Very aggressive little bun?!

[BunnyLoverMaddie]

Hi guys! Its been a while since I came on here but I’ve got some questions regarding my bunny.

So, last summer (about 11 months ago) I got my bunny, Koko from a pet store. I decided to get her from a local pet store since I haven’t had any luck with the buns at Pets At Home. Anyway, they told me shes a Netherland Dwarf bunny and she was about 8 weeks old at the time. I’ve had her ever since and shes only had one problem which was a parasite that she was born with, however I found out about it before it was too late and killed it off with some medication from the vets! 

I didn’t think she’d last very long after that but shes been doing absolutely great and is still doing well and very healthy now. However, since she reached sexual maturity shes been SO aggressive. I did find out that smaller breeds such as lops and dwarves reach the “baby making age” earlier than larger breeds, but that seems a bit irrelevant. 11 months on from the day I got her and shes high aggressive, punching, growling, thumping, lunging at me… You name it! The one thing she never does is bite, which is fortunate but she will try every other trick she knows!

She has no reason to be afraid or scared of me as she has no past of abuse and I’ve mothered her for as long as I can remember. When I first got her, she was loving and affectionate, very much more than my other bunnies that I have owned. However, as time passed she became more intrevert and aggressive. Especially after her parasite, shes now VERY angry and aggressive. All it take is for me to put my hand 2 feet in front of her and she tries to tear me to bits.

I have no problem handling her or anything like that, but its simple things like placing her food dish and stroking her that seems to bother her. I don’t believe she is blind as she can see fine but the vet said that her brain parasite wasn’t noticable until it had done “neurological damage” meaning she showed no signs until it started effecting her balance, eyesight and hearing. She recovered fine from it, but its as if when my hand is approaching her she doesn’t know and just tries to attack.

I mean of course it could just be a case of shes a small, ready to breed female dwarf which obviously is a trigger for aggresion but I’ve never seen a bunny like her. Other rabbits hop up to their owner etc, she likes to attack her owner! 

She gets daily handling and has had a lot of interaction with humans obviously, does anyone know what could be the problem/solution for this? Thanks guyss <3

[LoveChaCha]

Is she spayed? That could be why she is so aggressive. The hormones go crazy when girl buns are not fixed.
Does she have a house/condo? Going/reaching into their houses is the equivilant of breaking into a house and they do not like it

[Bam]

She could perhaps have scarring from damage done by the parasite (E.cuniculi I take it to be) to her brain. Sometimes brain-damage/lesions get worse when they heal because of the scar-tissue that forms. It seems the damage from e. cuniculi can be to virtually any part of the central nervous system + a lot of the internal organs. If her optic nerve/tract was affected he may see fine from certain angles and not at all from some angles depending on where the lesion is located. You can f ex loose all vision to the far sides on both sides of the head with a lesion to where the optic nerve crosses over.

This is from Medirabbit about e cuniculi, including it so other readers can get a rough idea:
“The protozoal parasite attacks the nervous system and major organs, causing a variety of clinical signs that include torticollis (commonly called head tilt or wry neck), liver failure, kidney failure and calcification, incontinence, phacoclastic uveitis, cataracts, fore- or hindquarter paresis (one, or both sides), nystagmus (eye twitching), and/or other neurological symptoms. ”

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/cuniculi/pyrimethamine.htm

I’m very sorry that she (and you) had to go through this.

[BunnyLoverMaddie]

Thanks so much for all the info and yes thats exactly what she suffered from. Thats why I’m so worried because I can’t tell if its simply her hormones or maybe damage done from the parasite.. Thank you

[Lee]

Damage to the centra nervous system could definitely have a bearing on her behaviour.

Is there a reason you haven’t spayed her? Are you aware of the hugely increased risks of cancer in unspayed female bunnies?
The only way you will ever know if this is brain/nervous system damage or hormones would be to spay her and see if that helps to calm her down or not.

[JackRabbit]

Sounds like raging hormones to me. Bratty behavior, high risk of reproductive cancer, both reasons scream to get her spayed. If you do, I think both of you will be much happier.

[Bam]

I don’t know why I just assumed she was spayed, I’m sorry.

Aggression due to raging hormones is very common, so I’d recommend you have her spayed and then let her recover for a month before you look for other reasons for her behavior. Spaying is good for her health (80% risk of uterine cancer in unspayed does) and it generally improves behavior a lot. Sexually mature rabbits can get very frustrated. They are “programmed” to make lots of babies since in nature, that’s essential for the survival of the species, there are so many other animals wants to have bunnies for dinner =(

I’d look into having her spayed first of all!

[Author]

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