Aggressive Foster Bunny

[tiki_dearest]

I took a young, unspayed Rabbit from my local Humane Society to foster it. I had visited the rabbit before and she was very loving and quiet.

However, during the last day and a half, she has gotten more and more aggressive with me. It first started when I was putting food in her cage and she started to make this growling sound at me and started to lunge at me. I have a fear of getting bitten and moved my hand away.

This morning, I was armed with a squirt bottle and would spray her with water every time she attempted to 'attack' me.

I was letting her free run around the house for about an hour or two while I cleaned her cage and watched my show. When I went to go catch her, she immediatly began sprinting AWAY from me. I had to chase her around the house for nearly 10 minutes before she would let me catch her; and at one point, she attempted to turn around and lunge at me.

Is this normal? What should I do?


She is starting to make me nervous and to be honest, I'm thinking about taking her back to the shelter.

 

[SOOOSKA]

The poor bunny is probably frightened. How long was she at the Humaine Society? probably having people poking her cage.

My Daisy Mae always grunts when I'm in her cage, she'll be 6 in the fall. Can you possibly get a carrier to transport her back into her cage after her free time out. Wear leather gloves if you are that afraid of her.

I say just give her time,she canprobably sense you are afraid of her so she'll do it more.

Not much help i guess, I just feel bad for her maybe having to go back to Humaine Society.

Susan

 

[tiki_dearest]

She doesn't seem to be afraid. She is happily hopping along and while she was at the Humane Society, they were in the back, away from children because she was a more "difficult" bunny.

I don't blame her for protecting her "den" or being aggressive in that aspect.

However, when I went to pick her up again today she thumped her foot at me, twice.

 

[jujub793]

Not all bunnies like to be picked up. In fact most don't like it at all and only "tolerate" it. Is she hormonal? Do you have other pets in the house? Lots of different possible reasons for her behavior

 

[pla725]

I didn't use a spray bottle with my aggressive fosters. Neutering certainly helped settle down both. I wore heavy gloves and would place one hand on the bun and then used the other to do what I needed to. I would talk them in a soft voice to reassure them. One rabbit still had an issue but I discovered he was blind in one eye.

 

[CB Millicent]

My bun does this. Spaying helped a great deal, but she HATES it when she's in the cage & I stick my hands in. She grunts & charges me. So I only clean the cage when she's out, and try to have food already in before she returns. If she's already in there! I sometimes open the top and do an "air drop".

I found that having a very regular schedule helped her return to her cage on her own. I also bought a fuzzy fleece dog/cat bed for her cage & now she goes in to nap. She was caged all of her life, so freedom was worth fighting for. Once she realized she would be let out every day, she trusted me more.

If I do have to catch her, she makes a few charges & grunts, then finally lays down to let me catch her. Sometimes she also runs back to her cage!

Get her spayed, and give it time. I never thought my demon bun would settle, but she did. She is still feisty, but is very trusting now, & much calmer.

 

[GorbyJobRabbits]

Your biggest issue is, you ARE afraid of her. She knows your afraid and it will make it worse. I don't feel a spray bottle is the answer either. Picture if you are angry and someone squirts you in the face, you're not got to straight up are you? You're going to be even more angry!

Take her outside the cage when you go to feed. Essentially she is the equivelant of a teenage girl. They MUST know they are not boss, YOU are boss.

I've had few 'mean' rabbits over the years. I've currently one English lop that turned this way while she was pregnant, even after having hte kits she needs worked with. I will quickly grab her by the scruff of the neck, it doesn't hurt her but keeps her from biting. And will take her out and hold her. She'll calm down and let me pet her and talk to her. And that's what you are working towards.

Now after a very short time I'll stick my hand in, sometimes she will lunge but I just keep a very loud sturdy voice and tell her no. Their ears are sensitive, they don't like they yelling.


Just DON'T be afraid

 

[Nancy McClelland]

:yeahthat: Don't let her be the Alpha or you are encouraging troublesome behavior.