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Forum BEHAVIOR Why is bunny attacking my daughter?

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    • dogmom
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        We have a 15 mo old spayed Rex we got at 8 mo from a shelter. We’ve gone through a lot to get her acclimated to our family. Had a dog barking non-stop at her for weeks, did not phase her. Dog and her now touch noses through expen. Worked with my 10 yo daughter, it’s “her” pet, to learn that bunnies aren’t just fluffy stuffed animals that want to be cuddled. She is not a toddler, but she took some get used to how to interact with bunnies. We thought things were progressing nicely around new year and bunny was really a great personality and comfortable with us. We have even been toying with another bunny. But is the last month she has started to really attack my daughter during her hour of “bunny time” every evening when we lock dog up and she gets free reign She will snort at my daughter, run at her and attack/bite her. She does not do it with me or my husband. I’m actually more likely to do something with her she doesn’t like (put her back in cage, clip her nails, push her out when she gets territorial and I’m trying to clean litter box.) All my daughter does is hang out and feed her some raisins. (We feed her some also.). She has nipped at my husband and I, but it’s clearly “hey, can I chew on this?” Nip. What she does to my 10 yo is snort and attack. My daughter never takes the bunny out without us, so it’s not like she has been been rough or abusing the bunny. We thought we might be too rough or loud,, etc, so we have worked for weeks and my daughter has been very quite, approached her correctly, etc, and still very aggressive response. My poor daughter is in tears because she thinks her bunny hates her. It’s hard to talk to her out of it when the bunny acts so different with us and we really don’t do anything different with her than she does.

        Thought? Seriously, being a 10 yo girl about to enter middle school is ego bruising enough without thinking your pet hates you. I’m heartbroken.


      • Q8bunny
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          I hate to say this, but is there any chance your daughter handled the bun when you weren’t around? I know that I disobeyed my parents at that age

          Another thought: could it be a smell on your daughtet the bun is reacting to, like a shampoo or cream or body spritzer?


        • tobyluv
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            If your rabbit was like this with all the family members, it’s possible that she could have some health problem, causing her to be aggressive, but it’s strange that the real aggression is directed solely at your daughter. Here is a link to some articles on aggression. Maybe they will be helpful to you.

            http://rabbit.org/category/behavior/aggression/


          • dogmom
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              I really don’t think she was over aggressive with the bunny because she is never alone with her and she is in a highly visible area of the house. She is shy of the bun’s nips and tends to get much more dramatic about them. She used to pout that the bunny was “friendly” to her, but we did a lot of work with her to understand how bunnies are. And to her credit she continues to stay with the bunny at least an hour a day even though bunny has started charging her. She was getting upset because we were blaming her for it, at least it felt like it to her because we were always, “you just need to be patient and keep trying.” She is much more likely to hurt herself than the bunny, quite frankly. There were times when she sort of held up raisins or treats for her and would pull away because she was afraid the bunny would bite her. I could see how the bunny would think of that as teasing. But the weird thing as she has gotten better about hold treats out in palm of hand, no crying that she thinks bunny is going to bite, etc, the bunny has gotten more aggressive to her and less aggressive to us. I did read about the smell thing. There has no change in cosmetic type stuff, but maybe daughter is approaching puberty? I’ve been watching the bunny closely for any signs of health problems and can’t find any. I feel bad because I keep saying, she’s not really going after you, and after careful monitoring it appears she does.


            • Mikey
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                Rabbits can also feel emotions, so if your daughter is always anxious when she is around the bunny, the bunny could be feeding off of that feeling and reacting accordingly

                Did you or the shelter get your rabbit spayed? Sometimes shelters think a rabbit is spayed when they are not due to misplaced paperwork or information

                When the bunny nips or charges at your daughter, how does she react?


              • Gina.Jenny
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                  kids tend to move quicker than adults, and fast movements startle a bunny. maybe yr daughter could try being slow and gentle in her movements around the bun?


                • Vienna Blue in France
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                    Oh dear what a shame, it really does sound as if your daughter is being so good and gentle and quiet and brave. Yes please check that the rabbit has indeed been spayed. 18 months is perfect territorial age and that’s when my Zou started to get nasty, snorting and lunging. And maybe she can smell your daughter’s hormones? or maybe she has learnt that your daughter always means treats and goes for her as bun is hungry? Just thoughts.
                    Can you spend dual time with the bun and daughter so bun sees daughter as friend, not foe…. ?
                    Or maybe bun is just going through adolescence too….

                    Does your dter give the bun treats after she has attacked ? That should be withdrawn if thats the case, bun could be seeing attacking as a rewardable behaviour….. it only needs to have been done once….

                    Does your d’ter smell more of the dogs (or less of them?)… do you smoke? (and she doesn’t, i hope!!) anything that makes her smell different to yours…

                    It will get better. ((( calming vibes )))


                  • dogmom
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                      Lots to think about. 

                      Yes, my daughter gives the bunny treats, her favorite raisins.  Part of this might be a stress cycle.  My daughter gets fearful/anxious of bunny, bunny senses it and gets defensive.  It is just SO frustrating because she is really bonding with me and my husband (grooming us/coming to us for pats) and she is just seeing daughter as raisin distributor and has been nasty to her if no raisins, so the treat comment might be right on the money.  She used to be fearful of giving her raisins because bunny would climb up all over her, grab box, get really aggressive, then there was sort of a big raisin free for all that resulted in a huge raisin bonus.  We solved the problem by only using little snack boxes of raisins around her.  (Which she grabs and runs off with at times!) 

                      Steps so far are to continue (we never didn’t) carefully supervisor the interactions.  If my daughter isn’t in the mood I no longer force her to interact for fear bunny is picking up on stress/fear.  She hasn’t snorted at her for a week now, that’s a start.  This all came to a head when I saw her charge my daughter who was just sitting there x2 and bite her both times, leaving one bruise the size of a nickel on her thigh. 

                      Although this has put me off any attempt to get a second bunny.  The bonding thing would be way to stressful!


                    • Luna
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                        I agree with everyone’s comments. Nips can be for attention too. If your daughter gives raisins and the bun runs up to her and doesn’t get them, then the following nip might be your bun saying “Hey I’m right here! Where are my raisins?” Also, you say she has “an hour” of bunny-time. It could be that your daughter needs to spend more time with your bun so that they can bond/rebond. Finding the time for this may be hard due to school, but while she is not home you could place some of your daughter’s clothes (socks would be good in case the clothing gets ruined) that have her scent on it with the bun.


                      • vanessa
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                          Kinda hard to analyze. This may sound terrible – but do you have it on video? I have no idea how to post videos, but the forum leaders should be able to help you with that 😉
                          I’m not sure if she is being aggressive in the “we haven’t bonded yet” sense, or in the “give me attention” sense. When I walk into the bunny room first thing in the morning, I always look for Guinevere so I can plot my footsteps, because she bumrushes me. It’s a bit unnerving. she charges at my ankles, stands on my feet, and often nips my ankles. To her it’s a nip. To me it’s painful bite. She is being very dominant about her demands for attention. I know the advice is squeal so she knows she has just hurt me, but I’m not very theatrical… So I look for her, and plan to reach down and pet her before her teeth reach my ankles. She has me trained! She responds by flattening her body for more cuddles, and just being generally cute. Similar routine in the evening after she has woken up. She loves a good solid back rub, neck massage, she isn’t shy about her want for cuddles.
                          And that’s the only 2 reasons I can think of for a charge – either “we haven’t bonded yet”, or “give me lovin right this very instant”. Or maybe “give me my damn raisins….” Guin also gets like that about her veggie salad. So although this may train her that rushing me gets her either cuddles or veggies, it at least saves me from her teeth.
                          Lately I’ve noticed Avalon getting his face real close to my ankles too – around feeding time. So on second thought – it could be possible that this is about the raisins? She may be a sugar fiend? Avalon is certainly addicted to his pellets.
                          When I first adopted Lancelot, he was a sugar fiend. Still is, but I don’t give him fruit/sugary treats. He would also rush my ankles and stand on my feet, searching crazily for the anticipated sugary goodness. This could be what is going on? Perhaps try the bunny time with your daughter petting her to stop the teeth, and refraining from the raisins until the bunny has calmed down, so she learns that calmness gets her treats. Or you could switch the raisins to bits of bell pepper, celery, etc, things without the high sugar content?


                        • dogmom
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                            Thanks for the additional comments.  My daughters been sick, so she hasn’t been doing the whole hour bunny bonding, but she does stop by expen/cage frequent to pat/give treats.  So, I think I’m going to use this time to sort of “reset” and reintroduce my daughter.  Also watched some videos about getting bunny comfortable with being picked up and clicker training.  I think we will move to clicker training for raisins.  I can start and then bun can associate the clicker with the treat.  It might help redirect her behavior.

                            If I can get it on video I will and post a link.


                          • jerseygirl
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                              Clicker training would be worth a try, for sure. I just came from your other thread about the litter box. She sure is showing some bunnitude! I think she is probably quite an intelligent rabbit and an activity like clicker training will occupy that brain.

                              I wonder if she has a bit of a hormonal surge too, due to it being Spring? This could ramp up some unwanted behaviours.


                            • Vienna Blue in France
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                                I’m glad he’s fine with both you and your husband, it means you know he can be a loving bunny. He’s lucky to have found you, as you sound as if you’re doing all the right things to harmonise him within your family.

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                            Forum BEHAVIOR Why is bunny attacking my daughter?