Cage Territorial

[Momto3boys]

Soooooo I've discovered the hard way that Snickers is a bit territorial over his cage.

I decided to put his bigger litter box in his cage since his smaller one was cramped with the hay rack and food bowl, I removed the smaller one and started rooting through the shavings to be able to set the bigger one on the floor of the cage...well Snickers started chasing my hand like CRAZY and I ignored it, I set the bigger one in and pushed all the shavings in and around it, Snickers is still chasing my hand and I'm still ignoring him, once I was done i realized I covered his toys and food bowl in shavings so I grabed his food bowl, emptied it, put new stuff in and set it in hsi new litter box, then I grabbed his grass bowl and emptied it and set it back in...that's when he got me and I realized WHY he had been chasing my hand!



It is still stinging, he got me good but I ignored all the warning signs I guess. I grabbed his nut nibbler just to see what he would do and he was ticked off to say the least as soon as he seen me going for it, he started going for me...

Now I'm not scared of him and I'm not overly concerned about him being cage territorial BUT is this a sign that it's time to get him fixed?

I don't know his exact age and I was worried about getting him done too early but would a baby baby be acting this way?



Thanks all

 

[Runestonez]

It depends on the size of the rabbit.
Smaller breeds tend to mature soooner than larger breed rabbits.

We usually aim for the 6 month mark...or whenever their testicles drop.
Once the "boys" are in...off they come!

Good on you for not running away when he chased you...granted you didn't know what he was doing till he caught you...but that is actually what you want to do! :biggrin2:

Rabbits being non-vocal rely on nips and bites to let you know what's going on in their wee bunny heads. He's telling you to get out of HIS space...but you have to teach him that you, the human, are the boss!
Rabbits will use whatever works...so if him biting and nipping gets him the desired effect...in this case YOU out of his space...he will continue to nip and bite!

I would suggest a pair of gloves until he gets the point that he isn't the king of the cage.

Put on the trusty gloves and go in and work in his cage...tidying, arranging things...but just be in there. If he starts to chase you or to nip your hand...
Put your hand on the top of his head and gently push and hold it down...while saying a loud "NO!". Do this everytime he tries this behavior!

Pushing his head down is showing him that you are the dominant one in the relationship! Getting him fixed is a good start...check to see if his man bits have come in yet...if not it shouldn't be long!

But don't wait to deal with this till after he is fixed...you'll want to stop it now before it goes any further!

 

[Momto3boys]

Well Snickers has an appointment on November 26th to get his fuzzy grapes off, this is the soonest she could get him in and yup they are there and hard to miss so he should be good to go

I actually did put his head down, I read this is Rabbits for Dummies and I've done it 3-4 times when he's nipped me for no reason (well Im sure he had a reason, LOL) and it has seemed to work since he generally doesn't nip me anymore (until now).

I will start wearing gloves while messing with his cage, he's sound asleep right now, he looks so innocent and cute, haha

Now he doesn't mind me taking him out of his cage, I open the top door and say "come here" and he always runs over, stands up and waits for me to pick him up. He's so stinkin cute I didn't even get mad at him, I was shocked though!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Definitely needs a snipping. It helped moderate the behavior of most of the boys--spraying was really the worst, but not all did it to excess. I understand about wanting to guard their hutch, but any time they would bite, they got the "domination" treatment. The "grunting" and "boxing" I didn't mind and we expect a rabbit to act like a rabbit, but if they learn that biting gets them what they want you're in for a whole lot of hurt. Plus blood and band aids is not a good thing when you're trying to clean and feed them.

 

[Momto3boys]

Thank goodness he isn't spraying and I have my fingers crossed that he doesn't start ray:

 

[AquaticRex]

what kind of cage do you have?

when Max got dropped off at my house (someone around here just deserted him on my door step over the summer, he's now with a friend of mine) he was really really territorial about the cage he had. i put him in a NIC pen and i was able to fix the problem easier. i would be able to stick my hand in and pet him a few times a day to show him that my hand being in there wasn't to be a threat. for food, i would hold his shoulders and head into a submissive position (do not force or you can hurt him) and have him facing his food dish as you put it into the cage. this 1 stops him from going for your hand and 2 lets him see you're only giving him some things that he wants. try not to move stuff around so much, rabbits tend to hate change. that's all i did, and i did it on a times schedule so that they got used to what to expect around what time, then you can start mixing some things up a bit, like more pets here and there.

yea i dunno if your bun will spray now at that age lol. Dante sprayed anything and everything as soon as we got him. had to clean the walls around his cage pretty well daily lol

 

[Momto3boys]

He's in the largest Tommy Cage (Marchioro) and I leave the top open 24/7..he is actually FINE with me reaching in to pet him, I do it constantly and yesterday I opened the front door and he was more interested in getting out then watching me frig with his food bowl, I was petting him with my left hand and moving his food bowl with my right hand and he was just closing his eyes sucking up the lovins, then he hopped out onto my lap so he could get closer.

I don't know what that means...he is an attention hog, seriously can't get enough attention so maybe the scritches trumped him being a brat, LOL

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

ha ha ha That is exactly how Charger got his name,lol, and he is still like that. I have done the fuzzy grape snipping, and the head down and it hasnt worked for me. I think i will have to try doing the head down thing, but funny enough that is how i noticed he had gas was because he wasnt charging me when i went in his cage to give him pellets. so his charging was good for something,lol.

Charger is only cage aggressive, when i have him out he is fine it is just when i am messing in his cage, which i have to say makes doing anything in his cage fun,lol

 

[Momto3boys]

LOL never a dull moment, eh Fran :juggle

I still think Charger should come live with me

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

ha ha ha Brandy dont temp me i will put him in the mail tomorrow,lol.