Bipolar Bunny

[Kneller'sGramma]

We are in desperate need of advice. Our Bunny Kneller (21 month old mini lop) is severely bipolar. He goes from tolerating us (accepting gentle pets, laying next to us or binkying around) to psychokiller (charging, growling, boxing, biting, lots and lots of painful biting) in 0.2 seconds. He was neutered of October 5th and things have gotten progressively worse. We never try to pick him up. We only pet him from the top of his head. He has an entire room to himself and he stays in his huge (3’x4′) cage whenever we aren’t with him, which is only a couple hours a day. When he’s feeling particularly aggressive we’ll sit next to his cage (to protect ourselves) and just “hang out”. We always speak in soft, soothing voices. We sing to him and read to him. When we do walk around with him out of his cage, it’s very slowly and gently (with boots on) because he immediately goes into attack mode when we stand up. We adopted him from a breeder at 8 weeks old and the home seemed reputable and safe. He seems like the most unhappy bunny on the planet!! We had him thoroughly checked out by the vet twice to make sure nothing is hurting him. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. We love this little guy so much but he really seems to hate us.

[tobyluv]

Hi and welcome to Binky Bunny. Some rabbits go into what is known as a post neuter craze, due to fluctuating hormone levels. They can act aggressive or just completely different from how they normally acted. This should only last about a month, but it can go on for a little longer. Hopefully, this is what the problem is, and it will get a lot better in a week or so.

[Bam]

If this aggression was present before the neuter, it’s still possible that it gets better now he’s been neutered. It can take up to 8 weeks for hormones to be cleared out of the system. Has he been this aggressive since he was a baby?

[tobyluv]

If the aggression still persists after a few more weeks have passed, then it likely isn’t due to hormones. Here is a link to a few articles dealing with aggression: http://rabbit.org/category/behavior/aggression/.

Aggressive behavior can be changed. I know a person who adopted an adult male rabbit who was very aggressive and would give serious bites to her and her husband. With time and patience, he turned into a sweet, loving rabbit.

[Kneller'sGramma]

Thank you everyone for your responses. The behavior has been there since he was a baby. Thank you for the articles. I haven’t read this group yet so fresh info is great!!

[Author]

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