How to tell if my rabbit was abused my previous owner?

[datdotty]

I recently bought a cute netherland dwarf on craigslist about a month now and I named her Luna =D. I don't know but I get this feeling that this bunny isn't acting like other rabbits. She isn't spayed so that might be a reason for her "bitchy" attitude but Im starting to think she might have been abused and still afraid of human contact. She is about 1 year old so spaying her now probably wouldn't correct her behavior. She just seems very afraid. I give her a lot of treats but she would never take it out of my hand. She just honks and squeals a lot when I get close. I already have numerous scratches and bites which all leave me bleeding and scouring for band aids and Neosporin. Its frustrating and I don't want to giver her away to another owner because I know she is safe with me. Im hoping someone can give me some advice on some new effective strategies on raising her.

 

[Blue eyes]

Spaying should certainly help. Hormones can cause such issues and she is certainly at an age that rescues often spay rabbits that have come in.
I would definitely look into spaying her.
Though I can't rule out abuse, her behavior sounds more like hormonal behavior to me. Some girls can be quite the feisty divas.

 

[majorv]

Getting her spayed certainly won't hurt and may help with her behavior. It's hard to say if some behaviors were caused by previous abuse or if that's part of her personality...could be a little of both. You'll need a lot of patience and persistence to get her more friendly towards you. but I think spaying will help.

 

[JBun]

It would be really hard to know if any abuse happened. Because rabbits are prey animals, often their reactions can seem like they were abused, when it is really just a natural prey response. Some rabbits are just more easily frightened, especially if they weren't socialized with people very well. What type of setup do you have for her? Living arrangements can often make a big difference with helping a frightened rabbit feel more secure. The squealing means she is very very afraid. So I would suggest minimal handling at this point, and a lot of patience.

Actually spaying her might make a vast improvement. Oftentimes hormones can cause very difficult behavioral issues, and one year old is far from too late and is not old at all. I had a 7 year old female rabbit spayed, and even at her advanced age, there were positive behavioral changes.

 

[ladysown]

this is why many breeders dislike selling female Netherland dwarf (at least in my area) they are well known for having hormonal issues and a strong tendency to act on them. If you can work with the behaviour do so, otherwise look into getting her spayed. many hormonal does can be worked with and taught to behave more appropriately so that might be a route you want to take as well.

 

[zombiesue]

I think that most people immediately jumps to abuse whenever they have an animal that has behavioral problems. Actual abuse of animals isn't common enough for as often as we finger it.

But there's no way to really know, either. I'm thinking that her behavior will probably improve if you have her spayed. If you want to handle her, catch her in a towel (it's okay to cover her face). There's no good reason to subject yourself to getting bitten and scratched all the time, she'll be comfortable in the towel as long as you don't like, I dunno, try to squeeze her brains out with the towel XD [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3okPKg9Fc8[/ame] this lady like, puts the rabbit on the towel but I often just kind of go at my rabbit with the towel, then carry him out of his territory into a room he's not usually in, and then I adjust the bunny burrito a little more properly there. It will at least negate some of the problems you have with her nails.

 

[majorv]

this is why many breeders dislike selling female Netherland dwarf (at least in my area) they are well known for having hormonal issues and a strong tendency to act on them. If you can work with the behaviour do so, otherwise look into getting her spayed. many hormonal does can be worked with and taught to behave more appropriately so that might be a route you want to take as well.

I thought about mentioning the reputation that ND does have about being mean...I've seen some. Getting her spayed needs to be considered.

 

[Kipcha]

I can tell you first hand that spaying can definitely help with hormonal doe attitudes! One of the rabbits we had surrendered was around a year and she was terrible. Grunted, lunged, attempted to bite, extremely territorial, hard to handle and just was not a nice rabbit to be around. Got her spayed and within a few weeks it was a HUGE change, she's a big sweetie now.

Have had plenty of other cases as well. Heck, Buttercup was done around 3 years old and she had a big difference too, she was friendlier afterwards.

1 year is not that old I would highly recommend getting her spayed.

 

[geekgirl101]

Another thing to do is be in her presence as much as possible. Just sit down on the floor in the same room and read a newspaper or a book and don't pay any attention to her until she comes up to you, then slowly offer a hand for her to sniff. Don't try to pet her, just let her sniff you. If she runs away when offering the hand then just let her sniff the rest of you until she braves the hand to see what's in them. Lara was like that for a while but my continued presence and allowing her to sniff me eventually achieved results, especially when I began treating her for letting me tickle her ears and behind her head. It took over 2 years to accomplish, so time and patience is the key.