Forum

OUR FORUM IS UP BUT WE ARE STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF UPDATING AND FIXING THINGS.  SOME THINGS WILL LOOK WEIRD AND/OR NOT BE CORRECT. YOUR PATIENCE IS APPRECIATED.  We are not fully ready to answer questions in a timely manner as we are not officially open, but we will do our best. 

You may have received a 2-factor authentication (2FA) email from us on 4/21/2020. That was from us, but was premature as the login was not working at that time. 

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

What are we about?  Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BEHAVIOR My rabbit is probably evil

Viewing 6 reply threads
  • Author
    Messages

    • sabrina
      Participant
      1 posts Send Private Message

        I got my rabbit from a pet store (mistake one) at the age of six months. I was told she was a lop eared (she isn’t, well she’s sometimes half lop eared) and was not told her sex. I got her in July so she is defiently a year old now. I can tell she is a girl because she doesn’t have any boy parts. When I first got her I caged her in a bottomless play pen which she soon learned to escape, thus beginning her ninja training. She is incredibly smart, and evil. I have a theory that she chews on the most important wires in my house. First, she chewed my phone chargers. Then, my video game cords. Now she has chewed two wi-fi  cords in a matter of one day. These cords have always been accessible to her (I know, I know) and she has been a free range rabbit for a very long time now. Almost since I first got her. She has not been injured by these cords or anything else she gets into. She can climb up onto the weirdest shelves, and is mean. Mean, mean, mean. Frightened? No, she is mean. She lunges toward me and attacks me with her sharp claws, and she will bite holes into my clothes. She will take something like a soda can and pick it up and drop it for hours, and hours, and hours and I swear she does it just because it annoys me. I really do love her, but right now I am so angry at her. She is never loving towards me, no matter what I try to feed her. When I try to give her bananna slice she will lunge toward it and grab it and snort like a piggy. She is constantly snorting like a piggy whenever I interact with her. She isn’t spayed because I’m broke but I am going to get her spayed in July. Hopefully this helps, otherwise I am going to loose my mind.

        She has eaten unedible things that most rabbits have died from (styrofoam, plastic, cords, ect.). Rabbits are hard to look after 24-7, as I’m sure you all know. Well, my family has had enough (pretty much my sister after she ate the wi-fi cord two times in a row) and now I am going to buy her a cage. She has never been in a cage before and I am scared she is just going to get more mad at me. I don’t want her to get depressed because all the other times I’ve caged her she’s been so mad afterwards she won’t even look at me when I release her, and will hide for hours.

        I want her behavior to stop but first I need to know what to do. I know she is so smart because I’ve never known an animal to be such an evil genius. I just wish she was a nice genuis.


      • Stickerbunny
        Participant
        4128 posts Send Private Message

          First off, she isn’t evil. She is a rabbit. And a hormonal rabbit going through puberty at that. The lunging / biting is purely hormones, it causes aggression, especially in females. The chewing is instinctive, vines are to be eaten through in the wild and to them a wire is much like a vine. You can buy wire protectors to stop the chewing of wires. Any home where a rabbit is free range should be thoroughly rabbit proofed, or you have to accept major damage. I use the black vacuum tube like wire protectors they sell for cars, it protects my wires from nibbling rabbits. As for not being loving, well, not all rabbits are. They aren’t generally cuddly creatures. Some are, but most aren’t. They don’t like being held and prefer to interact with humans on their own terms, much like an aloof cat. My female takes pets when she feels like it and prefers to be left alone, she snorts like a pig too, but that is generally her “I am excited” or “I am stressed” noise.

          Until you can afford to get her spayed, I would recommend a NIC condo. It’s going to be pretty impossible to train her while her hormones are guiding her actions. If you do cage her, remember hormonal rabbits can become very cage territorial and it’s possible she will try to bite you if you try to clean etc while she is in the cage. That is normal. You can attach an X-pen to the condo and let her have supervised playtime out and about (I recommend wire protectors be purchased first, it cost me like $10 for 100ft of protection!)

          My female has calmed a lot, she’s slowly starting to be allowed more range in our home. She chews carpet and wires and is a right pain in the neck. As they age they generally mellow, but young rabbits are annoying. That is why many of us recommend adopting an adult so you pass the baby/puberty/teen phases and can see their real personality before you adopt.


        • Beka27
          Participant
          16016 posts Send Private Message

            You’ve definitely started off on the wrong foot with her. She should have been penned or caged when without supervision from day one. If she escaped, the pen needed to be modified until it was secure. Besides that, it seems that the rabbit proofing could have been improved, preventing at least some of the wire destruction.

            We’ve all been there, and it’s an expensive, annoying lesson, but it’s just that… a lesson. This isn’t her fault and she is certainly not evil.

            She honestly sounds like a normal, altho hormonal, rabbit. Get her spayed when you can. In the meantime, she’ll need to be supervised closely and the house completely bunny-proofed.


          • Sarita
            Participant
            18851 posts Send Private Message

              No rabbit is evil. It’s always up to the owner to take some responsibility in making sure that the home is rabbit proof. It is definitely her instinct to bite those wires and any rabbit owner will tell you that. It’s also a hazard for your rabbit should something happen to her so that’s really your responsibility to make sure she doesn’t come into any danger.

              Very few (if any) young rabbits are good at being free roamers and should always be penned when you are not around for their safety – they just really don’t know better and it’s definitely not due to being evil. Make sure you supervise and pen her properly. When she is spayed and older then she MIGHT be a good candidate for free roaming.

              Hopefully you can do an x-pen with a secure top or a large NIC cage to keep her safe and secure.


            • Elrohwen
              Participant
              7318 posts Send Private Message

                Definitely get her spayed. Unspayed females can be territorial and downright nasty sometimes, but almost all of them are much nicer after being spayed. They are just wired to defend their “den”, even if they don’t have babies.

                The best way to keep rabbits from chewing things is to manage them. Keep her in a pen or some other enclosure when you can’t watch her. Chewing wires and things is completely normal and I know my rabbits, even my rabbit who never chews anything, would destroy wires if they were left out. One of mine is also the queen of getting into place she shouldn’t be, so supervision and excellent bunny proofing is the secret to keep her from getting into trouble.


              • Kokaneeandkahlua
                Participant
                12067 posts Send Private Message

                  She definitely needs to be spayed. I would then echo what others have said and have her in an inescapable pen so you can supervise her recovery (she’ll need to be very quite for three days and recovery is about 2 weeks total).

                  The spaying will decrease almost all the bad behaviours you listed, if not elimiante them completely.

                  Female rabbits are the ones who run the show in the rabbit world. So a female rabbit needs to stake out territory where she will mate, have her babies and protect them. The fact that she hasn’t found a mate and doesn’t have a litter to defend doesn’t matter. She’s likely very horomonal and trying to be territorial. IT’s natural. Once she is spayed these behaviours and urges will go away.

                  Then you want to slowly bond with her. If she does lunge, charge or growl at you it’s important not to give her space-your teaching her that that will work for her! Just sit quietly in a room on the floor with her. When she approaches you nicely give her a treat but don’t try to pet and hold her. Just let her explore you at her own pace and learn to trust you.

                  Now bigger than all that you need to rabbit proof!! Just because she hasn’t hurt herself on those wires-that means your very lucky. My friends rabbit died that way. It can and will happen if she has access to cords. It’s tragic and painful. So check out this page for tips to rabbit proof Until your done rabbit proofing she can’t be free range. you don’t have to proof your whole home-if you don’t want to proof a room she simply can’t go in that room.

                  Welcome and keep us posted on your progress!! https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/8/PID/940/Default.aspx


                • jerseygirl
                  Moderator
                  22338 posts Send Private Message

                    This thread contains some links on low cost spay/neuter clinics.
                    https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/116849/Default.aspx

                Viewing 6 reply threads
                • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

                Forum BEHAVIOR My rabbit is probably evil