My bunny is agressive! Can you help me?
Step one, work out why your bunny is being aggressive. There is always a reason, and here are the main reasons:
1. He/she does not like you. You or someone else has previously been nasty to the bunny and now he/she is taking revenge. It could be from unruly children that bunny has learnt the only way to stop them from mishandling him is to prevent them by grunting, lunging and/or biting. Fair enough in my opinion…
2. Your bunny has become sexually mature and has pent up energy. He is territorial of his belongings. Beware to any hand that enters the domain even to fill up a food bowl! All trespassers will be attacked!
3. You caused me pain, and now I no longer trust you!
In the first case, it really is the parents responsibility to supervise their children (and other peoples' children during weekend visits) with the family pet. Proper handling should be shown, and if the child is too small to hold a large animal the parent should be asked to bring him/her out of the cage without causing discomfort to the animal. There is no excuse for a child scaring a small animal; be that by kicking a football at the hutch repeatedly, throwing the animal into the hutch, screaming or shouting loudly near the animal, etc. If this is the case, remove the kid! Ok, so you can’t disown the little monster for some moral reason, but then the pet has to go and let’s hope you don’t get the child any more pets! When finding a new home for your animal (or child, whichever you prefer), please look at advertising and stating the problems they have. There is a home out there, it will just take a lot of time and patience.
The second reason your pet has become aggressive is perhaps the most common. The major underlying reason is…. Your bunny is bored stiff! Are you guilty of leaving him/her in a hutch all day without any stimulation? If you looked over your neighbors fence one day and saw dogs and cats in cages, often with excrement that has accumulated on the floor, would you think the animal was having a quality lifestyle? At the same time we accept rabbits and guinea pigs being crammed into tiny cages sold by petshops, often built in a way where it is hard to clean or even take animals in and out.
Most rabbits make fantastic house bunnies, like cats they can learn to use a litter tray, and often a cat flap. Rabbits and guinea pigs will learn their names, and will come running when they hear their owner has a yummy treat (most often the sound of the fridge opening is enough to get them running up. They are social, interactive and intelligent animals that need stimulation, both mentally and physically. For outdoor pets, create an exercise pen that you can take your bunny to every day, changing the toys on a regular basis. A great outdoor activity is hurdles, and you can teach them to walk on a leash so they don’t run off on little excursions in the backyard. Most importantly, change the configuration of the objects within the cage on a daily basis. Don’t let bunny get used to the food bowl being in the same place all the time, use rattles, cardboard boxes, chew toys etc to hinder their progress through the hutch. Shredding newspaper is a great activity for a bunny, so let them get creative and make nests out of it. In a changing environment, bunny will soon learn that these things are more interesting than defending the food bowl and attacking your hand.
Finally, there has to be a reward associated with your presence, so each time you go to bunny take a treat that is tastier than your hand. Perhaps a bit of apple or carrot. Find out what works best for your bun and when he/she takes it from your hand and is busily chewing away at it, give your pet a pat on the top of the head while softly reassuring him/her with your voice. Don’t go front on, like you would to a dog as bunnies find that intimidating, rather approach from the top. When bunny is used to having his head rubbed, continue your stroke down the back. Soon you’ll find that bunny is looking forward to the interaction, even when you don’t bring a treat along.
If you’re having trouble picking your pet up, be firm when you decide to do it, and initially have a destination, such as taking bunny to the exercise pen. Hold him firmly against you, walk quickly over to the pen and put him down. Don’t hold bunny for excessive amounts of time until he/she is used to this, and then when you do go for a cuddle make sure you rub his head re-assuringly, or whatever you’ve found he likes best. It takes a long time to form a bond with a rabbit that has been neglected, as they need to learn to trust again. With daily interaction and patience, the rewards are great. I never tire of seeing abused bunnies that come in, or surrendered bunnies whose owners have said they don’t pat their rabbit because he/she likes their space, suddenly change into social pets that come running as soon as they see me, and follow me around the garden.
The third reason for an aggressive rabbit is perhaps the hardest to correct. Very rarely, an adult male rabbit may go in for desexing. Up until now he would have been social and high on testosterone. After the operation, he resents you for any pain he may feel, or simply for having deserted him at the vets when he was stressed. Different rabbits handle these things in different ways, and 99% of bunnies wont even know they’ve been desexed when they come home. Beware if your bunny has you in his bad books. It’s hard, but not impossible, to reform a bond. Start from the beginning and follow the advice above. It is recommended to get male rabbits desexed at a young age so they recover faster.
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