Viciousness

[RSXinger]

I love our bunny so much. She is wonderful. She can be very sweet - she'll sit in my lap if I'm petting her.

She won't let anyone pick her up or put a harness on her. But this is not the main problem.

If you move the wrong way, she will lunge with a growl and bite. Last night she attacked me when I put my hand in her cage to pick up a piece of pepper to move it to a place where she could get at it better. She rushed forward, snarling, and bit my hand hard, and when my reaction was to jerk my hand up, she was holding on so tightly that she came right up with it. It was really scary.

She has done this (to this extent) several times, and has bitten in the less severe way even more often. I don't know what to do. We have had Emma for about six months. She is a Holland Lop, somewhere between a year and a half to two years old. We adopted her. Supposedly she had been dumped out on the street before, and then adopted to another family who returned her, saying she was vicious. When we met her we thought that was impossible, she was so sweet. Apparently we were wrong.

I love Emma and would rather die than give her up. My boyfriend said if she ever does this again, that's it. She can't keep attacking us when we're not even trying to touch her. I have multiple scars from her. But I love her and most of the time she's wonderful, but this happens too often, and when it does, it's bad.

We don't know what to do. Please...I need help.

 

[degrassi]

I"m sorry she is attacking you. How old is she? Has she been spayed?

 

[RSXinger]

She is spayed (at least we were told she was; the vet said she thought she felt the scar) and roughly 1 1/2 to 2 years old.

 

[Happi Bun]

I'm so sorry you are having these problems, they can be very scary. Since she is spayed we can rule out this aggression being hormone related. Has she always been like this (since the day you adopted her?) or did it just start somewhat recently? I ask because sometimes things in a rabbit's environment that they dislike can put them on edge. Since rabbit's do not have hands nor can they speak up when something is wrong, all they really can do is growl/lunge/bite to show their displeasure for something.

 

[fuzz16]

I would try to find out a definite yes or no to her being spayed. If the vet has to shave her belly to find the scar so be it.

Another question is...does this only happen when you put your hand in her cage or near it? That would be more territorial. Or if you reach for something that's hers.

 

[RSXinger]

It's been like this since the beginning pretty much.

 

[RSXinger]

No, I'd say it happens just as much away from her cage as near it.

 

[Djakarta]

A bunny came into the local Humane Society where I volunteer that had supposedly been spayed ( She did have a spay scar).

But month after month, she would build nests and pull fur. She was also very cage protective.

Finally, she went in for an exploratory surgery. The vet found that whoever had spayed her the first time, had left an ovary behind.

The ovary was removed and she became a much sweeter bunny.

So, even if your bunny has a spay scar, she may need to be checked. If her spay was performed by an inexperienced vet, there may be ovarian tissue remaining.

While we were awaiting approval to have this bunny checked, we devised a system where we would have the bunny hop into a carrier before her cage was cleaned. We used the carrier to transport her into an x pen for exercise.

She was very good about hopping into the carrier, once she realized it meant she would be going into the pen.

She was far less protective of her space while out in the pen.

Perhaps you can use a similar system to allow you to clean her cage without her being in it.