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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

FORUM BEHAVIOR Aggression???

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    • Eugene123
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        Hi everyone I’m new here and just got my bunny 2 days ago. He’s been very friendly from the second I met him and came out of his shell very quickly. Today the play pen we got him came in the mail and we set up his little area. Everything was going great he was being a absolute sweetheart he would sit in my lap and let me pet him while he laid down stretched out. Then my mom was cleaning out his litter box and he’s not trained yet so there’s some poop on the yoga mats (we put yoga mats down so he wasn’t on the hardwood floors) and she went to pick it up and he bit her. I assumed this was because he didn’t really know her, my mom hasn’t played with him, or because she was reaching into the play pen from above. Then I decided to put a sheet down over the yoga mats because he was chewing at them and thats when everything changed. He was digging at it and it seemed like he didn’t like it so I went to pull it up and as I was doing it he bit me. He then bit me another time trying to clean up his poop. When I went to the bathroom his play pen was closed but its like clear plastic and when he saw me walking away he started freaking out and lunged at the play pen in the direction the bathroom is. I left him in his pen for awhile then went back to try and take the sheet out again because its all filled with poop and pee and when I went to move the water bowl off the sheet he lunged at me.The spca said they didn’t give him shots or neuter him because “bunnies don’t need that”. My mom is scared because he does not have his shots any advise would be helpful thank you!!!


      • tobyluv
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          Hi and welcome to Binky Bunny. Bunnies can be very protective of their pens or their areas, and they often don’t like hands reaching into their spaces, and may react to that with nips. It can also be scary to a rabbit when hands and arms are coming toward them, and again, they may show their fear by nipping. Also, he may have already claimed the sheet and he was mad at you for taking it away. But he shouldn’t be chewing on sheets. You will need to calmly work with him, sitting beside the pen and talking to him to calm him down. Don’t make any sudden moves into his pen/area, but do any work in his pen gradually, maybe even distract him with a treat. Keep showing him that you aren’t trying to grab him or invade his space.

          If you are in the U.S., rabbits don’t need shots like they may in some other countries. A single male bunny may not need to be neutered, if you never have any plans to get him a companion, but neutering will very likely take away some aggression. Unneutered male rabbits can also spray or start humping people, and are often frustrated due to all their hormones. You will need to have a good, rabbit savvy vet for your rabbit, and you can discuss neutering with him or her.

          Here is a link that has several articles on rabbit aggression that might be helpful to you.

          https://rabbit.org/category/behavior/aggression/

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      FORUM BEHAVIOR Aggression???