away…he was holding on so tight that for a moment he came with it but then he let go and ran off. There was a lot of bleeding I have had bunnies before, even one who was very antisocial and would lunge and grunt at me when i reached into her cage to feed her but even she never bit that hard. What am I doing wrong?? and how can I fix this. I understand that Fizzgig may never be a cuddle bunny, he may never even like to be petted but surely I don’t have to live in fear of having my finger bit off by a crazy cute little ball of fuzz. 


      • Sam and Lady's Human
        Participant
        2001 posts Send Private Message

          Hello and welcome!!

          Bunnies are different than any other pet I’ve owned. There’s also a ton of misconceptions about them, one being that they are a lap pet. Most (if not all!) bunnies do not like being picked up or held, it goes against their ingrained prey instincts. To rabbits, being picked up = bird of prey =death. They can’t communicate and tell us whats wrong, its up to us to read their body language as best we can.

          Basically, stop holding him and picking him up. Check out language.rabbitspeak.com for a really good guide on reading your rabbit. Teach him to go in his cage on his own (how big is his cage, btw?) by using that time as dinner time or simply offer a treat and say “Bed” or “home” at the same time. Rabbits can learn that! My girls both go in on their own around 8-9pm for their salads

          Is he neutered?

          Also, I don’t know if you do this for him but you mentioned you did with your other rabbit, rule #1 is to stay out of their “safe zone” I only go in my girls pens when they are out playing, going in while they are in can make them territorial and be an affront to their reign as alpha bunnies Basically, it can hurt their trust in you.


        • Funkybee
          Participant
          3 posts Send Private Message

            Thanks for the advice I put my hand in his cage when I’m giving him food, he usually is more than happy to let me do that but I will stop. His cage is quite small (2ft/3ft) because I never intended for it to be anything more than a safe zone and feeding area. He is not neutered yet and I’m hoping when he is it will curb some other behaviours, he was a litterbox pro until a few weeks ago and I know picking rabbits up is a lot to ask for I was hoping he be like my last boy and snuggle up next to me on the couch to be petted. I can avoid handling him but what happens when he needs his nails clipped again?? And his fur is kinda long I’m thinking it will need brushing…


          • Sam and Lady's Human
            Participant
            2001 posts Send Private Message

              He might like to snuggle, but if he does, he’ll do it on his own. They all seem to show affection in their own way

              As for maintenance like nails, I do the bunny burrito, it makes Samson mad at me for like a week, but it’s got to be done. There’s more info on that above in the “bunny info”. You can try to brush him while giving greens, its worked for me lately. I have a pile of greens, romaine, parsleys etc, and I’ll feed 1 at a time while brushing. It distracts them a little and makes it a good experience.


            • Stickerbunny
              Participant
              4128 posts Send Private Message

                Only pick him up when you NEED to – clipping, etc. To get him back into his cage, you can use a variety of methods – carrier ( a lot of rabbits will walk into a carrier if you put a treat in it ), litter box (my Stickers will hop into a litterbox and lie down, letting me carry her that way since she hates being held), save part of his pellets in the day for bedtime so he goes in willingly, put some treats in his cage he likes, etc. The way I get my two back to their room when it’s bedtime is I feed them their pellets, when they hear the bag rustle they come running, no fuss.

                It sounds like all of his biting is out of fear/stress. When he gets bonded to you more, he might be a bit more comfortable (though probably never like it) being picked up. Powder used to freak out really bad when I picked him up for clippings and such, he didn’t trust me yet, I would come away with scratches all over myself every time. Now he just gets large eyes since he’s scared, but will trust me enough to not fight. Even my wild child Stickers (under a year, hates being touched 90% of the time) has gotten to trust me mostly and as long as she’s held securely, won’t fight. Bunny burrito sounds useful to you now though, so he can’t bite you.


              • Elrohwen
                Participant
                7318 posts Send Private Message

                  I definitely agree with only picking him up when necessary. The situations where he bit you are not at all unusual – he did not want to be held and was letting you know.

                  As for sticking your hand in the cage, that’s really bunny dependent. I’d avoid it on a rabbit I didn’t know, but both of mine are perfectly ok with it, so I do it if I feel like it – they’ll be there in the litter box and I’ll stick my hand in to sweep up the hay they’ve dropped and I’ll give them a little pat on the nose – they don’t care, but some rabbits would be very offended.

                  For getting him back to the cage I would use positive reinforcement – lure him there with a really yummy treat and in no time he’ll probably be running you over to get back there. I also feed my rabbits dinner when I’m going to bed so they’re perfectly happy to return to their cage to eat and then I close it up (in the mornings they get fed first, so I use the craisin trick to get them back in)


                • Funkybee
                  Participant
                  3 posts Send Private Message

                    Ok so i must resist the urge to cuddle the super cute ball of fuzz that’s hopping around my house And learn to be content with the little sniffs and nudges I get when i sit still and let him come to me. Feeding him his veggies when its time for bed is a great idea, I’ve been kinda doing that already just not very consistently so I will definitely work on that

                    I’m also wondering if maybe he is overstimulated by my moms cat because his behavior is significantly worse when the cats around. He loves the cat and she loves him but they run around the house chasing each other back and forth a lot and he starts pooping and peeing in weird spots and never wants to go back to his cage because he’s too busy following her around.


                  • Monkeybun
                    Participant
                    10479 posts Send Private Message

                      Sounds like he is marking against the kitty.

                      Chasing might not mean they like each other, too… could be a cranky bunny or kitty thing to do.

                  Viewing 7 reply threads
                  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

                  Forum BEHAVIOR Help! What do i do?