Help! My bun is a jerk!

[Emily]

Hello all, this is my first post here. I usually post on the /r/rabbits board on Reddit but they haven’t been much help so I figured I’d turn to you guys (since you have a WHOLE WEBSITE dedicated to rabbits instead of one forum :p) Incoming wall of text:

Anyways, I have a 7 m/o neutered male Dutch rabbit who seems to have gotten WORSE after the neuter. He is around 9 weeks post neuter now so the excess hormones should definitely be out of his system, right? He has stopped circling and spraying but it seems like his aggression is worse. Before he was neutered, he let me pick him up all the time. I know rabbits don’t enjoy being picked up, but he always let me and I always made sure to hold him securely so he felt safe. A few weeks after the neuter, he runs away from me the second I make a move. I have tried slowly approaching him just for head pets and he now growls and grunts at me. Today he even boxed me. 

So Pants has full roam of half of my bedroom which is blocked off by 2 dog xpens. He cannot come to the other side of the room as we have very expensive computers and he has already torn through countless ethernet cables and phone chargers etc. He has a litterbox, tons of toys (which he won’t touch, he only likes cardboard), and unlimited water and hay. I feed him fresh dandelion greens from our garden and sometimes give him herbs as a treat. He sits around under my bed all day ripping up the carpet and I absolutely can not get him to stop. I try to clean the carpet scraps up often because I don’t want him eating them. Today, I was collecting some carpet scraps when he growled and boxed me for the first time. I understand I was invading his territory, but I can’t just leave the carpet scraps there for him to possibly eat…I put him in time out afterwards in his xpen so he couldn’t run under the bed. He rattled the cage for 25 minutes and I eventually had to let him out because I’m worried he will damage his teeth.

Sometimes I will be laying in bed watching Netflix and he will jump up on my chest, but when I go to pet him, he growls. I don’t understand why he is so mean and aggressive towards me. He honestly seems WORSE after getting neutered than he was before the neuter. 

I have done some research on getting another bun to possibly reduce his loneliness / boredom, but I’m afraid he would immediately hurt another rabbit considering how mean he is. I’m at wit’s end here. I don’t want to get rid of him, but he is just so mean and aggressive that I don’t know what to do Someone please offer me some insight….

[Bam]

In rare cases, 9 weeks is not enough. Plus the fact that he’s now a “teenager” , so even if he’s desexed, he’s not a baby any more and he won’t be treated like one. Most adult buns hate being picked up, even those that loved being picked up and held as babies.

My bunny Yohio would growl and box at me, but it went away as we became more and more bonded. I think it’s “lack of trust” not because of sth you did, but because rabbits are untrusting as their most important surviving-skill. You overcome that with lots of patience at the same time as you take care to “stand your ground”. He must know that aggression never gets him what he wants. You should never punish him of course and you should try not to provoke him.

[Mikey]

My little Bombur was very similar. He was mean before his neuter (yay puberty) but got a little bit nicer afterwards. He stopped spraying, mounting and picking fights, but he still had territory issues, biting issues, and kicking/clawing issues. He only acts this way with humans; he loves his other two bond mates. We tried a few different training methods with him over the course of a few months until we found one that worked. I read on another forum that some rabbits act out when they dont feel confident and secure in where they are at/who they are with. Perhaps thats your little guys problem as well?

We started working on building trust, and that helped a lot. He no longer kicks, bites, ect, but he is very skittish and will run if hes nervous. The training we did all revolved around him setting the rules. He chose when to be petted, when to be cuddled, when to play, ect. We would ignore him until he made it obvious what he wanted. For pets, he would nudge our hands. If he crawled all over us while we layed down, we wouldnt reach for him; we would just let him explore and otherwise ignore him. For cuddles or pets, he would lay near one of us. We would then reach our hand near him and ask “Can i pet you?”/”Can i get closer to you?” He would either back up, which means no, or he would stay put, which means yes. If yes, we would get a bit closer, then repeat the same question with our hands a bit closer to him. At that point, we would set our hand on his head and pet very lightly. If he moved, we would back up. If he accepted it, we would continue petting then pick him up (all three of our bunnies are trained heavily to tolerate being picked up) for cuddles, which he absolutely loves if its on his terms. For playing, we would get closer to him, then poke him lightly. Most of the time, he runs and binkies. After a few binkies, he will run back, poke you then run and binky some more. When he comes back again, he will poke you and wait. Poke him again, and it repeats. He will also innitiate play time by poking if we dont poke him first. Like bunny tag On the off chance he does bite/kick/claw, we make a semi loud “yip” and turn away from him (we use this tactic with all of our bunnies so they know biting isnt ok). It allows the rabbit to know that it caused you pain and you didnt like that

I hope what helped my bunny helps yours. Good luck

[Emily]

Thanks for the response. How much longer do you think I will have to wait? We have had him 5 months already. I try to hand feed him to gain more of his trust and he never has an issue eating out of my hand, but he has an issue with me trying to pet him when he walks up to me. He walked up to me! Of course I want to give him a head scritchie. I’m not sure what more I can do to bond with him. 

As far as punishing goes, I never yell or hit him. I just wanted to block him off from my bed because he was ripping up carpet scraps. Was blocking him off from the bed a bad idea? I am moving out to a new apartment soon and I can’t have him ripping up the carpet. We are ripping up the carpet where he currently lives, so it’s not that bad that he’s doing it, but I still don’t want him eating the fibers. I need him to stop this habit before he ruins our new apartment. 

[Emily]

Pants rarely binkies since he got neutered. He used to do it all the time, but I can honestly say I’ve only seen him do it less than 10 times in two months

When he does these aggressive behaviors towards me, I usually very loudly and firmly say “NO!” Should I start yipping at him instead? He never bites me (aside from an occasional nip, nothing that breaks the skin, and he only does this when I’m laying in bed) but the growling / grunting are making me very sad. I love this creature with my entire heart and it kills me that he doesn’t even tolerate me. I realize some buns will never be affectionate, and I am prepared for that – but I just want him to generally not be bothered by my existence. Most of the time I only try to pet him when he comes up to me. I never chase him or harass him to let me pet him. 

[Mikey]

I would stop reaching for him, or do what i did/do with my Bombur. Show him your hand and ask to pet him, then wait a few seconds for his reaction. Then get a bit closer and ask again. If at any time he runs, retract your hand and tell him he is ok. If he doesnt run, place your hand very gently on his head for a few seconds, then give him pets. It might take a while. We started this training with my Bombur about two months ago, and even now he runs away about half the time. Its helped with his aggression though, as he knows he is the one who sets the boundaries, and i wont pass them unless he is comfortable with it

I would try yipping when he growls at you, and if hes not on you (if your laying down or sitting) then turn away from him for a few moments

Since hes not binkying very often since his neuter, i wonder if something may have made him uncomfortable during/after the surgery to make him distrustful and generally unhappy. Was the vet able to rule out anything negative happening during/after the surgery? Any major changes to his living space during/soon after his surgery?

[LittlePuffyTail]

I don’t have anything to add but I need to comment on how ridiculously adorable I think the name Pants is for a bunny. And by your avatar pic, it’s a clever name for him!

[cinnybun2015]

Hormones maybe?

(I’m going to steal some words from Bam now! )

Usually male buns can go into a “post-neuter craze” after their surgery, where their hormones are crazy and acting up. It usually lasts around 2-3 weeks and should subside. My Chom wasn’t aggressive, but he was grumpy for about a week after his surgery. Maybe it’ll take longer for your Pants.

All credits to Bam for that info!

[Deleted User]

Love the name, brilliant

[Author]

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