Rabbit rehabilitation?

[zyymurgy]

My rabbit Cocoa is a real unholy terror. He bites, grunts, digs, scratches, and runs from me at every movement unless I take him out of my room. I'm hoping that neutering will help this problem, but in the case it doesn't, is there any way I could rehabilitate him? It makes him nearly unbearable to live with, and he terrorizes my other rabbit, his brother.

 

[jamesedwardwaller]

zyymurgy wrote:

My rabbit Cocoa is a real unholy terror. He bites, grunts, digs, scratches, and runs from me at every movement unless I take him out of my room. I'm hoping that neutering will help this problem, but in the case it doesn't, is there any way I could rehabilitate him? It makes him nearly unbearable to live with, and he terrorizes my other rabbit, his brother.

he sounds like one of mine,..rabbits are prey creatures--no way around issues--we are predators--and they know it,,you have to let him come to you,,any jesture,motion,noise could keep him away--then how he percieves you is important/smell is important too...not saying you have to dress up in a rabbit costume but have to be very patient,,,my dvm in woodinville once said my rabbit would test the patience of a saint--so it comes down repetition,training,,neutering could calm-him down,but discuss that with a dvm specialist..sincerely james waller:wave:

 

[Pipp]

An unneutered boy will almost never get along with another male. Neutering will help and the sooner the better, before his behaviour is embedded.

Other than that, I find that not picking them up but relating to them on their level helps a lot. And a lot of bunnies are 'hand shy', so I'll do my best to nuzzle and not pet.

If you do pick him up, put him on your lap when you're sitting on the ground and as soon as he struggles let him go.

Incorporate little tiny bits of treats -- tiny bits of apple peel or single flakes of oats will go a long way.

Being very gentle and doing things like cleaning the corner of their eyes with a finger goes over well once they get used to it -- it's like grooming from another bunny.

It might take awhile, but with patience, he'll come around.


sas :clover:

 

[hartleybun]

james waller wrote:

zyymurgy wrote:

My rabbit Cocoa is a real unholy terror. He bites, grunts, digs, scratches, and runs from me at every movement unless I take him out of my room. I'm hoping that neutering will help this problem, but in the case it doesn't, is there any way I could rehabilitate him? It makes him nearly unbearable to live with, and he terrorizes my other rabbit, his brother.

he sounds like one of mine,..rabbits are prey creatures--no way around issues--we are predators--and they know it,,you have to let him come to you,,any jesture,motion,noise could keep him away--then how he percieves you is important/smell is important too...not saying you have to dress up in a rabbit costume but have to be very patient,,,my dvm in woodinville once said my rabbit would test the patience of a saint--so it comes down repetition,training,,neutering could calm-him down,but discuss that with a dvm specialist..sincerely james waller:wave:

both quotes describe my doe roxy when i first got her. spaying helped tho' the key was patience. lots of it. also slow, deliberate movements - nothing sudden. i just kept telling myself that i was trying to get a prey animal to trust a predator. eventually we got there:bunnydance:

 

[zyymurgy]

The funny thing is, when I take him out of his room, he becomes a snuggly little creature - with my mom, and with his brother. But not toward me, and I've been doing my best to be slow and gentle with him. It's really frustrating. D:

 

[funnybunnymummy]

Does he free-roam your room or does hehave a cage? Either way he probably thinks your room is his territory and is trying to "protect" it from you. Neutering is supposed to help with territorial behaviour, though I'm not sure to what extent it would affect this situation.

I don't know if this would help or not, but maybe if you completely rearranged your room and deodorized it with something like Nature's Miracle to removehis scent it might make him stop defending it.

Hopethat helps!

Rue

 

[Runestonez]

My hubby and I take in rabbits...we aren't a rescue or anything like that...we just have a bit of room and time to invest! Oh and love!

Alot of the bunns we take in are aggressive...that seems to be the biggie. No one wants a bunn when they get all hormonal and start to grunt and bite... Honestly I have been bitten more times than I care to remember and it HURTS...lol But in time these bunns have become active, friendly members of our herd who no longer bite or are territorial.

We usually start out right at the beginning with a spay or neuter. Then we make sure that they don't "own" anything so there is no need to defend it. We move their house around, switch their toys with our other rabbits, constantly keep things from becoming static...wash their stuffies and blankets...etc...nothing has their scent for long!:shockwe use a 50% water/50% bleach wash and wipe down their area)

We slowly start to socialize with them...alot of rabbits don't like the switching we do...most rabbits like schedules and certainty...so it throws them off their stride a bit...if they don't have territory to defend it makes it easier to start or re-start socialization...which in our world means spoiling the living crap out of them! lol The fastest way to a bunnies heart is through his or her tummy! We sit and ignore them and just wait for them to come to us! It can take a couple of days of just sitting before they finally break down and decide to check you out...you just have to be patient!

Then from there it is just lots of time and patience!I hope this helps!:biggrin2:

Danielle

 

[zyymurgy]

Both bunnies have free-reign of my entire room when they're out of their cage, but only Cocoa grunts and bites. Just today he bit the underside of my jaw hard enough to make it bleed! I can't exactly rearrange my room at any time - everything is too big to be switched around all at once, so things need to be moved out first. And everything that would smell like them gets washed often enough to get their smells off, except for their cage, which is supposed to smell like them.

They're both going to be neutered some time next week probably, so hopefully they'll calm down within a couple of months!