Growling, lunging, biting, and whining! Please help!

[Lexie Mama of Guadalupe]

I’ve had both of my bunnies, August (male) and Guadalupe (just found out that she is a female) for about 4 months (making them both 6 months old).
A few days ago, Guadalupe began to bite me (not too hard) when I went to pet her. Then, I went to go get them out for some playtime tonight and Guadalupe
growled loudly and lunged at me. I read that a sudden change in behavior can indicate health issues, so I put on a glove and went to pick her up to make
Sure she wasn’t injured. As I went to pick her up she cried and made a weird, whining noise (which I have never heard from any bunny before). I examined her and she seemed to be fine, but there were some dark red colorations I could see in her little nose. Is this normal? I am worriedSomething is wrong with her. IAny advice?

[Bam]

I think I’d call a vet and tell them about this episode. Whining and dark red colorations in the nose don’t sound great, esp not coupled with an abrupt change in behavior. Is she eating and pooping?

[pinknfwuffy]

I agree with Bam, and also am curious if August and Guadalupe are neutered/spayed? If not, and they’re both of mature age, they should be housed separately and seen by a vet to prevent an accidental litter.

[Lexie Mama of Guadalupe]

I am going to try and get her into the vet ASAP. Her aggressiveness went away, however, and she has been eating and pooping regularly.

[Lexie Mama of Guadalupe]

I will Get both of them into the vet soon! Thank you! And no, they are not spayed/neutered. I was saving up some money to get the procedures done in a few months and doing some research first. I wouldn’t mind having a litter in the meantime, though.

[joea64]

Posted By GuadalupeAugust on 9/09/2017 5:32 PM

I will Get both of them into the vet soon! Thank you! And no, they are not spayed/neutered. I was saving up some money to get the procedures done in a few months and doing some research first. I wouldn’t mind having a litter in the meantime, though.

Please rethink that. In the first place, it’s against this site’s rules to discuss intentional breeding in detail, so we won’t be able to give you any advice on that if you do go in that direction. In the second place, and even more importantly, it’s – and I have to be blunt here – irresponsible to allow a pair of rabbits in your care to breed unless you are sure you know exactly how the kits are going to be taken care of once they get old enough, where they’re going to be able to find homes, how you’re going to finance having them spayed/neutered, etc., etc. I strongly advise you to keep both of your buns separate and not allow them physical contact until you can afford to have them altered.

[Mikey]

If they are together and youre noticing she is in pain and having obvious bruising, I would be less happy about them breeding as it sounds more like theyre fighting. Rabbits will often fight to the death if not stopped, and they do not care if the rabbit they fight is pregnant or not.

[LittlePuffyTail]

As joea64 mentioned, the subject of intentional breeding is not allowed on BinkyBunny. Please read the Forum Rules.

[Katie]

So very harsh….  User only noted that they wouldn’t MIND having a litter meantime, not that they were purposely trying to have one.
Anyways, I find when my unspayed girl (due to be spayed now in a little over a week) Sirius gets aggressive, it’s best to just leave her alone in her cage for a half an hour or so to see if she’ll have an attitude readjustment then or if she’ll just forget whatever she insisted on being sassy about, lol. 

[Dface]

So very harsh…. User only noted that they wouldn’t MIND having a litter meantime, not that they were purposely trying to have one.

Noone here is trying to be harsh, it’s more that a lot of us own rescued buns, and know the tragic story all too well of letting rabbits breed on a whim without thinking past how cute it is to have babies.

Also there are elements of pregnancy that are quiet expensive, so you’d have to prepare for that, which would be difficult if you are currently saving for neuters.

Everyone is here to try help and offer advice, not to scold and chase anyone away.

[joea64]

Posted By Dface on 9/11/2017 7:52 AM

So very harsh…. User only noted that they wouldn’t MIND having a litter meantime, not that they were purposely trying to have one.

Noone here is trying to be harsh, it’s more that a lot of us own rescued buns, and know the tragic story all too well of letting rabbits breed on a whim without thinking past how cute it is to have babies.

Also there are elements of pregnancy that are quiet expensive, so you’d have to prepare for that, which would be difficult if you are currently saving for neuters.

Everyone is here to try help and offer advice, not to scold and chase anyone away.

I want to add that while I don’t know the entire story, my own Panda was rescued from a shelter not long after giving birth to her own litter (of whom Fernando is one; happily, all four of Panda’s kits have lived and thrived and the other three found loving homes as a group before I brought Panda and her boy home). I think it entirely possible that Panda’s litter may have been one of those unplanned ones and that she was given up to the shelter when her former owner discovered her pregnancy. Panda was, from what I’ve heard, quite scared of humans at the time she was rescued, and getting her to trust me the same way Fernando is starting to is still very much a work in progress. So as Dface says, I’m not trying to be harsh, or blowing smoke out of nowhere, when I implore the OP not to take a cavalier attitude toward her doe’s having a litter before she’s able to be spayed.

[Mikey]

Its also worth noting, the first litter almost always dies for various reasons (neglect, too cold, badly made nest, lack of feeding, sickness, either parent kills them, ect). Its very hard to keep the first litter alive in most cases. Wanting to have a planned “accidental” pregnancy isnt likely to end with adorable living babies… Its not a risk one should be willing to take, especially if there is likely fighting and/or fear between the two adult(“parent”) bunnies. Its not likely to end well at all and should be advised against, especially in this case where, again, both adult rabbits are likely fighting. Its also a horrible idea to try to breed if you cannot afford to spay/neuter in the first place; the surgeries are much cheaper than paying for a litter of kits and all of their check up medical bills, assuming they survive.

It all may sound harsh, but it is a reality that needs to be acknowledged.

Planning an “unplanned” litter still falls under the “no intentional breeding talk” rule of the forum. If someone wants to breed, or have a planned “accidental” litter, theyll need to head to a different website that allows talk of it. I believe Rabbit.org has a subforum dedicated to breeding, so one should head there instead. 

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By GuadalupeAugust on 9/09/2017 5:32 PM

I will Get both of them into the vet soon! Thank you! And no, they are not spayed/neutered. I was saving up some money to get the procedures done in a few months and doing some research first. I wouldn’t mind having a litter in the meantime, though.

Erm, if you’re having to save up for their surgeries, how would you cope financially with a litter…

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Katie on 9/11/2017 12:16 AM

So very harsh….  User only noted that they wouldn’t MIND having a litter meantime, not that they were purposely trying to have one.
Anyways, I find when my unspayed girl (due to be spayed now in a little over a week) Sirius gets aggressive, it’s best to just leave her alone in her cage for a half an hour or so to see if she’ll have an attitude readjustment then or if she’ll just forget whatever she insisted on being sassy about, lol. 

Unless posts have been deleted, I can’t see anything that was harsh. Not seperating bunnies when they are of breeding age is the same as planning a litter because you are not taking action to PREVENT a pregnancy. 

[joea64]

Posted By Mikey on 9/11/2017 11:13 AM

Its also worth noting, the first litter almost always dies for various reasons (neglect, too cold, badly made nest, lack of feeding, sickness, either parent kills them, ect). Its very hard to keep the first litter alive in most cases. Wanting to have a planned “accidental” pregnancy isnt likely to end with adorable living babies… Its not a risk one should be willing to take, especially if there is likely fighting and/or fear between the two adult(“parent”) bunnies. Its not likely to end well at all and should be advised against, especially in this case where, again, both adult rabbits are likely fighting. Its also a horrible idea to try to breed if you cannot afford to spay/neuter in the first place; the surgeries are much cheaper than paying for a litter of kits and all of their check up medical bills, assuming they survive.

It all may sound harsh, but it is a reality that needs to be acknowledged.

Planning an “unplanned” litter still falls under the “no intentional breeding talk” rule of the forum. If someone wants to breed, or have a planned “accidental” litter, theyll need to head to a different website that allows talk of it. I believe Rabbit.org has a subforum dedicated to breeding, so one should head there instead. 

I believe that would be Rabbitsonline.org, and yes, they do. I haven’t posted there yet (for some reason, likely a script, it’s difficult/slow to load on this computer) but the folks over there are as passionate about bunnies as we are and as they do allow breeding discussions they may be able to help you better on this point.

I think the mortality statistics on first litters are even worse for small/dwarf breeds of rabbits (Polish aren’t dwarfs, but they’re the smallest non-dwarf breed) so my Panda and all four of her kits – not just Fernando, but also her others, Lorna, Blanca (Fernando’s fraternal twin) and Marco – are extraordinarily blessed to have survived, thrived and made it to forever homes.

[Lexie Mama of Guadalupe]

Okay, so I figured this would be a good comment to clear everything up on. First of all, I want to thank everyone for their input and reinforce that I’m super young and inexperienced when it comes to bunnies, hence why I came on here for insight. I read the rules about intentional breeding, but since I literally just found out that Guadalupe wasn’t a male (she was sold to me as a male, I had no idea), it didn’t even cross my mind that I was TRYING to have a litter. I do apologize for my careless choice of words and ideas, and I have since taken precautions and separated the couple. However, Guadalupe has become less aggressive but more scared, and I’m concerned at the sounds she is making. I recorded an audio and I was wondering if there was any way to post it? Every time I pet her or reach towards her, she makes this whining noise like she’s afraid. She NEVER did this the first few months I had her and I spend a lot of time with her everyday, so it’s not that she has any reason to be afraid of me. Thank you so much again for the help

[joea64]

OK, I just looked it up on Google, and it looks like Guadalupe is giving you a pretty clear signal that she doesn’t want to be handled:

https://www.thespruce.com/sounds-that-rabbits-make-1835745 (under “Unhappy Rabbit Sounds”):

Whining or whimpering: Rabbits will whine or whimper if they don’t want to be handled. You may hear it particularly from a pregnant doe that has been put into a cage with another rabbit (especially a buck). The whimper is a protest to the environment in which they find themselves. This might include an unwanted cage-mate or in the case of a pregnant doe, a sign that she isn’t interested in a buck’s advances.

The part about whining being a sound made by pregnant does makes me wonder if Guadalupe might not, in fact, be pregnant after all without your having previously been aware of it, and the recent changes in her behavior – several sites I’ve checked state that aggressive, unhappy behaviors by does are signs of pregnancy or at least of high hormone levels – are another possible clue (though the redness in her nose still is a data point that there might be another explanation). Have you been able to have her seen by a vet yet? The safest way to tell if a doe is pregnant is by having the vet do an ultrasound examination.  I think you should do it ASAP because a rabbit’s gestation period is only about 1 month, and whether Guadalupe is pregnant or not should be determined conclusively so that if necessary you can make preparations to help her with the kindling (giving birth) process.

[Deleted User]

Has she been to the vet yet? As some other members have stated, I would be worried that they got in a fight. Is there anything in their housing area that could cause internal injury if they got into a spat and tumbled about? In my understanding, whimpering is not something that they should be doing if all is well. Have you noticed any change in how the bun is sitting, walking, or lying down?

I know you have addressed this already but I must reiterate again, please don’t put them together until both are spayed/neutered and have had time to recover. In the meantime you can read up on bonding. They won’t be able to just be put together again

[joea64]

Posted By BunNoob on 9/18/2017 11:49 AM

Has she been to the vet yet? As some other members have stated, I would be worried that they got in a fight. Is there anything in their housing area that could cause internal injury if they got into a spat and tumbled about? In my understanding, whimpering is not something that they should be doing if all is well. Have you noticed any change in how the bun is sitting, walking, or lying down?

I know you have addressed this already but I must reiterate again, please don’t put them together until both are spayed/neutered and have had time to recover. In the meantime you can read up on bonding. They won’t be able to just be put together again

Agree with BunNoob here, if Guadalupe is not in fact pregnant they might have fought when August approached her to attempt mating. Unspayed does can be extremely territorial, and if a buck enters her territory they WILL fight back, quite violently. Basically, their hormones will drive them to either mate or defend/mark their territory. (Is either of them, particularly August, urinating on things as a territorial marker?) I’m rather surprised, if this is the case, that August doesn’t seem to be exhibiting signs of injury, but he should definitely be checked over carefully too.

[Mikey]

Even if they havent fought, whimpering like that is a sign of pain in some cases. Its possible she hurt herself one day while playing or is experiencing internal pain from something. I would recommend, also, that she see a vet. You wont know whats wrong until she has an exam done to ensure everything is ok.

[Author]

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