Aggressive bunny

[Happy Bunno]

Hey!

This has been going on for a long time now. My bunny is aggressive towards my parents but never towards me. He has never bitten me and I've had him for almost 3 years. This behaviour began when I started letting him run around more then before, because I started learning a lot about bunnies and realised that I had to make some changes. A few months ago I let my bunny be free roam in my room, and he still is. He behaves fairly well but has some problems with pooping in the wrong places and of course the aggression. This is becoming a problem because my mother is getting fed up with my bun biting and lunging at her constantly. My mum read from somewhere that it's a territorial issue. She wants my bun to have a cage where we have all his stuff. It isn't a bad idea, but my bunny refuses to go into the cage, and spends most of his time in the corner I have set up for him. When summer comes I will build my bun a house of some sorts and buy a x pen or whatever those are called for when we're gone for a long, long time. I'd be more than happy to listen to your ideas on how to solve the aggression problem. I'm really desperate... Ps. Sorry for the long rant. Thank you!

 

[Hermelin]

It might be territorial but how does your parents approach the rabbit. It can be something that triggers him to act aggressive and defensive. It’s he neutered?

Does he act that way to other people, he might be insecure with other people than you.

One of my rabbits was aggressive towards people, right now I’m training him to get used with people walking around him.

But everyone can pet him and cuddle with him. He seemed to be territorial but was more insecure and scared than territorial, always lunged, biting and grunting. For him it worked building up his confidence and sometimes pushing his boarder of what he found scary and making it a positive experience instead.

If you want to make a rabbit jump into a cage, lure it with treats, have everything like hay, litter box and everything essentials in the cage. Making the cage a good place to be in and safe.

 

[zuppa]

One of my rabbits is a bit nervous I don't know how with other people because she only has me she's about 4 months now, but she doesn't like to be touched sometimes, sometimes just coming to me and want me to pet her but mostly don't like me to clean or do something inside her cage, even sometimes attacks my hand when I am adding nuggets to her bowl inside the cage.
I keep trying to make her comfortable, she feels better when she has some spot to hide, almost completely covered not only sides but roof too, does your rabbit have a little hide where he can feel absolutely safe like it's only his territory and no one can reach him there? I think it is important.

 

[Happy Bunno]

My bunny hates his cage no matter what I do. He is neutered. I guess it could be anxiety. He is quite an anxious bun. He bites both my parents, but I haven't seen him bite anyone else. It might just be because not many people come to see him. But yeah, as I mentioned before, he is quite an anxious bunny.

 

[Hermelin]

Try to help him build up confidence so he will feel secure with other people. It will take a lot of time, myself I’m doing it with my really scared bunny that often hides when around people. When you push too far they often take a couple steps back again. But slowly building them to be a more secured individual will often help to stop the aggressive behaviors.

My cowardly rabbit didn’t like people touching him, couldn’t work in his cage without getting bite marks and bruises and so on.

But slowly working on his issues and insecurities helped him a lot. I used a lot of treats and slowly approaching him. Took me 6 months spending everyday training him to stop him attacking people, just a few minutes (10-30 min) of training .

Now he will only lunges toward hands but will often stop and back down, when he notice it’s not a threat. So no one in my family have to be scared of getting bitten but they still have to be careful until he become even more secured in his environment.

When I see him stop or act a specific behavior which I like, I give him treats which will help to make scary things become positive for him.

Don’t know how to help with the cage all my rabbits when getting indoors often run to the cage, most of them have the cage as a resting place.

Maybe have a blanket covering all the sides of the cage except the front will help. Making the whole cage a hiding house, because he’s neutered territorial behavior should often become less.

How do you decorate your cage and the set up?

 

[Happy Bunno]

Well currently I don't have it set up. But usually I would have towels covering all surfaces that he will walk on. He has a cat litter box, food and water bowl and some toys (willow sticks, balls and so on). He also has a thick block of wood. BUT since I HAVE set up a corner for him, this is what his corner looks like: It has a fleece blanket covering the floor. He has the litter box in a corner (like the cage) and has a mini chair. The chair is for toddlers. I covered the chair with a towel so it would give him shade and make him feel safe. He loves it. When he jumps on the chair he can get up on top of his cage. I have put a slab of plastic there. It's also covered with a towel. I also gave him a pillow which he loves sleeping on.

 

[Hermelin]

Do he have places only he can hide in and no one can reach in and disturb him. It can help him be a little more safe, always knowing a place only he can hide in when he get scared and can back down.

 

[Happy Bunno]

Yeah, he has got one. The chair. I never disturb him there.

 

[Hermelin]

Aha, okey. If positive reinforcement dosen’t work on your rabbit. I have heard of trying to show who it’s the boss and letting out a loud noise when being bitten. Trying to teach the rabbit it’s wrong. But it’s something I’ve never done on my rabbits. But many people say it works for their rabbits. Like putting them in their place.

But it’s something I never would use because I think it’s better to focus on positive reinforcement and slowly teach the behaviors they should have.

 

[Happy Bunno]

Alright I'll try!