aggressive bun

Charlynn · Oct 16, 2015

about 3 months ago my boyfriend and I adopted a netherland dwarf rabbit, we named him Lucifer. the person who had him before us got him for her kids. I don't know how long they had him but the poor bun was eventually left alone in a room locked in his cage. not only was he neglected he was also starved. we have two tabby cays as well, we introduced the bun and cats and everyone was getting along fine, the cat was even cuddling Lucifer and grooming him. about two weeks ago Lucifer started nipping the cats and my boyfriend, it's gotten to the point he's now biting. my boyfriend had been bitten hard enough to break the skin, he also has several welts from these bites. Lucifer now attacks the cats jumping on their backs and biting them. he has also started pooping all over when he's let out for playtime. I love my little guy, I'm sure his behavior is a result of the abuse but I don't know what to do. please any help is appreciated. I'm not sure but iI believe he's neutered.

Liung · Oct 22, 2015

It's easy to tell if he's neutered! Check his private area: if he's not neutered he'll have little furry balls in front of his anus and ***** openings.

Honestly what you're describing sounds to me like bunny puberty, not anything more sinister. Especially because this behaviour is totally new, and he was behaving well prior to this.

My Delilah had a similar situation; her owner bought her on impulse, got bored, and trapped her in her cage without any attention. And years later, Delilah still shows behaviours stemming from that year of neglect... But she always had those behaviours.

From the moment I had her, she's always been determined to rattle bars and chew things and dig and make a general ruckus (she learned that noise was a good way to get attention, even if it was bad attention). She's really needy and attention seeking, and is ridiculously cuddly (she had to be as adorable as possible to get any love) and still tries to inhale her food (a behaviour seen in many animals and humans who suffered neglect and never shake the attitude that their next meal is uncertain).

For these bad behaviours to appear without any precipitating incident? Rule out puberty first.

Watermelons · Oct 22, 2015

Actually you cant tell that easily. Males can suck their testicles into their abdomen so you cant see them. That tricks a lot of people.
If you do a search on here for nipping you will find a lot of info regarding training.
He needs to be kept confined until he learns to behave. Keep him and the cats apart. That is not a safe situation for either party.

Liung · Oct 23, 2015

Wait, seriously??

Well, I suppose human males can do that too so it shouldn't be that surprising.

I was going off remembering seeing Lahi's when he was little and coming to the conclusion that "Lahia" wasn't the appropriate name.

ladysown · Oct 23, 2015

if you got him and he was small and he's grown now... he's probably into puberty and he's getting away with some fairly bad behaviours. He needs training AND confinement. And if hes being a puberty ridden lad... you may be needing to get him neutered.

The jumping on the cats backs is just mounting/dominance/possible "I'll breed anything that I can" behaviours.