Hi all! I'm new to this forum and I need someadvice if possible. I just adopted a Norwegian Dwarf named Willy (he'sa boy). The lady who gave him to us is someone I know and she is havingbaby #3 and can't give Willy the attention he needs anymore so now heis a part of our family. This lady told me that she actually rescuedhim from an abusive home. He was left tied up on a rope in the frontyard all day and was tortured by the owners cats. There was moreinvolved also but due to this, Willy has developed some aggression whenit comes to his food. If he thinks you are going to take his food awayor mess with it in anyway, he will growl and lunge at you and try tobite you. Aside from this he is a sweetie but I was wondering if thereare things I can do to help him get over this. It does scare me a bitas I've never heard a little bunny growl before!! but according to thelady who gave him to us, he has never bitten anyone and it's only whenhe's hungry and/oryou go for his dish. I would appreciate anysuggestions or tips anyone has to offer. Thanks in advance!!!
Abused bunny/behaviour issues
- Thread starter MandyJ
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BlueGiants
Well-Known Member
Welcome to the Forum! This is a greatplace to get advice for your new bunny. There are a lot ofvery experienced people here!
First, I'm guessing you got a Netherland Dwarf... (I'm not aware of aNorwegian Dwarf breed of rabbits) What a shame he has beenabused! People can be so ignorant and cruel. It'sso good of you to take him in and try to help him overcome his issues.
My suggestion regarding his food bowl, is feed him out of differentbowls. Get three or four different bowls and feed him out ofdifferent ones every day and put them in different places in thecage. You can also split his food between two or threeseperate bowls and put them in all at once, he can'tdefendmultiple bowls at the same time and he may get tired ofit. Also start offering him treats or food out of yourhand... He should learn to associate your hand with good things likefood, treats and petting. Try offeringa couple ofCheerios or Craisins. If he wants them, he has to take themout of your hand.
Work slowly and give him time to adjust. A new home, newnoises and smells, its a lot to get used to, but it's a great time toget him used to new things. Good Luck and let us know how youmake out
First, I'm guessing you got a Netherland Dwarf... (I'm not aware of aNorwegian Dwarf breed of rabbits) What a shame he has beenabused! People can be so ignorant and cruel. It'sso good of you to take him in and try to help him overcome his issues.
My suggestion regarding his food bowl, is feed him out of differentbowls. Get three or four different bowls and feed him out ofdifferent ones every day and put them in different places in thecage. You can also split his food between two or threeseperate bowls and put them in all at once, he can'tdefendmultiple bowls at the same time and he may get tired ofit. Also start offering him treats or food out of yourhand... He should learn to associate your hand with good things likefood, treats and petting. Try offeringa couple ofCheerios or Craisins. If he wants them, he has to take themout of your hand.
Work slowly and give him time to adjust. A new home, newnoises and smells, its a lot to get used to, but it's a great time toget him used to new things. Good Luck and let us know how youmake out
How wonderfull ofyou to adopt an abused rabbit , Not manywould have the patience to take the time needed tohelp him overcome his issue .Blue Giants has givenyou some great advice . one word ofcaution tho "Fingers can resemble carrots" ,usethe flat part of your hand at first, then when he is comfortableyou can use your fingers . I used to Runa rescue and have deltwith all sorts of aggression and fears ,they are sometimes resolvable sometimes not . Bythe sounds This little guyis going to be a wonderfull addition toyour home . Welcome to the Forum . If you need helpplease dont hesitate to Post.
naturestee
Well-Known Member
Welcome! I recently adopted twoneglected girls. They would defend their water bowl andsometimes their hay rack. They calmed down once they realizedthat I'm just putting more hay in and they'll get the bowl back withnew clean water immediately. I don't know if that helps atall.
If he's lunging and growling but not biting, just grit your teeth, holdyour ground, and don't let yourself flinch. He's only tryingto scare you and he'll soon learn you won't be scared but you won'thurt him either. This worked well with our two girls.
You might find these articles helpfull.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/shybun.html
http://www.mybunny.org/info/aggressive.htm
They are from this site, which has more articles on fear and aggressionand on just about anything you can think of.http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabrefs.html
If he's lunging and growling but not biting, just grit your teeth, holdyour ground, and don't let yourself flinch. He's only tryingto scare you and he'll soon learn you won't be scared but you won'thurt him either. This worked well with our two girls.
You might find these articles helpfull.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/shybun.html
http://www.mybunny.org/info/aggressive.htm
They are from this site, which has more articles on fear and aggressionand on just about anything you can think of.http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabrefs.html
Stephanie
Well-Known Member
Everyone has given great advice. One thing to keep in mind is a lot of love and patience goes a long way with rabbits.
I, too, rescued a neglected rabbit and he was so afraid of me at first.What I did was not hover over him and gave him time to adjust to hisnew home. It didn't take long for him to figure out that he had beensaved and he showed his appreciation. I'll never forget laying on thefloor of my living room, with Chompers running around and him giving memy very first bunny kiss. :inlove:
I, too, rescued a neglected rabbit and he was so afraid of me at first.What I did was not hover over him and gave him time to adjust to hisnew home. It didn't take long for him to figure out that he had beensaved and he showed his appreciation. I'll never forget laying on thefloor of my living room, with Chompers running around and him giving memy very first bunny kiss. :inlove:
sfritzp
Well-Known Member
Hooray for you adopting a rescue!!:yes:
I agree with Naturestee, that he is just 'bluffing' when he growls and lunges, especially if he has no history of biting.
Maggie, my newly adopted bun who also was abused, if she's not in themood, growls and 'smacks' me on the hand with her front paws if I placeit in front of her asking permission to pet her. If she wants me to,she extends and lowers her head so I can scatch that 'sweet spot' rightbetween her ears!
You have to get use to him, and he just has to get use to you. He'llget the idea that you are the one FILLING the food bowl soon.
I agree with Naturestee, that he is just 'bluffing' when he growls and lunges, especially if he has no history of biting.
Maggie, my newly adopted bun who also was abused, if she's not in themood, growls and 'smacks' me on the hand with her front paws if I placeit in front of her asking permission to pet her. If she wants me to,she extends and lowers her head so I can scatch that 'sweet spot' rightbetween her ears!
You have to get use to him, and he just has to get use to you. He'llget the idea that you are the one FILLING the food bowl soon.
You're right BlueGiants...he's a NetherlandDwarf. I'm not sure why I said Norwegian, LOL! That's really greatadvice and I'm going to try it for sure! The lady we got him from sayshe nips when he growls and lunges. She had two kids in her home andsaid there weren't any bites. It's only when Willy thinks you are goingto take his food away and the kids weren't in charge of that. That's arelief for me as I have a 2.5 year old daughter! We also have a dog, aTerrier mix and yesterday we left Willy's cage door open to see if hewould come out. He came out several times, ran right up to our dog,they sniffed noses and then he ran back into his cage. It was so cute!I know he's a good bunny and very sweet. Hopefully we can get past thefood issue and with everyone's suggestions I'm very optimistic! Myhusband tried putting food into Willy's dish last night and I'm prettysure Willy smacked him. At first I thought he bit him but now thatsfritzp mentioned that they can smack, I'm sure that's what he did. Arerabbit bites very painful??
Thanks for all the positive feedback and tipseveryone! I'm very glad we adopted Willy as I can see how sweet he is,aside from feeding time! We also adopted our dog Cricket. She was in ashelter at 5 months old and had a rough puppy-hood. IShe is theabsolute sweetest dog...she's completely trained and very obedient. Andshe's only 8 months old now!!! It amazes me how people can mistreatanimals. It feels good to be able to help these little guys and givethem a loving home!
BlueGiants
Well-Known Member
The good Lord gave them teeth strong enough tochew through a piece of oak... yeah it can be painful... but just workwith him slowly.... baby steps if you will.
You can also consider getting a "J" feeder, that gets mounted to theoutside of the cage, through the wire, with a feeding trayinside. THe advantage to that is you add food from outsidethe cage, never have to touch a bowl....
Another option is only change/fill/clean his food bowl when he's away from the cage.
Good luck with him... have patience, and give him lots of love.
You can also consider getting a "J" feeder, that gets mounted to theoutside of the cage, through the wire, with a feeding trayinside. THe advantage to that is you add food from outsidethe cage, never have to touch a bowl....
Another option is only change/fill/clean his food bowl when he's away from the cage.
Good luck with him... have patience, and give him lots of love.
sfritzp
Well-Known Member
OH YEAH... rabbit bites HURT!!!:tantrum:
But, they bite with different pressure or force - depending on what message they want to convey!
My Nick does little 'nips' when I have been holding him too long (but he's so cute, I just want to hold and smooch him forever!)
If I choose to ignore the nips, then they start getting a bit more painful...
But some rabbits just don't bite at all - unless they mistake a finger for a vegetable...
When they 'smack' you - the element of surprise works better then abite to get your attention! But once you know they might do it, it'snot as bad. Maggie doesn't scare me anymore...:embarrassed:
But, they bite with different pressure or force - depending on what message they want to convey!
My Nick does little 'nips' when I have been holding him too long (but he's so cute, I just want to hold and smooch him forever!)
If I choose to ignore the nips, then they start getting a bit more painful...
But some rabbits just don't bite at all - unless they mistake a finger for a vegetable...
When they 'smack' you - the element of surprise works better then abite to get your attention! But once you know they might do it, it'snot as bad. Maggie doesn't scare me anymore...:embarrassed:
JimD
Well-Known Member
BlueGiants wrote:
Our Binkie is very protective of her food bowl. I feed her everymorning and have gotten it down pretty good. I open the cage door andas she hops out I reach in and grab her bowl and fill it quickly. I canusually get it back in before she even notices.
Funny thing is that she will only try to nip me when she's in her cage.If she's out andsees me putting her bowl back she runs intoher cage and then turns around to confront me, but I usually can haveher bowl back by the time she spins around to get me.
Our Binkie is very protective of her food bowl. I feed her everymorning and have gotten it down pretty good. I open the cage door andas she hops out I reach in and grab her bowl and fill it quickly. I canusually get it back in before she even notices.
Funny thing is that she will only try to nip me when she's in her cage.If she's out andsees me putting her bowl back she runs intoher cage and then turns around to confront me, but I usually can haveher bowl back by the time she spins around to get me.
Snuggys Mom
Well-Known Member
MandyJ wrote:
Hee hee!
Hee hee!
Haha, I got the smack downfrom Cookieyesterday because he kept putting his blanket "just-so" but I thoughthe was getting trapped in it, so I kept moving it. The fourthtime I went to move it, I gota flying rabbit and a smack onthe arm.
That taught me...
That taught me...
sfritzp
Well-Known Member
"Don't you TOUCH my blankie":nonono:
JimD
Well-Known Member
sfritzp wrote:
"Go ahead....make my day! Touch my blankie!!"
"Run away...run away! She'll bite your head clean off!!"
"Go ahead....make my day! Touch my blankie!!"
"Run away...run away! She'll bite your head clean off!!"
sfritzp
Well-Known Member
This is Nick with his "kiss me ONE more time and I will tear your face off" look
(but isn't he SO CUTE?!?)
(but isn't he SO CUTE?!?)
Nicky Snow
Well-Known Member
Hi Mandy, everyone has given you great advicealready, I too adopted a bunny who was abused, although I don't knowexactly what she has been through. A magician surrendered her when shewas 6 months old.
She hates being picked up, and is not very cuddley. but i was verypatient with her. in time i proved to her that i loved her, and wouldalways provide food, water, love, and i respected the fact she didn'twanted to be picked up, and only do it when absolutely necessary. Afterabout 3 months, we grew a bond that is still very strong.
So good for you for adopting a bunny with a bad past, cause you can give him a wonderfully happy future!
Nicole
She hates being picked up, and is not very cuddley. but i was verypatient with her. in time i proved to her that i loved her, and wouldalways provide food, water, love, and i respected the fact she didn'twanted to be picked up, and only do it when absolutely necessary. Afterabout 3 months, we grew a bond that is still very strong.
So good for you for adopting a bunny with a bad past, cause you can give him a wonderfully happy future!
Nicole
Thanks Nicole
As I'm typing this, Willy keepsrunning out of his cage and scaring my dog, LOL!!! My dog is such agirl. Willy will run across the room, sniff something and then runback into his cage. I'm glad he's getting used to it here so quickly. Ilove his little bunny run!!
As I'm typing this, Willy keepsrunning out of his cage and scaring my dog, LOL!!! My dog is such agirl. Willy will run across the room, sniff something and then runback into his cage. I'm glad he's getting used to it here so quickly. Ilove his little bunny run!!Congrats Mandy, and welcome!
You've been given great advice. I will simply repeat someprevious advice. Baby steps. Hand-feeding is agreat way of building trust. Soon Willy will be giving youbunny kisses, which is the greatest thing in the world! Justgo slow and be paitent! Sounds like Cricket is helping bringWilly out of his shell so to speak!
You've been given great advice. I will simply repeat someprevious advice. Baby steps. Hand-feeding is agreat way of building trust. Soon Willy will be giving youbunny kisses, which is the greatest thing in the world! Justgo slow and be paitent! Sounds like Cricket is helping bringWilly out of his shell so to speak!
I definitely think it's Cricket bringing Willyout of his cage but the last couple times Willy came out was to chargeat Cricket and growl. I think if Cricket gets to close to his cageWilly gets defensive. It's a quiet growl so I know he's probably justirritated and telling Cricket to beat it, lol. I'm sure I'll be on hereinno time talking about all the fun we're having with Willy!
