Aggressive spayed bun.

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 7sd replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 7 months ago by Philomena.

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- 09/16/2015 at 9:50 PM
  MLdoubleE
  Participant
  9 posts
  I’ve got what I suspect is a Holland Lop mix of some type. Ana is around 9 months old (I think). She was super sweet and snuggly before she got spayed, which was at 5 months old. But after being spayed and healed up, she turned into a devil rabbit…lunging, growling, and chomping on my hands anytime I get “too close” to her. I can’t pet her or pick her up. I know what she has is cage aggression, and that she obviously doesn’t trust me. I also know I’m supposed to not flinch if she lunges, but I’m beyond tired of having bunny bites all over my hands (and they’re deep!). So I’ve had a thought that I could use a wooden dowel or something instead of my own hand to “invade” her space and get her to stop lunging and biting. Would this work or just make her aggression worse? I don’t trust her enough myself to try to hand feed her.
  
  We’ve started clicker training, just enough to associate the click with a treat, but she loses interest after a couple of minutes. Is there anything that can be done with this or should I abandon it until we fix the relationship?
  
  Additionally, she is very possessive of her bunny buddy Cinna. He is a freshly neutered male, so he’s not with her at the moment, but when they were together, she’d lunge at anyone trying to touch or pet Cinna as well. (Ana and Cinna were never together while both unaltered. Ana was spayed before I got Cinna.)
  
  I’m not sure if this makes any sense, so please ask me questions for more information. I don’t know what to do! I want to repair my relationship with Ana, but I don’t know what happened to upset her so much.
  
  How do I fix the relationship between myself and Ana?
- 09/17/2015 at 3:55 PM
  Bam
  Moderator
  17033 posts
  I doubt it’s something you have done. The wooden dowel thing sounds kind of ok to me, maybe she can redirect her aggression at that. I have a boy bun who attacks the broom when I sweep the floors. It’s not I who messes with his stuff, it’s Evil Broom. He often attacks the broom in the hallway when I’m not there, I just hear him growl and then the broom falls to the floor (it’s not heavy enough to harm him if it should fall on him) and it’s Yohio-Broom 1-0. So yes, it’s possible she could learn to take her anger out on the dowel instead of you.
  
  I would suspect it’s all about the spay. I know an increase in general reactivity incl aggression after a spay is not so rare in female dogs, but I’ve not heard about in female rabbits.
  
  I hope people here have some advice for you so I’m bumping this.
- 09/19/2015 at 9:49 PM
  MLdoubleE
  Participant
  9 posts
  Thank you very much, I appreciate the bump. I just don’t know what to do
  
  Evil Broom sounds terrifying though. Haha.
- 09/19/2015 at 10:30 PM
  LBJ10
  Moderator
  17238 posts
  What are you doing when she lunges? What is she doing? Set the scene for us and maybe we can figure out what the trigger is.
- 09/20/2015 at 4:33 AM
  emma
  Participant
  1 posts
  I have a similar issue with Jessie my house rabbit. She’s 6 months, was spayed at 4 months. She’s normally the most snuggly easy going bun, but for the past couple of weeks she’s been biting the skirting boards and ripping wallpaper off the walls! Last night she also did something she’s never done before… she bit me hard twice and drew blood. The only reason I could think she reacted like this was because I’d just handled one of our baby bunnies in a hutch outside. Suffice to say, this change in behaviour is worrying me. Is she bored and lonely? Should I be getting her a bunny friend? Any help or advice would be gratefully received…i miss my baby
- 09/20/2015 at 10:11 PM
  MLdoubleE
  Participant
  9 posts
  Hi all-
  
  Anytime she’s lunged or bitten, it’s because I’ve put my hand out to pet her. I’ll reach out (slowly) in view of her eye (side of the head so she can see, not the front) and she’ll pounce! I’ve attempted the same thing with a wooden ruler, and she’ll chomp on that too.
  
  I have her in a large C&C cage. So I’ve been in the cage myself many times with her without a problem. She doesn’t care when I’m cleaning it. I can sit in it and let her come to investigate me…no problems there. I’ll lay on the floor in the cage and she’ll hop up on my back and just hang out. But it appears she definitely doesn’t like it if I make the first move.
- 09/23/2015 at 9:46 PM
  LBJ10
  Moderator
  17238 posts
  Are you reaching into her cage with your hand when you go to pet her? You would be surprised how sitting in the pen with a bunny vs. reaching in with a hand can solicit completely different reactions.
- 09/24/2015 at 6:22 PM
  Philomena
  Participant
  74 posts
  How much out of cage time is she getting? I know that if dogs have pent up energy they can turn that energy into aggression, and I think I’ve heard the same thing about buns. Your bun is starting to hit an age where they have LOTS of energy and even though she’s spayed she can still act like a teenager. It is also possible that she hurts when she’s being pet so she’s just trying to get you to not pet her.
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