Aggressive Biting has got to stop {UPDATE!}

FORUM

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

This topic has 15sd replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 6 months ago by GrumpyBun.

Viewing 15 reply threads

Author

Messages
- 09/08/2010 at 7:16 AM
  SirThumpsey
  Participant
  539 posts
  Okay, I can’t seem to find my log in info to my other account so I created a new on for the time being. I’m formally known as Sir Thumpsey…
  
  Anyway, Sir Thumps a lot has been neutered for a little over a year now and I’ve moved him and his new girlfriend Halo to northern Pa (where mose buns I see are in hutches ) …He had a bit of an accident when I was away at college. I’m not quite sure what happened and neither does my sister who was taking care of them. It appears as though he got his eye scratched pretty bad…and now he is blind in his right eye. I’ve been doing my best to make sure I dont scare or surprise him but unfortunatly I have. He has bitten me a couple of times now and I have the scars to prove it.I always forgive him because I know he was probably just scared.
  
  This morning, my huby was feeding the buns and when he went to fill Thumps bowl he lunged and bit him. It wasn’t that he didnt see him because he was jumping around his cage because he was excited to be fed. He has quite the appetite…lol Could this be because he is getting cage aggressive? I dont seem to have that problem. I always pet him before i reach in and as long as he sees me he seems fine.
  
  Short-term solution for us is that I’ll just feed him from now on because I guess I dont mind as much if he bites me now and then. But my big concern is that we have a baby on the way (I’m 4 and a half months pregnant) and the baby will surely stick (her)his fingers into the cage once (s)(s)he can move around.. and I dont want him or her getting bit…because she’ll be less likely to understand why and begin to resent him…. We are considering putting bud’s cage up higher so that the baby can’t reach it but I would like this behavior to stop before the baby comes.
  
  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
- 09/08/2010 at 7:25 AM
  Sarita
  Participant
  18851 posts
  Well, I would try if you can not to mess with his cage while he is in it – can you let them out to play while you put in food and clean.
  
  Also perhaps trying speaking to them to let them know what you are doing if you cannot do this. I imagine that if he is blind in his right eye he is feeling much more vulnerable and prone to be afraid of sudden movements since his eyesight is affected and rabbits just don’t have the greatest eyesight as it is especially right in front of their face which is their “blindside”.
- 09/09/2010 at 4:23 AM
  Beka27
  Participant
  16016 posts
  Having rabbits and a baby together is a big responsibility. But it can be done. It’s up to you to protect the baby from the bunnies AND protect the bunnies from the baby.
  
  I hope you can figure out what is going on with him before the baby comes. What did the vet say about his accident, did he run into something out of fright or have a seizure? My first thought is if there is something going on neurologically which is causing him to lash out.
  
  If he needs to be relocated to another area of your house, I would get that figured out now, giving them time to adjust to a new location where everyone will be out of danger’s way.
  
  What kind of cage are they in? Territorial bunnies do better with a larger area, even free-roam of a room. A smaller space tends to increase territorial behavior.
- 09/09/2010 at 8:44 AM
  Deleted User
  Participant
  22064 posts
  I had heard of a case of a rabbit taking up biting after his owner got pregnant. He had been a very loving rabbit before. Apparently some animals can pick up changes in their owner’s hormones. If the move was recently too, these are some major changes in his world and could cause a defensive attitude in him. I would respect his turf by only going into his cage when he’s not in it. Definitely move the cage out of reach of a baby.
- 09/09/2010 at 9:04 AM
  SirThumpsey
  Participant
  539 posts
  I wondered if he was able to pick up on my being pregnant… perhaps he has. He’s been up here with us for several months and we brought his friend Halo because I knew it would be less stressful.. they are practically bonded. I just don’t have a big enough cage for both of them to be in the same one… (Halo is 2.5 feet long when she stretches out)
  
  We actually just switched their cages to that they would both have bigger cages. He ended up getting her old cage (which was originally his but she grew so fast my mom switched them) He’s about 4.6lbs and his cage is pretty big considering what he was in before…It has a plastic bottom and a wire top. It opens at the front and on the top… We usually open the top to feed him. When I fed him this morning he lunged at the food and his head hit the scooper I use. (he is quite a pig when it comes to food, he will lunge and grunt at carrots or any treat you give him)
  
  @ Beka I have no idea what happened to him and My mom and my sister never noticed his eye was messed up so they aren’t sure what happened either. My only guess is that something scratched him, which was probably most likely one of the cats. When he had his accident he was out on an enclosed porch stuck in his cage all day. He was not let out very much (and neither was Halo)
  
  I am certain that when I fed him this morning and when my hubby fed him yesterday he was fully aware that we were there. He was excitedly jumping around his cage.
  
  Putting him up higher so the baby can’t reach him will probably be our best bet… They are both in the living room and we dont have that big of an apartment to give him a whole room to himself (plus hes a bit destructive) and since hubby doesnt feel comfortable feeding him anymore I have taken over it..which isn’t that big of a deal. I just will have to explain to our child when he/she gets old enough that he can not see and we have to be very careful. Halo on the other hand is super kid proof…as long as our child doesnt try to pick her up (i know (s)he’ll try but probably won’t succeed..I can barely pick her up to groom her lol) Halo will probably enjoy all the attention..
  
  I still don’t really understand why STAL (sir thumps a lot) was lunging and biting…maybe the excitement got the best of him…? Either way, we can not have him biting our little one…
- 09/09/2010 at 12:42 PM
  Sarita
  Participant
  18851 posts
  Well, you have plenty of time to work with him on this before your baby is up and about.
- 09/09/2010 at 4:29 PM
  SirThumpsey
  Participant
  539 posts
  And for that, I am very thankful.
  
  And if all else fails, I guess I’ll just have to keep them seperate somehow…
- 09/09/2010 at 4:32 PM
  Monkeybun
  Participant
  10479 posts
  If all else fails, you could pick up some NIC grids, and make a fence around his cage so Baby can’t get to him to get fingers bitten.
- 09/09/2010 at 4:38 PM
  SirThumpsey
  Participant
  539 posts
  Monkeybun- That is effing genius! Why didn’t I think of that! I swear I’m losing it sometimes…lol THANK YOU!!
- 09/09/2010 at 4:44 PM
  Monkeybun
  Participant
  10479 posts
  No problem
- 09/09/2010 at 6:08 PM
  Deleted User
  Participant
  22064 posts
  maybe NIC grids should be renamed ‘genius grids’ in rabbit circles.
- 09/09/2010 at 7:08 PM
  Monkeybun
  Participant
  10479 posts
  Miracle Grids. lol
- 09/10/2010 at 3:39 AM
  Beka27
  Participant
  16016 posts
  Can you feed him thru the side door rather than the top? If his vision is poor (and rabbit’s vision is naturally poor, even without being blind in one eye), your hand coming in to feed can look like a predatory move. Coming in the side door should give him time to adjust. Do you say a word to alert them it’s dinner time? (I say “num-nums” and bunnies come running.) A verbal cue when it’s time to eat will let him know ahead of time what is going to happen. You may also want to open the side door and immediately pet his forehead, continue to pet him while you feed with your other hand. If he starts to get aggressive, with your hand still on his head, you can gently but firmly press down to show your dominance.
  
  My concern with having the cage up higher is his out of cage exercise time. With an elevated cage, you’ll need to actually lift him out, which can make him more skittish or territorial because he won’t be able to go in and out on his own.
  
  Are you working towards bonding them permanently at this point? Hopefully you can get them bonded and living in one condo or pen before the baby arrives, that would be beneficial for everyone.
- 09/11/2010 at 2:27 PM
  SirThumpsey
  Participant
  539 posts
  Petzy and monkeybun- you are so right…they should be renamed genius or miracle grids…lol
  
  Beka-I asctually started to go in the side door and I always pet his head…I try to reach over his head as i dump his pellets in his bowl so he knows im there…so far its been working..but sometimes I still manage to scare him somehow..I dont use a word to alert them its dinner time…but i really should…that’s a GREAT idea!
  
  And no we aren’t working on permantly bonding them…We were lucky just to find a cage big enough for Halo (she’s HUGE lol) it would be diffiicult to find one big enough for both…and we don’t have enough room to make a nic (or should i say genius) grid cage cause we have carpeted floors and we are renting and Halo will eat and/or dig up the carpet. She’s a destructo bun!
- 09/15/2010 at 10:27 AM
  SirThumpsey
  Participant
  539 posts
  Alright so I’ve been working with him as much as I can.. and I told hubby to just let me feed him. That was not a problem for him because he’s kinda scared of bud now…but if I pet him a bit before I put the food in and go along his back to the dish it doesn’t seem to startle him when I start to pour the pellets in.
  and everytime when I’m done putting his pellets in his bowl, I pet him for a bit longer and then shut the front cage door and say “eat your nom noms” and he swiflty turns around and starts eating!
  
  I am still certain that Bud knew hubby was there but maybe wasnt sure exactly where his hand was and when the pellets started hitting the bowl it scared him cause somehow he was not expecting it… Don’t know..
  It seems that all your advice has really helped not only me but Lil’ Bud too. And I’m sure if he could type he would thank you himself.
  Hell if he could type, I’d be rich! lol
  
  Thank you guys for all of your help!
- 09/15/2010 at 1:23 PM
  GrumpyBun
  Participant
  643 posts
  I didn’t help in any way but I’m really pleased things are getting better.
Author

Messages

Viewing 15 reply threads

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.