Bunny girl is aggressive

[MiniRexandDwarfie]

I got my dwarf rabbit, GiGi, from the humane society at 7 mo. She had been in the facility for about a month and had been removed from her previous owners due to abuse. She was hand-shy when we first got her, she didn’t know what a treat bag was, and she thumped more than she purred. She warmed up to us (and is still hand-shy around others), but now she is highly territorial and can be aggressive if she feels like we are doing something she doesn’t like. She will bite for no reason (breaking skin) and purposefully antagonizes her bunny brother, Gus Gus. If you try to put your hand into her cage or touch certain toys of hers (she has a fondness for fleece tie blankets), she will growl, put her ears back, and bite. And, if she feels like she’s been pet too long or you’re trying to prevent her from going where she wants to go, she’ll bite as well. I’m not sure how to correct this behavior, which I feel stems from being abused as a baby, but I’ve tried to console her afterward, give her space, etc. and nothing seems to work. This also puts a damper on trying to bond her with Gus Gus, because she only wants to attack him, and will go out of her way to push through baracades to get to him. Once I was away and my mom was watching them for the night. GiGi has reign over the house (she’s better at litterbox training) and Gus had my room. They had a gate in between them, but GiGi pushed it out of the way and started attacking him. When my mom found them poor Gussy was cowering underneath my desk and GiGi was laying down. The room was covered in bunny fur. I’ve kind of given up on them ever bonding, I don’t think it will ever happen, but I was wondering if you guys had tips on dealing with aggressive behavior and possibly getting GiGi to stop going for the kill on her brother (which is terrifying). Let me know if you guys have any experience/knowledge on how to deal with her aggressive nature. Thank You!

[Mikey]

Is she spayed? If shes not, all of what youve mentioned leads to hormones. You can correct it over time by having her fixed

[tobyluv]

Here are some articles on aggression. Hopefully they may help you. http://rabbit.org/category/behavior/aggression/

Don’t give up on future bonding between GiGi and Gus, but keep them apart until GiGi loses her aggression and territorial feelings – which hopefully will happen with time. I too wondered if she was spayed or not.

[MiniRexandDwarfie]

 Gigi is fixed, and so is Gus Gus

I’ll take a look at the articles, thank you

at the articles, thank you!

[Author]

Messages