Unkind Bunny

[JamesySenkou]

About 8 months ago, I bought my rabbit, Cloud, from a friendly breeder who seemed to love her – so I assume she was taken care of, correctly. She was only 8 months old, at that time, but she was close enough to that owner to let her pick her up. Cloud’s fine with letting the breeder clip her nails, hold her and she’s perfectly fine with sitting in her lap.

Cloud hasn’t been very friendly with me, at all. She bit me on the first day that I tried to clean her cage, and I just assumed it’d take time, patience, and that she’d need to be spayed. So I had her spayed and it’s been 8 months that I’ve had her, now.

I’ve sort of gotten used to her running away from me every time I move and growling at me every time I go near her cage or when I attempt to pet her. But it really hit me that this might not be normal when, last night, I went to give her some hay and she bit me on the arm. It wasn’t enough to draw blood but it’s enough to leave a scar and show me that she probably doesn’t like me very much. She’s only bitten me once before and that was when I chased her around, trying to pick her up, because I didn’t know how else to get her into the cage, at the time. This time, I was about to empty out her hay-bowl, since it had poop in it, and refill it with more hay. But she bit me as soon as I stuck my hand out. 

Is this normal? I would’ve thought 8 months would’ve been enough time for her to get close enough to at least NOT bite me. 

And I doubt it’s her housing situation. I clean her cage often and her cage, by the way, is a large dog cage that could probably fit 2 pitbulls comfortably. She only even goes in her cage during the day time, when I’m at work, and when I’m asleep. Otherwise, she’s got the freedom to rome around my room and do whatever she wants. I give her pellets and a large variety of vegitables every day and even risk being scratched to give her some fruits, quite frequently. I very rarely pick her up and, when I do, it’s to put her in the (empty) bathtub, so I can clean her cage fully. 

I was going to ask about this on another thread that sort of was about the same thing but I saw that no one had responded to a person’s question, there, for about 2 years. 

[BanditCamp]

Sounds like you have an aggressive bun that is extremely uncomfortable with you. She feels that her space is being invaded and that is the cause for her nips and lunges probably. From what I’ve read around the net is that aggressive rabbits can happen when the owner tries to do things not in the interest of the rabbit like chasing them or picking them up or respecting their me time.

I would actually be careful of trying to reward bad behavior with fruits as your basically giving her something for nothing. If i had an agressive bunny i would sit near yhe cage and read or watch a movie with headphones near thr cage. Since shes so agressive i would not interact with the cage if she is near or inside it as rhis might trigger a territorial habit.

Here are some good videos dealing with this:

https://youtu.be/XOwCCeirSY4 -101rabbits

https://youtu.be/1abIFF_fgpY -howcast

Good luck hope this helps

[Bam]

Hi and welcome! Contrary to many forums, we prefer people to start new threads on subjects that have been up before. Especially medical questions, medicine develops so fast.

Some buns are nippy and territorial. As banditCamp says, don’t “mess” with her cage so she sees it. Does she have hidey-houses (upside-down cardboard boxes with 2 door holes (they want a door on each side. It resembles a rabbit burrow that way)? A tunnel? things like that can make a bun feel safe and “at home” – they like to know they can get away.

My bunny Bam whom i got when he was an adult needed a whole year to warm up to me. He was never aggressive, but he was super-evasive. So 8 months might seem like a long time, but it’s not unheard of.

Does she like treats? you could perhaps place treats near you when you are in the room, so she has to approach you for them. don’t touch her, don’t even look at her. Maybe you have tried this already, but repetition is important. She needs to learn that you are a resource, not a threat.

[Limit]

Hi there! One of my buns is territorial, she has to be ‘removed’ from her area before I move or clean things.

Can’t offer any advice to the advice already given x

[Mikey]

What have you done to bond with her? You mention that she is comfortable with her surroundings, but not comfortable with you

[JamesySenkou]

Sorry for the late response! I thought I’d get emails when people responded to this but didn’t.  

To bond with her I’ve tried sitting with her when she’s in and out of the cage, I’ve tried hand feeding her (which she accepts the treats but grunts with every bite ), I’ve tried everything that I’ve heard of, in the past. 

[JamesySenkou]

Posted By bam on 4/02/2017 2:24 AM

Hi and welcome! Contrary to many forums, we prefer people to start new threads on subjects that have been up before. Especially medical questions, medicine develops so fast.

Some buns are nippy and territorial. As banditCamp says, don’t “mess” with her cage so she sees it. Does she have hidey-houses (upside-down cardboard boxes with 2 door holes (they want a door on each side. It resembles a rabbit burrow that way)? A tunnel? things like that can make a bun feel safe and “at home” – they like to know they can get away.

My bunny Bam whom i got when he was an adult needed a whole year to warm up to me. He was never aggressive, but he was super-evasive. So 8 months might seem like a long time, but it’s not unheard of.

Does she like treats? you could perhaps place treats near you when you are in the room, so she has to approach you for them. don’t touch her, don’t even look at her. Maybe you have tried this already, but repetition is important. She needs to learn that you are a resource, not a threat.

1.) Would you mind linking it to me? There are about a trillion posts and I couldn’t find one that was close enough to my situation and was still active. 

2.) That’s a good idea, I’ll try that. 

[BanditCamp]

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