Young bun won't stop attacking me!!

[lauren8165]

So I have had him about a month now and he's around 4 months old. I feel like NO progress has been made. I actually feel like it's getting worse, bc now when I walk into my room (he hangs out and sleeps under my dresser. That's the spot he's chosen) he will dart out and attack my legs. He hasn't bitten my legs, but it is still very clear it's an attack with headbutting and growling. When I try to walk away while it's happening, he just stays right with me and keeps going crazy on me. Lol he does this to my husband as well. When he's under the dresser and I get down there and talk sweet to him, I slowly go in for a pet and he will allow it (out of fear I'm sure), but it doesn't matter how good it feels to him, he looks at me with this face of "hurry up and get your hands off of me so I can get as far away from you as possible" [emoji23]. I also get thumped at like 50 times a day. So, I'm just feeling a little frustrated in not knowing what to do about this. I've tried so many things like giving him space, being in his area and not messing with him. Nothing seems to make a difference. He has little to no desire to leave the room. When I put him outside he seems terrified the whole time out there too. He was a hutch bunny before we got him, so I know there's been a bit of a culture shock to him, but I just feel at this point I should see some improvement, but it just seems worse.

Anyone have a similar story or some advice. I feel bad for him. I imagine living a life stuck in a room with ppl you don't particularly like isn't the most fulfilling life. He is supposed to be a free roaming bun, but little guy just has no desire to leave his little safe space.

 

[Bella's mom]

@lauren8165 ,

Please don't feel too discouraged. Buns just like humans are all different. He's still getting used to being with you and a change of scenery/home etc. My girl, Bella, will be 4 months and I've had her for a little over a month now. My girl loves being pet but not to be lifted and held. Give it some time and with love, patience and guidance he'll come out of his shell. Maybe he likes playing like this? Kind of like come and get me....lol. My girl started thumping too for the past few days. I wonder if your bun is hitting puberty? Good luck and I'm sure it will all work out well!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Neutered--if not, needs to be. Sounds like he's trying to teach you he's the alpha.

 

[lauren8165]

@lauren8165 ,

Please don't feel too discouraged. Buns just like humans are all different. He's still getting used to being with you and a change of scenery/home etc. My girl, Bella, will be 4 months and I've had her for a little over a month now. My girl loves being pet but not to be lifted and held. Give it some time and with love, patience and guidance he'll come out of his shell. Maybe he likes playing like this? Kind of like come and get me....lol. My girl started thumping too for the past few days. I wonder if your bun is hitting puberty? Good luck and I'm sure it will all work out well!

It's definitely not a game. Unless it's a game of who can terrify and make who run off first. Lol. I am definitely going to give it more time. I have to. Giving him up bc he's not the sweet cuddly bunny that everyone dreams about will never be an option. If he's just an agressive little guy, them we will all gear up (literally, with garden gloves and long sleeves [emoji23]) and figure it all out. Haha.

 

[Preitler]

Well, puberty is in full swing, and I wouldn't judge a rabbits character until he's 1 year old.

My free range house bunny is a intact 3yo, 10lbs meat mutt buck, he was an outdoor bunny in a hutch with access to the garden his first two years, and with all his spraying etc. I didn't waste a thought about taking him in, but then when his personality settled he started to visit the house and behaved excellent.

Every rabbit is different, but I too think neutering him would make live easier for all of you.

 

[lauren8165]

Neutered--if not, needs to be. Sounds like he's trying to teach you he's the alpha.

I was wrong. He's 3 months not 4. What age can they be neutered? I thought it was 6 months? And I think you are right about him trying to be alpha. Something tells me that he will eventually calm down. I think it's a combo of juvenile hormones and being in a new environment with all these "predators" around. He's so small that I don't blame him for trying to act as big as possible. He's the cutest little thing, but my goodness, he can be terrifying at times. Lol. I will just give it time. I guess my biggest concern is that I worry about his happiness. I figured he would at least be at a point of being curious about other parts of the house by now. I hate that he stays cooped up in the room 24/7.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Our vet said if they show they can go. Ours were all rescues so we didn't know the age, but Vet said 4 months. Some of ours were mellow, but we did have a couple of fang and claw types--mostly the smaller breeds.

 

[lauren8165]

Sorry for the late reply. My phone's not showing me the notifications anymore for some reason. But he is definitely starting to show. I need to get this little guy in, bc we are now starting to have problems with him peeing outside his litter box and scattering poop. [emoji20]

 

[Blue eyes]

Yup. I don't envy you for what you are going for with your young guy! Just one of the downsides of starting with a young rabbit. That's why I prefer to get my rabbits after they are already fixed.

 

[JBun]

It sounds to me like he is experiencing territorial insecurity and is trying to scare you off. If you let him free range in your room right now, I wouldn't do that with him at this point as it might be making him feel insecure not to be in a more confined area like he is used to, and one that he can consider as just his territory.

Eventually you should be able to let him free roam, but for now I would give him a large cage that he can consider his own area, that you don't mess with besides to clean up and feed, with as minimal intrusion as possible. Then I would have an xpen attached for him to have extra space and for you to be able to sit with him in a more confined area to have some bonding time with him.

I wouldn't let him have free roam of the xpen right away. I would keep him in his cage for several days(at least) to weeks, so he can get to know it as his territory. Then when I started letting him out into the xpen I would only do it at first with me sitting in there with him, and using foods(veggies, pellets, limited fruit if no poopy bum issues) that I know he likes to try and coax him out into the xpen with me. If he won't come to food, I would try just sitting there doing things and see if he gets curious on his own. You just don't want him establishing the xpen as his territory too, which is why you don't want to open it up to him right away.

 

[erikamc]

We got my bunny when she was 4 weeks old (she was the only survivor of her litter and hand raised by my cousin, once she started eating real food, she came to live with us). When she was about 3 months old, she got really mean towards me. Just me, not my BF. It was so bad at times that I couldn't give her out of cage time and BF would just have to give her extra time. Once she got spayed, everything was better. She's still a little bit of a jerk to me (god forbid I have shoes or socks on when I enter her room!) but I don't spend as much time with her as my BF does (hooray allergies)

 

[CathyO]

So I have had him about a month now and he's around 4 months old. I feel like NO progress has been made. I actually feel like it's getting worse, bc now when I walk into my room (he hangs out and sleeps under my dresser. That's the spot he's chosen) he will dart out and attack my legs. He hasn't bitten my legs, but it is still very clear it's an attack with headbutting and growling. When I try to walk away while it's happening, he just stays right with me and keeps going crazy on me. Lol he does this to my husband as well. When he's under the dresser and I get down there and talk sweet to him, I slowly go in for a pet and he will allow it (out of fear I'm sure), but it doesn't matter how good it feels to him, he looks at me with this face of "hurry up and get your hands off of me so I can get as far away from you as possible" [emoji23]. I also get thumped at like 50 times a day. So, I'm just feeling a little frustrated in not knowing what to do about this. I've tried so many things like giving him space, being in his area and not messing with him. Nothing seems to make a difference. He has little to no desire to leave the room. When I put him outside he seems terrified the whole time out there too. He was a hutch bunny before we got him, so I know there's been a bit of a culture shock to him, but I just feel at this point I should see some improvement, but it just seems worse.

Anyone have a similar story or some advice. I feel bad for him. I imagine living a life stuck in a room with ppl you don't particularly like isn't the most fulfilling life. He is supposed to be a free roaming bun, but little guy just has no desire to leave his little safe space.

Sounds like a really bad case of puberty. Maybe some territorial issues too. In any case neutering really helps. Keep handling him and don't force the issue of him being free roam. He may take a lot of time to warm up to a space. We still have buns that won't leave the living room area rug and buns that tear around the house (so funny to watch).

 

[lauren8165]

Sounds like a really bad case of puberty. Maybe some territorial issues too. In any case neutering really helps. Keep handling him and don't force the issue of him being free roam. He may take a lot of time to warm up to a space. We still have buns that won't leave the living room area rug and buns that tear around the house (so funny to watch).

Since posting this, we put him in his own room and have seen a big improvement. He is still a fiesty little fellow [emoji23], but seems much happier. I think it's exactly as you explained.. territorial and puberty. He has been exploring the house the past couple of days and is even starting to groom my dashchunds (circling them too). All in all I'm seeing him become a happier bun. It makes me happy.

 

[JamesG123]

I was wrong. He's 3 months not 4.

I've had young males exhibiting "bucky" behavior in as little as 3 months old.

 

[LionheadRabbitLover]

Just wait until he mellows out. I have a little buck I use for breeding so I never neutered him and he was aggressive at first, but he’s getting better now. Bunnies mature with age. In the wild they go threw the same thing for the first few months of having their balls in. If you don’t plan on breeding him you could either just wait it out or get him neutered. Although I don’t really recommend the later, as I’ve heard of a lot of people’s poor buns dying from it. But if you do just make sure the vet really knows what they are doing and has worked with rabbits before.

 

[Blue eyes]

^ With rabbit savvy vets, the benefits of neutering and spaying far outweigh the risks.

 

[Popsicles]

Agree with blue eyes, if you go to a good vet the risk of anaesthetic is outweighed by the benefits in reducing certain cancers and other hormone related diseases.

 

[LionheadRabbitLover]

Cancer still happens in neutered rabbits, just other parts instead of the testicles.
I wouldn’t risk a surgery on any of my rabbits, as there’s always atleast a small chance they won’t wake up. But that’s just me.
If you find a vet that is well versed in rabbits the risk can be majorly reduced.

 

[Popsicles]

Yes ofc, but it eliminates a few of them, and testicular cancer is one of the more common. That’s a fair worry, but I’m of the opinion to neuter everything (vet school drum it into you from day one) as it prevents diseases and improves behaviour.

 

[lauren8165]

He will be neutered. I have found a great vet now. I feel much more confident in his abilities thany previous vet. When we walkied into our first visit with him a few weeks ago, there were quite a few other buns in the waiting room waiting to be seen as well. Made me feel good knowing this vet had experience. My last vet claimed to, but I never saw anything other than cats and dogs (and we were in there ALOT after my bun was injured) and although he was such a nice man, I questioned his capabilities.

So, Dash is going to be neutered in a few weeks. Hopefully we will see an attitude change after that. And not peeing and pooping on my tile would just be the icing on the cake. Lol