Help with Newly Adopted Rescue

[Eileen S]

I just adopted a bunny from the shelter yesterday evening. She enjoyed sitting in my lap and cuddling, however, she had some issues and I discovered that she was probably a breeding bun. I am posting here because I am going to need lots of help and advice. I have one other bunny, who I adopted when he was six months, and never had an issue with him. He’s a great bun. I wanted a buddy for him, and have been looking. My first instinct is that this wasn’t the right bun for him, but I felt like I was the one to rescue and help this poor bun. I have listed some things here that I have noticed and will be asking for input from time to time. Also, I think this is a great way for me to keep a diary of her progress.

1. She has green on the bottom of her paws and a tattoo in her ear – leads me to believe she was for breeding and kept in a wire cage
2. Needs to be litter trained
3. She has some aggression – especially noticed when tossing her ball or some type of toy. Also gave her an apple wood stick to chew on and she responded the same. A little with the cilantro and parsley, but not as much. What’s this about??? Do I have any chance of reversing this with her?
4. The shelter spayed her and also removed some type of cyst that was on her belly. This was a week ago, so she still may not be feeling so good.
5. She has very bony and weak arms. Also, though she seems at a good weight, I can feel her ribs. This makes me think that she has been malnourished. But I’m not expert. Any ideas? 
6. My plan, for the time being, is to keep her in a cage in the same room as my other bun, but the cage is raised so they don’t have direct interaction. I will also put her into a small pen (tonight for a while) and try to play with her and give her some room to explore. And to see if she goes back to her cage to use the litter. Any other thoughts?

Thanks so much,

Eileen

[Sarita]

I think the aggression is most likely due to fear at this point – she is in a brand new place and I can imagine she is just in sensory overload – I say just give her some time to adjust as it’s only been one day. It may not be that after she feels comfortable she will have this fear aggression.

I think the weakness and being malnourished is very likely that she never got out of her cage if she was used for breeding and you could be 100% correct on this. Allowing her to exercise in the pen and a good diet is going to be very good for her – it may take awhile to get her to a good weight and some strength but you don’t want to over feed her either.

It sounds like she is in a much better place now :~)

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