How should I punish biting?

[Lulubooboo]

Mistreatment and starvation can often go hand in hand. If she was mistreated at the shelter, it's possible they took her food away to punish her or didn't feed her regularly. That could be source of trauma and a cause of the biting. If it is, it will take a while for her to get used to you and realize that you are not a threat to her food supply. Try to focus less on punishment and more on rewards. Petting when she doesn't bite, treats in a healthy dosage, that kind of thing. Also, you could perhaps (if it doesn't put you in harm's way) sit and pet her while she's eating.

Alright. Later I'll work with her when I give her a salad. She usually doesn't mind me near her while eating, but I don't know about petting her.

 

[Lulubooboo]

I think if it's trauma it's better to focus on positive reinforcment, if it's dominant behavior myself focus on ignoring and not do what the bunny wanted me to do while rewarding the good behaviors. Bunnies later pick up what is good and how you get yummy treats. You can use the daily pellets ratio as treats throughout the day and use it to inforce good behaviors.

I would say use gloves already now, so you don't get scared. Myself is still a little scared of my buck and he no longers bite. Just a little lunging and feeling his teeth grace my hand until he notice it's me. He would bite me nearly every day for a year, attacking when nearing his food bowl and so on. I can now take his food bowl and touch him everywhere, I can be an annoying owner that pick him up and give him kisses and he will just tolerate me. But it took time and a lot of drawn blood to get where I am with him :3

Thank you for the information! I really hope she'll turn out like your buck did.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Or treat the act like you are the Alpha rabbit--pin her to the ground, roll her on her back and grunt or speak harshly and at a lower register so it emulates the alpha behavior. We have rescued several that were on death row over the same behavioral issues--biting and drawing blood--and it only took one or two days to stop the bad behavior--they all became very good bunnies. Cosmo is the only one we have left and he is such a happy bunny now and grooms us both for a couple of minutes before he starts zooming around our legs and showing off--likes to pick up egg cartons and paper rolls and runs all over the room showing off. Even tolerates brushing now and being picked up.

 

[Lulubooboo]

Or treat the act like you are the Alpha rabbit--pin her to the ground, roll her on her back and grunt or speak harshly and at a lower register so it emulates the alpha behavior. We have rescued several that were on death row over the same behavioral issues--biting and drawing blood--and it only took one or two days to stop the bad behavior--they all became very good bunnies. Cosmo is the only one we have left and he is such a happy bunny now and grooms us both for a couple of minutes before he starts zooming around our legs and showing off--likes to pick up egg cartons and paper rolls and runs all over the room showing off. Even tolerates brushing now and being picked up.

Ok, wow. That seems super harsh, but I suppose I'd probably work if her biting got out of hand. I'm not that crazy desperate yet to pin her on the ground, but if she were to bite a many times a day again, I'll try it.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Read it and tried it out and it worked. Pinning is with enough contact to keep her still and so she can't escape and just for a short while. Grunting or talking in a very low register and keep it short--about 5 seconds. We had 5 that came from "Death Row" at shelters as far away as N California that all became very loving, affectionate bunnies and never picked their bad habits back up. Like I said, the books I read said to "emulate" the behavior of and alpha rabbit rather than let it continue down the path to euthanasia.

 

[Allen Wrider]

I'm not sure that at this point you would need to go so far. While it is a good method for extreme cases of aggression, you also said that she is not continuously aggressive with you. It's mainly food territorial and occasionally space territorial, but not randomized or constant. She's not trying to be the boss, she's trying to protect herself, it seems like. This behavior should, realistically, quell with time once she realizes you're not a threat to her. It's only been a few months, and bunnies can hold onto trauma for a while (I've had Skippy for almost a year and she still runs away from me when I reach out to pet her sometimes. It takes a lot of patience). Again, if she becomes too purposefully aggro with you, consider the alpha method, but I don't think it's necessary now.

 

[Lulubooboo]

I'm not sure that at this point you would need to go so far. While it is a good method for extreme cases of aggression, you also said that she is not continuously aggressive with you. It's mainly food territorial and occasionally space territorial, but not randomized or constant. She's not trying to be the boss, she's trying to protect herself, it seems like. This behavior should, realistically, quell with time once she realizes you're not a threat to her. It's only been a few months, and bunnies can hold onto trauma for a while (I've had Skippy for almost a year and she still runs away from me when I reach out to pet her sometimes. It takes a lot of patience). Again, if she becomes too purposefully aggro with you, consider the alpha method, but I don't think it's necessary now.

That's what I was thinking, that it was a little extreme for her right now, thanks for confirming that. I pet her yesterday while she was in her litterbox eating hay, and she didn't rush, nip, or bite me. And she didn't nip or bite once when we were playing together yesterday, she did rush me once, but I was trying to show her a toy, so she might have just been upset I was " playing " with her toy.

 

[Lulubooboo]

Read it and tried it out and it worked. Pinning is with enough contact to keep her still and so she can't escape and just for a short while. Grunting or talking in a very low register and keep it short--about 5 seconds. We had 5 that came from "Death Row" at shelters as far away as N California that all became very loving, affectionate bunnies and never picked their bad habits back up. Like I said, the books I read said to "emulate" the behavior of an alpha rabbit rather than let it continue down the path to euthanasia.

Whether she bites me every day or she stops biting me, I'll continue to love her. I'd never put her back in a shelter because I'm pretty sure no one else would want her sweet little face. Then you know what would happen.

Like I said before, I'll do this if she is still biting, just from aggression, in about a year since I'm pretty sure she had some past trauma that's still hurting her.
Thank you for the suggestion!

 

[TreasuredFriend]

Health check? Difficult with Covid-19 situation. She wouldn't be onery for a health reason? Eyesight and hearing okay?

 

[TreasuredFriend]

Reason wrt hearing concern. A fostered bun wasn't diagnosed as being deaf until months later. He bit someone who came to interview him.

 

[TreasuredFriend]

Trauma can do that; shelters often aren't rabbit-savvy or speak bunny language.

 

[Lulubooboo]

Trauma can do that; shelters often aren't rabbit-savvy or speak bunny language.

I'm pretty sure that her eyesight and hearing are ok. I've kind of trained her to come to her name, and she's really good at following treats and toys.
The shelter I got her from wasn't a big shelter, it's specifically for bunnies horses and animals like that that regular shelters won't take. So I think they know about bunnies, but I just think she wasn't cared for well, not cuddled, brushed, fed properly, all that.

 

[Lulubooboo]

This is a big thing that just happened! When I went out, she's an outside bun( I want her inside, but too many people are allergic to her in my family to do that ), to give her her morning pellets she came racing out of her cage and when I got in her area she started circling my feet!!! I'm so glad!
I honestly think biting is just in her personality. She's always acted like a grumpy old lady.
But after she finished about 5 circles she ran inside her cage and thumped and grunted because I hadn't gotten to giving her pellets yet . She sure loves her pellets.

 

[zuppa]

I have one rabbit who was very nervous and defensive all the time since I adopted her when she was 9 week old. She was from an oopsie litter and lived in a very stressful situation since birth, noisy environment, their cage was in living room with loud TV on nearly 24/7, lots of mean boys around, heavily smoke in the living room, small non-stop barking dog, 4 babies and mother larger size lop in 100 cm cage, not enough food, dirty water bowl etc. She was very stressed and tried to defend herself, I've got bitten so many times, and I mean seriously bitten, lost lots of blood during those few months. She is very strong and kept attacking me like a cobra. I never punished her but ignored and left her alone for some time, I also tried to build trust by sleeping on the floor next to her cage in a sleeping bag, so she could watch me and see I am not dangerous.
It worked, it took time and patience, I can't tell you how many times I was thinking of rehoming her, the only I thought who will take her, no one wants aggressive rabbit, so she would probably be rehomed and rehomed and rehomed again and finally will die somewhere in a dirty shed. So I just kept working with her. she's 1 year and a half now, no biting, still too excited when I refill her food bowl but we keep working on it. If you lost your patience it would be best to contact a rescue and explain your situation, maybe they can take care of her, there are many volunteers who know how to work with aggressive rabbits. Or try again and again and again and try to stay positive, start liking her, she has some good personalities for sure, try watching her and maybe she is defensive because she knows you don't like her.

 

[Lulubooboo]

I have one rabbit who was very nervous and defensive all the time since I adopted her when she was 9 week old. She was from an oopsie litter and lived in a very stressful situation since birth, noisy environment, their cage was in living room with loud TV on nearly 24/7, lots of mean boys around, heavily smoke in the living room, small non-stop barking dog, 4 babies and mother larger size lop in 100 cm cage, not enough food, dirty water bowl etc. She was very stressed and tried to defend herself, I've got bitten so many times, and I mean seriously bitten, lost lots of blood during those few months. She is very strong and kept attacking me like a cobra. I never punished her but ignored and left her alone for some time, I also tried to build trust by sleeping on the floor next to her cage in a sleeping bag, so she could watch me and see I am not dangerous.
It worked, it took time and patience, I can't tell you how many times I was thinking of rehoming her, the only I thought who will take her, no one wants aggressive rabbit, so she would probably be rehomed and rehomed and rehomed again and finally will die somewhere in a dirty shed. So I just kept working with her. she's 1 year and a half now, no biting, still too excited when I refill her food bowl but we keep working on it. If you lost your patience it would be best to contact a rescue and explain your situation, maybe they can take care of her, there are many volunteers who know how to work with aggressive rabbits. Or try again and again and again and try to stay positive, start liking her, she has some good personalities for sure, try watching her and maybe she is defensive because she knows you don't like her.

I'm trying to just keep going and reward her good habits and now I'll just ignore her biting, I would really miss her if I ever gave her back to a shelter. She honestly has the weirdest personality.
Happy little head tosses or binkys and then I put some hay in her feeder and she gets all grumpy and gives me the bunny butt. I don't know if I could ever give her back to a shelter. Even though, I'll admit it, I almost gave her back. Almost.
I'm so glad that your bun worked out. I hope the other babies got as good of homes as the one you got did.

 

[edikit]

It might seem odd, but what really helped in my case was giving our bunny visual cues in his "language". He was a bit of a nibbler when we first got him, and I eventually got the idea to let out a high-pitched EEEEEK whenever he'd bite. It stopped the behavior very quickly. When it comes to other undesirable behavior, I'll do things like turn my back to him and "flick dirt" at him with my feet.

Has she experienced any vision problems that you know of? It just sounds like territorial behavior, but she could also be getting startled by a large hand or whole hooman suddenly coming into view!

 

[Lulubooboo]

It might seem odd, but what really helped in my case was giving our bunny visual cues in his "language". He was a bit of a nibbler when we first got him, and I eventually got the idea to let out a high-pitched EEEEEK whenever he'd bite. It stopped the behavior very quickly. When it comes to other undesirable behavior, I'll do things like turn my back to him and "flick dirt" at him with my feet.

Has she experienced any vision problems that you know of? It just sounds like territorial behavior, but she could also be getting startled by a large hand or whole hooman suddenly coming into view!

I'll try that. I've seen other people say they do it, but I didn't think its actually work. Maybe it'll work!
I don't think she has any vision problems. She can follow my hand and other treats and toys pretty well when I getting her to do something. Next time she's at the vet, which honestly may not happen for a few years( Please don't attack me about this, she seems a healthy bunny, she's been spayed and in USA there are no shots for bunnies, I check her ears, eyes, and little fluffy butt regularly to make sure there's no problems, I'm kinda short on money ), I'll make sure that they check her vision.

 

[edikit]

I'll try that. I've seen other people say they do it, but I didn't think its actually work. Maybe it'll work!
I don't think she has any vision problems. She can follow my hand and other treats and toys pretty well when I getting her to do something. Next time she's at the vet, which honestly may not happen for a few years( Please don't attack me about this, she seems a healthy bunny, she's been spayed and in USA there are no shots for bunnies, I check her ears, eyes, and little fluffy butt regularly to make sure there's no problems, I'm kinda short on money ), I'll make sure that they check her vision.

No shame here. Rabbit savvy vets are notoriously expensive and are not always the right option anyway IMO. Especially in the US, I feel like our small animal veterinary care is still a decade behind other countries, unfortunately. A local rescue could be an alternative if you've got any nearby. You might be able to get basic checkup stuff (heart, temperature, etc.) done for very cheap or even at no cost. It sounds like you're already doing a lot of that yourself, but never hurts to have another resource available.

What's her enclosure like? I've learned that when rabbits don't have a large enough space or enough areas to hide to emulate a burrow or safe space, they become excessively territorial of their enclosure because it's the only place they feel remotely safe. If she's outside, this could potentially be exacerbated by the fact that she feels threatened by predators. When I take our bun out to our backyard to play, he'll freak out if there are birds chirping nearby. Is she any different inside vs. outside?

You mentioned that you've got family who's allergic to her. Is it possible that they're allergic to her hay and not her fur? I only ask because timothy hay allergies are very common. I get a rash and sinus issues any time I handle timothy hay, but no reaction with orchard or really any other type of hay. Might be something worth exploring as a potential option to move her enclosure inside, which might help the behavior problems.

Sorry if it seems like I'm imposing or judging, that's not my intent at all. I totally understand that everyone has different circumstances. Just trying to get a feel for your situation!

 

[Lulubooboo]

I QUOTE="edikit, post: 1146062, member: 27702"]
No shame here. Rabbit savvy vets are notoriously expensive and are not always the right option anyway IMO. Especially in the US, I feel like our small animal veterinary care is still a decade behind other countries, unfortunately. A local rescue could be an alternative if you've got any nearby. You might be able to get basic checkup stuff (heart, temperature, etc.) done for very cheap or even at no cost. It sounds like you're already doing a lot of that yourself, but never hurts to have another resource available.

What's her enclosure like? I've learned that when rabbits don't have a large enough space or enough areas to hide to emulate a burrow or safe space, they become excessively territorial of their enclosure because it's the only place they feel remotely safe. If she's outside, this could potentially be exacerbated by the fact that she feels threatened by predators. When I take our bun out to our backyard to play, he'll freak out if there are birds chirping nearby. Is she any different inside vs. outside?

You mentioned that you've got family who's allergic to her. Is it possible that they're allergic to her hay and not her fur? I only ask because timothy hay allergies are very common. I get a rash and sinus issues any time I handle timothy hay, but no reaction with orchard or really any other type of hay. Might be something worth exploring as a potential option to move her enclosure inside, which might help the behavior problems.

Sorry if it seems like I'm imposing or judging, that's not my intent at all. I totally understand that everyone has different circumstances. Just trying to get a feel for your situation!
[/QUOTE]
I totally get it! Doesn't sound like you're judging at all! I'll attach a picture of her cage.
She kind of has to be an outside bun because I'm the most allergic to her, and she'd live in my room most of the time, we couldn't do a free roam bun sadly. And she has to be outside because she is the buddy for my brother bun. That's the whole reason I got her honestly. It's not the hay, we've used orchard hay, but my brothers bun didn't like it and it was expensive, so we switched to timothy hay.
I'll see of there are any places that I can take her in to get a check-up for cheap. I'd really like to, but like I said before, I am a little tight on money . Plus there are no good bunny vets nearby.

They get locked up at night in the yellow and red hutch, and during the day, they get all the space in the black fenced-in area.

 

[TreasuredFriend]

Can you consult with a nearby rescue wrt to best places for a wellness exam? With a knowledgeable DVM who speaks bunny language!

I understand that housing indoors is not possible with allergies, but my gut vibes wonder if there's a fear factor from staying in the outdoor hutch at night?
- What edikit said. Fear factor exacerbated by nocturnal and outdoor predators.

My praises for not rushing to return her to the shelter. Shelters get overloaded with surrendered rabbits, and as Nancy detailed, time and behaviorial reasons place the misunderstood companion pets on Death Row. My personal experiences can verify that a quick nip to a staff member's hand results in a trip to the euthanasia floor.

Understanding Your Rabbit - http://rabbitadvocates.org/careinfo/current/RabbitSpeak.pdf