Greedy Panko

[Helenor]

I know I’ve complained about Panko being “aggressive” before, but lately, he’s been attacking Lago whenever I’m about to give them food or treats, even when I give it to him first. He doesn’t like it when Lago gets excited for food/treats and chases her and nips her. I feel pretty badly for Lago and was wondering if anyone has suggestions on how to discourage Panko from attacking her all the time when I have food for them.

[Elrohwen]

Have you tried telling him no or using a squirt bottle? Hannah gets like this and if I can catch her in the act I squirt her. It’s really effective with her and after a couple times she stops doing it (at least for 5 or 6 months). Even though Panko wants to be in charge, maybe he needs to realize that you’re the one who’s really in charge and can put him in his place like he’s doing to Lago.

[mia]

How do you catch them in the act when it’s a chase? You’re as likely to squirt one as the other.

My two does the same; the male will get aggressive with food. Sometimes I separate them when feeding. Lately, I have a large diggy box filled with paper I wadded up. I sprinkle pellets inside and the male will immediately go in to search/eat. I then give food to my female.

[Elrohwen]

It’s not too hard – Otto is usually fairly out ahead, trying to jump in the maze or whatever to get away from her. I only squirt her if she is actively doing it, but often just grabbing the bottle stops her in her tracks. It definitely doesn’t work with every bunny – some become afraid and some just don’t care, but it’s been very effective with Hannah.

[Helenor]

I’ve tried using the a squirt bottle, but so far it hasn’t been doing much to change his behavior. I started using it after he got so bad that he kicked Lago into the grids extending their x-pen. Poor Lago.

[Tate]

Not sure if this would work but you could feed Panko first, Lago second, and then when Panko goes after Lago, take both food dishes/treats away. Reinforce the idea that he may only eat when he’s behaving. I would separate them as a last case scenario. You also want to make sure that all good things happen when both Lago and Panko are together and being nice.

[Helenor]

I haven’t tried removing the food/treats. I will give that a try later tonight when they get pellets and see how it goes. I don’t think I need to separate them at this point since they have a very strong bond (only food makes Panko attack her, really). They’re get along very well otherwise.

[Elrohwen]

Tate, I like the way you think. I would definitely try that.

[Helenor]

Ugh. I’ve noticed that he’s now lunging and chasing her if she runs by him now. I don’t know what’s wrong. Could it be that he’s sick or is it still his adolescent stage? (He’s 10 months)

[Tate]

Other than being neutered, has he had any surgeries? You can give him a thorough check- start as his head, feel his cheeks, play with his ears, move down the spine and feel for anything unusual in his belly. And play with his legs a bit.
The same sort of thing happened with Velvateen and Fievel. They got along great and one day completely out of the blue, Velvateen started to attack Fievel. This was in April and I am now going through the process of rebonding. I took Velvateen to the vet because he was the one that started it and they did xrays and a general physical exam and nothing was wrong. Bunnies… *shrugs*
You may want to try to nip this in the bud and get them to a neutral area. Go back to the basics- banana on the head so they wash each other and you could try other treats, if Panko allows it. I would still try to make this as positive as possible- no spray bottles or anything to piss them off.
It’s always a good idea to take these little mood swings seriously. I took V to the vet and although nothing was wrong, it put my mind at ease that he wasn’t in pain. Then you can go from there.

[Helenor]

They’ve been to the vet and were okayed about 2 months ago. He hasn’t had any surgeries besides being neutered 5 months ago. I don’t exactly have a neutral area for them anymore. Their bond hasn’t broken even though Panko chases Lago for treats or when she hops away sometimes. I’m not sure what is triggering the second one. The lunging and chasing doesn’t last very long and Panko comes back and licks Lago’s face (almost like he’s apologizing). Lago never fights back, only runs away from him. There’s another rabbit living downstairs as well that wasn’t always there recently. Could that be ticking Panko off if he can smell him?

[Tate]

I’ve heard that could definitely cause issues between them. I’ve also heard that some bunny relationships are like that- one tends to nip and chase the other but as long as it’s not too aggressive and no harm comes to either it’s fine. That would definitely be a question for someone else though… :\ Sorry for the lack of help.

[Michelle&Lolli]

Eddie was a bossy little punk to Lolli. And to me. He’d chase and nip Lolli away from stuff. I think just because he could. He also got bad about nipping ie biting me.

It could be that he smells the other rabbit and that’s making him “act out”. Or he’s just being a bossy little poophead.

I think as long as he isn’t full out attacking or preventing her from eating, etc. then they should be fine. Eddie ALWAYS chased Lolli off but she usually just circled back around and got to the food. It also sort of helped having two food bowls. I mean, he still chased, but seconds later, they’d be eating out of the bowls or one bowl. lol It also helped that you don’t get between Lolli and her food. She likes to growl when she first starts eating to let everyone know to leave her alone. haha

[Helenor]

Oh no, you have helped with with your suggestion with the food. I am going to try it for some time and see how it goes. I’m moving to a new place in September and I hope if it’s the other bunny in the house, new territory will settle Panko down. The behavior itself is not too terrible most of the time, I guess. It just makes me sad and worried when I see Panko kick Lago into stuff.

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