Bunny suddenly aggressive!

[tottez]

I had left my bunny alone outdoors for a 5 min, when i came back there was a small piece of his hair (i think he got attacked by a bird) on the ground, i immediately put him in his cage because he was scared, and its more a month from now that he is aggressive towards everyone. Before, he was very happy always doing binkies and flops when watching me. And today i saw that his fur on his stomach is falling, for the 2nd time in last 2 weeks. Why is my bunny still aggressive and is the fur falling normal (because summer is coming)?

P.S He is eating and drinking regullary,and sleeping too much than before.

 

[Hermelin]

It’s normal for bunnies to molt during spring time, how old it’s your bunny?


If he’s over 1 year old and neutered, he might be in pain, maybe take him to the vet and see if everything’s okay.

Especially with him being more tired than before and changed behavior.

If he’s under 1 year old it might be hormonal changes.

 

[tottez]

He is 1 year old. I got him on June 16th last year. He isnt neutered.

 

[Preitler]

They can lose a lot of fur when molting, sometimes it comes off in patches easily.

You are absolutly sure it's a boy?
When he was outside, was he in a pen or was it just a regular fence?
Did he carry hay around in his mouth recently?

Reason for the questions, I had it happen that a young wild buck squeezed through the fence and impregnated my doe. He was so fond of my doe that I could catch easily and relocate him...

Would explain both lumps of fur, during mating (they can be done in 30 seconds) some get puilled quite often, and when he's actually a girl she would pull fur now from her stomach and would be about to kindle very soon. Also behaviour might change then.

Otherwise, he could have a skin problem like mites, or something else that's bothering him.

 

[JBun]

What do you mean by the fur on his stomach is falling? Do you mean he's having fur loss on his stomach? Is it falling out by itself or have you seen him pulling it out? Can you see any signs of dandruff, scales on the skin or crusting around the nails, or black specks on the skin and in the fur? If he has a skin parasite that is bothering him, that could be why he is acting aggressively, because he doesn't feel well.

Or what preitler said, if you have wild rabbits around and your rabbit is actually a doe and not a buck(check for testicles). If you do have a doe and it's possible a wild rabbit got her pregnant, that could explain the fur loss(her pulling fur out to build a nest) and the grumpy behavior(pregnancy hormones). If you do have a girl rabbit and there is any chance she could be pregnant(if it's been about 30 days since you thought she was attacked by the bird), make sure to provide her with a nest box as she could have the babies any day now.

 

[tottez]

It is a boy i think (he is a lionhead, cant properly see what is the sex), a friend of mine brought a female rabbit and my bunny just started climbing on her for mating (like male rabbit, climbing on her back and "vibrating"). And yes, my bunny is probably building a nest, i keep it in cage and there is a small house in the cage for hiding, the fur is in the cage and now it brings the branches from the hay in his house.

 

[tottez]

Let me explain the whole situation:
I kept my bunny in my yard through the day when its sunny, because we have grass, clover, dandelions etc. It wasnt that friendly in the first times, then the winter came and i had to keep it in a cage. In the middle of February, i let it outside, and he was like crazy, running all the time on my family for petting, climbing on us, binkies, flops. One day i found piece of its hair from its head on the ground, and it was, hidden under pallets (we keep the woods on the pallets so it saw it as a hiding spot). When i approached it, it just started to run away. From that day, he is so aggressive, grunting all the times and he is sleeping so much more than before. I give hay to my bunny, sometimes carrot, dandelion leaves and grass when it is outside. 2 weeks ago i noticed fur in its house in the cage. I didnt know what is it so i cleaned it. Yesterday i saw much more fur in its house, and he brought branches of hay (which are outside its house).

I dont know what is the sex, its a lionhead and it has too much hair. My friend brought a female rabbit and my bunny's sexual characteristics were like a male rabbit, climbing on her back and started to "vibrate".

 

[Hermelin]

If your bunny it’s building a nest then it’s probably a doe and not a buck.

Bunny will also hump other bunnies to show which one it’s the dominant one. Telling the other bunny I’m the boss. So it’s not always the sexual behavior, instead it’s the hierarchy.


So all the behaviors point towards a female bunny, then it explains the nest building and aggressive/ biting because of being hormonal. Either she’s with kits or just a fake pregnancy, depends on being contact with a buck or not.

This behavior will occur many times during a year, if she’s an aggressive bunny during these period. I recommend spaying her, to make it easier and not be so stressful for your bun. It will also be good for her health.

 

[Preitler]

Actually, females do hump other rabbits too, it's a way to establish their pecking order, so that's no sure way to tell the sex. If you want to know for sure there is no way around taking a close look, and even then it's sometimes hard to tell, but you can take pictures and post them here if you are not sure what you're looking at (after 6 years of breeding rabbits I still get a second opinion when I'm not sure)

I think I've read once about a neutered male building a nest, but I would say to 99.9% intact males do not pluck fur and build nests.
Even if there wasn't another rabbit some does are driven by hormones and stumble from one false pregnancy into the next (pulling fur would be a quite severe case) that can play havoc with their mood.

Only thing that doesn't really fit my theory is the sudden change after that alleged incident (if it wasn't another rabbit), some of my rabbits did get scared, but that didn't change them so profoundly (except my first buck - he got scared to death by a fox).

Anyway, in the unlikely event that "he" is pregnant just give him enough hay, keep him where he is, give him rest and privacy and let him do whatever he does for the next days.

Ah, another point, does he get grass and greens when he doesn't get out? If not, and you put him out he isn't used to this greens, and eating too much of it at once can upset his tummy and cause gas and pain, or worse. Stuff rabbits aren't used to should be introduced slowly, over one or two weeks, gradually increasing the amount, no sudden changes in diet.

 

[tottez]

As you can see here, the missing fur near its stomach, the fur in its house, and on the top of the house it eats hay, and there is a hay it brought in its house too.

 

[Preitler]

Uh, either that's the worst case of molting I've ever seen ( I don't have long haired rabbits), or there is really a problem, like mites. As JBun asked, check for dandruff and stuff.

This isn't the usual spot where does pluck fur, normally it's breast and belly. It is still strange that he carried all that stuff into the box, normally when they molt the fur just adds up in every corner of their enclosure (mine always keep some in reserve to spread on my clothes though)

Does he wear that harness a lot? I would not leave it on him when unsupervised.

 

[tottez]

It is wearing that all the time. I take it for a walk sometimes, and its so hard to put it on it. Thats why i dont take it out of him. It was on him all the time, but started to molt like 2 weeks ago.
It is licking on that place all the time,since the "attack" it lost its fur like 2 days ago. Is there a home remedy or drugs that i can buy? Because vets in my country give poor treatments, bunny is a rare pet here and the vets only work for dogs,cats,cows and pigs.

 

[Hermelin]

Hows your bunny skin condition, they are not supposed to be licking if it’s a normal molting.

My buck often during molting will have naked patches without fur but will grow back after just a few days.

You should take him to a vet and take a look on the skin.

You should never leave a harness on bunnies, instead you should practice taking off and putting on the harness.

In the beginning all rabbits will struggle but you can teach them to be calm when putting on the harness and taking out for walks.

 

[tottez]

Its fur is growing again i think, there is like 1cm of hair where its fur dropped. It doesnt have naked patches. It has a short hair there.

 

[tottez]

UPDATE!!
It's 99% false pregnancy. I saw my bunny with mouth full with dry grass, putting it in its house! I thought it was stuck in her mouth, but i searched for nesting behaviour and saw this picture:

My bunny did exactly the same!
The fur is growing back!

 

[Preitler]

Anyway, congratulations, it's a girl

(just as a side note, I would not leave that harness on her, the more you handle her the more she'll get used to it, just do it with confidence)

That's one of mine at it:

 

[Watermelons]

Take the harness off your rabbit!
Rabbits should never wear items 24/7.