My mom has raised this rabbit from the time it was born. It is about 6 months old and the last few times she has put her hand in the cage it has bit her arm, HARD. It drew blood. I think it could be jealous cause we just got a lionhead. It is a female mini rex mix. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
Odd Behavior
- Thread starter ICEnVy
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naturestee
Well-Known Member
She sounds like she is territorial of her cage. It's not unusual, especially with unspayed females. It might be showing up more from jealousy, but it's more likely just because she's at "that age." Rabbit personalities change a lot once they hit puberty.
There are two good ways to deal with cage territoriality. The first is to allow the rabbit to leave the cage on it's own feet before you put your hand in to feed it or clean. The second is to spay her, as it will decrease the hormones that are making her so territorial. Between those two, I get along rather well with my territorial girls.
There are two good ways to deal with cage territoriality. The first is to allow the rabbit to leave the cage on it's own feet before you put your hand in to feed it or clean. The second is to spay her, as it will decrease the hormones that are making her so territorial. Between those two, I get along rather well with my territorial girls.
You know this makes me very sad. At the shelter that I volunteer at they just put down a small male rabbit that was just going into adolescence and had begun charging and biting hard when staff attempted to clean his cage. The shelter won't adopt out any animal that bites at all. It is so sad because he would have outgrown it or it would have beenalleviated by neutering.
naturestee
Well-Known Member
That is very sad. It's unfortunate that your shelter can't neuter them before they get adopted. But considering how difficult it is to find homes for rabbits, the best use for limited funds may be to focus on more "adoptable" rabbits. I was told by my local shelter that when their rabbits start drawing too much blood, they try to get them into the WI HRS, but if not... :sad:
Bassetluv
Well-Known Member
angieluv wrote:
There are so many animals who could be wonderful companions if the shelters had the time and/or money to spend on them. I used to volunteer at a shelter here, and I still think about one of the dogs who had been there for a while.Fred was an older mixed-breed, probably about 9 or 10, given up by an owner who just didn't want to invest the time in a pet any more. And he was the sweetest dog...he adored people. His only vice was that he didn't get along with other dogs, as he'd never been properly socialized with them. (Actually, many dogs going through the doors of the shelter had that problem;my own dog, who I adopted from there,still has dominant personality struggles with other canines.)
Fred was at the shelter for about 4 or 5 months. He was harder to find a home for because of his age...most people tend to adopt the younger, more active, and prettierdogs.But he was fast becoming a favorite with all of the staff and volunteers. One of the volunteer dogwalkers - an older woman who lived by herself - fell completely in love with him, but she lived in an apartment that didn't allow dogs. She treated him as her own baby though, spoiling him with hugs and kisses and extra long walks. She adored him, and he adored her.
But one day when I went to the shelterFred wasn't there, and I asked if he'd finally found a home (I was actually hoping that the female volunteer who loved him had been able to work something out with her landlord). What they told me, however,was just so heartbreaking. Two days previous, one of the new volunteers decided to take him out for his walk. As she was leaving the building with him, one of the other dogwalkers was entering with another of the shelter's dogs. The two dogs literally ran into each other and the inevitable snarling and snapping took place. But instead of pulling the dogs away, the new girl reached down and put her hand in between the two...and Fred, in an attempt to lunge at the other dog, accidentally bit her hand. She wasn't seriously hurt, but he had broken the skin and drawn blood. And because of this, the shelter's policy of not allowing viscous animals fell into place...Fred was deemed viscous towards humans and was destroyed that evening. Needless to say, we were all beyond upset over hearing this...and the dogwalker who had so taken to him was absolutelydevastated.
Sorry, I didn't mean to go on about this...it's just that it's one of those things one never forgets....and it makes me wish I could help every unwanted, lonely, unloved animal out there...
I hate hearing about things like that...You know this makes me very sad. At the shelter that I volunteer at they just put down a small male rabbit that was just going into adolescence and had begun charging and biting hard when staff attempted to clean his cage. The shelter won't adopt out any animal that bites at all. It is so sad because he would have outgrown it or it would have beenalleviated by neutering.
There are so many animals who could be wonderful companions if the shelters had the time and/or money to spend on them. I used to volunteer at a shelter here, and I still think about one of the dogs who had been there for a while.Fred was an older mixed-breed, probably about 9 or 10, given up by an owner who just didn't want to invest the time in a pet any more. And he was the sweetest dog...he adored people. His only vice was that he didn't get along with other dogs, as he'd never been properly socialized with them. (Actually, many dogs going through the doors of the shelter had that problem;my own dog, who I adopted from there,still has dominant personality struggles with other canines.) Fred was at the shelter for about 4 or 5 months. He was harder to find a home for because of his age...most people tend to adopt the younger, more active, and prettierdogs.But he was fast becoming a favorite with all of the staff and volunteers. One of the volunteer dogwalkers - an older woman who lived by herself - fell completely in love with him, but she lived in an apartment that didn't allow dogs. She treated him as her own baby though, spoiling him with hugs and kisses and extra long walks. She adored him, and he adored her.
But one day when I went to the shelterFred wasn't there, and I asked if he'd finally found a home (I was actually hoping that the female volunteer who loved him had been able to work something out with her landlord). What they told me, however,was just so heartbreaking. Two days previous, one of the new volunteers decided to take him out for his walk. As she was leaving the building with him, one of the other dogwalkers was entering with another of the shelter's dogs. The two dogs literally ran into each other and the inevitable snarling and snapping took place. But instead of pulling the dogs away, the new girl reached down and put her hand in between the two...and Fred, in an attempt to lunge at the other dog, accidentally bit her hand. She wasn't seriously hurt, but he had broken the skin and drawn blood. And because of this, the shelter's policy of not allowing viscous animals fell into place...Fred was deemed viscous towards humans and was destroyed that evening. Needless to say, we were all beyond upset over hearing this...and the dogwalker who had so taken to him was absolutelydevastated.
Sorry, I didn't mean to go on about this...it's just that it's one of those things one never forgets....and it makes me wish I could help every unwanted, lonely, unloved animal out there...
Bassettluv....I know what you mean exactly. We have to make a police report if a dog or cat bites (through the skin). The dog or cat then has a bite history, has to be quarrantined for 7 days and alot of the time (but not all the time) is put down. I guess an animal with a bite history is harder to adopt but sometimes the volunteers report small stuff (because they are told they must and also because they are new and can't differentiate between a "play" bite and a viscious bite. Your story is horrible. I could tell more but It could be too upsetting stuff for this forum and depressing as well. As far as the rabbits I am not at all afraid of a rabbit that bites but some people are. I have contacted WHRS several times and they did take one rabbit from us last June but since that time they have not had room. We are waiting to hear whether we will get a grant from the Petco Foundation to spay and neuter the rabbits..the shelter has no money to alter any pet. We have 2 rabbits at the Petco store right now but they are still unaltered and not moving fast...at least they have it better at the store than at the shelter and get far more exposure.
Bassetluv
Well-Known Member
Yes, that's the problem with the shelter here too...they don't spay/neuter the rabbits. (The Toronto Humane Society, I noticed, does however...Iassume they get much more funding, as they are a much larger org. than the Humane Society here in Ottawa.) The way the program works here is that you purchase a rabbit and have the option of also purchasing a spay/neuter certificate if you wish...it gives a discount of approx. 50% on the cost of the operation. This is the route I took with Scooby, my little ND mix I adopted last summer, but unfortunately the vet lost him on the operating table. That's one reason why I'd love to see the rabbits done ahead of time before going up for adoption. Unfortunately, I guess not too many people are willing to pay the extra cost for a rabbit.
One positive thing I will say though...it seems that rabbits are becoming more and more accepted/recognized as pets than they used to be. When I was growing up no one had a bunny as a pet, unless it was one of those long-forgotten little souls who was placed in a small hutch at the back of one's yard and never let out. But now when I talk to people, so many of them will say, 'Oh, I have a rabbit as a housepet too!' and then go on to tell me all about it. And they do seem to get adopted out on a semi-regular basis here as well...so things are slowly turning around for rabbits.
One positive thing I will say though...it seems that rabbits are becoming more and more accepted/recognized as pets than they used to be. When I was growing up no one had a bunny as a pet, unless it was one of those long-forgotten little souls who was placed in a small hutch at the back of one's yard and never let out. But now when I talk to people, so many of them will say, 'Oh, I have a rabbit as a housepet too!' and then go on to tell me all about it. And they do seem to get adopted out on a semi-regular basis here as well...so things are slowly turning around for rabbits.
I'm glad that its turning around where you are but in this part of the country there is a lot of hunting and country and many people still think that rabbits shouldn't be in the house. There are a few enlightened souls here .....Lissa, me and a few others that really appreciate rabbits but I think that its going to be a long time before this place catches on. I try to teach people when I take the remaining rabbits to the Petco store to be shown and Lissa wrote an article for our newsletter about the benefits of house rabbits and also had an article in the paper last spring about her house rabbits. I think a lot of people think that I am a nut because I have 6 rabbits in the house so I only befriend people who are animal-lovers.
Bunrab
Well-Known Member
I used to have a female bun who was very territoral. It was so sweet nature before purberty that i cant believe tat its her after hitting purberty. She was so territoral tat after she was sprayed, she still have the same behavior. She would growl and attempt to bite whoever went into her area. She didn't turn any better even sixmths after she was sprayed. She died at the age of 2 as we failed to notice thesigns of her illness. So normal and active until only few hours before her death that she became less active n less concern about the surrounding. We thought she is just being tired.Therefore we made it a point to bring our buns to the vet immediately if we find any being abnormal even if its afalse alarm.
Maybe some buns are more aggressive in their personalities whether they are neutered or not.
Greta
Well-Known Member
angieluv wrote:
I had one like that! she would try to bite me when I fed her... Honestly!
If it were really true that some rabbits have "nasty" personalities no matter how much time you spent with him/her even if altered it may make me feel some what better. Then I wouldn't feel so bad about some of the bunnies at the shelter ..the way I feel now is that if they had attention,love, consistency and were altered they all would come around eventually. Maybe thats not true.
naturestee
Well-Known Member
Sprite still is rather nasty, even though she is spayed. It's normally not much of an issue until she needs to be picked up. She doesn't normally bite, but she growls and sometimes bats and lunges. I don't think she's ever drawn blood. She was literally gnawing on James' finger the first time we saw her, but never broke the skin. All bark, small bite. She still spooks me every time!
Well thanks for all the input. It is interesting to see that it is basically normal for bunnies to behave in this way. It is really sad though because my mother rescued this bunny from birth and even gave it like mouth to mouth twice and brought it back to life, she also even got up for 2 months every 2 hours to feed it and check on it. I see no reason for the bunny to act this way with my mom, why would it be territorial with someone it knows so well? I don't know what my mom is going to do, so far we havent even been able to find a vet in the area that will spay her. Could it maybe be acting like this because the new Lion Head rabbits cage is on top of hers? Thanks
The way your bunny is behaving has nothing to do with your mom. Because he's an animal he really isn't capable of being ungrateful. It's the way a bunny behaves during different growth periods. Because he's growing up his hormones are increasing and that is making him behave differently. I think that the lionheads cage on top of his is probably adding to the problem. Why don't you move the lionhead to another area and see if he gets better.
I apologize for calling your little girl a "he"
