Agression Issues

[anneNjoerule]

Okay my bunny is an utter sweetie pie… outside of the cage. When she’s out and about she loves to be petted and will come and bump her velvety nose up against my face. However, in her cage she is quite agressive, particularly around feeding time. When I stick my hands in her cage to refill her food dish (I give her constant hay, 1/2 cup of pellets a day, and assorted vegetables) she will make a small growling noise and lunge at my fingers! It makes me extremely nervous to feed her. Is there any way for me to make her more comfortable or to train this behavior out?

[Deleted User]

Her cage is her territory. Female rabbits especially are very protective of their immediate personal space. The smaller the enclosure the more pronounced this behavior tends to show up. Respect her space, and put the feed in while she is out and about.

[Beka27]

This is a common issue. If you have to feed her while she’s in the cage, will she let you pet her when she’s in the cage? What has worked for us is petting the bunny’s head with one hand, and then once she’s calm, putting food in with the other. If she gets overly excited at that point, you can press her head down to show your dominance.

[anneNjoerule]

Okay. If she’s already by the door and I go in real slow, she’ll let me pet her face. I’ll try that. Yeah, I thought it must be territorial but she is spayed so I wasn’t sure. Another unrelated question, how much does a rabbit on average drink? She doesn’t seam to drink much but than I’m used to rats who drink their weight in water on a daily basis.

[(dig)x(me)x(now)]

We have a few members on here with cage-aggressive bunnies, some of which never break the habit. Like Petzy said, it’s a territorial thing. You know you’re helping, but she sees you trespassing n her space. At least it keeps the cleaning and feeding interesting, right?

[(dig)x(me)x(now)]

My rabbit drinks a small bowl full of water per day. The bowl is about the size of his head. Some days he drinks more, some days less. It seems like it varies with each rabbit too.

As long as your rabbit is drinking and there is always water available to her, I wouldn’t worry.

[Deleted User]

 

I do not know how much water a rat needs, but rabbits drink quite a lot in relation to their size too. It also depends on feed: a rabbit eating mostly dry feed will be thirstier than one who receives fresh veggies/greens daily.

It is also a matter of individul rabbits: out of my four rabbits who all eat the exact same diet two are particularly fond of water, but they also like to lick salt.

As a rule a rabbit should consume about 2 oz. of water per 1 lb of body weight if he is on dry feed mainly.

[Deleted User]

I made a mistake here. That seems wrong what I posted up there.
A rabbit needs at least 50 ml of water per 1 kg of body weight; so that’s roughly 1 fluid ounce per 1 pound of body weight.

*need coffee and calculator ^$&*^ LOL

[Beka27]

Spay and neuter can greatly reduce territorial behavior, but some buns are going to be territorial regardless. Depending on what her history is, she may have been mistreated or not fed regularly in the past, making her more protective of her space and food. Work with her and take your time, allow her to trust you, and try to put her on a set feeding schedule so she gets fed the same time each day.

[anneNjoerule]

I try my best to respect her space. I love her to bits, but because of her slight aggression, many visitors don’t. I try to explain that she really doesn’t like you sticking your fingers in the cage because its an invasion of privacy but they think she’s just mean. Ah well, their loss.
As for space. I also thought of that. I can not free range her regrettably because my house is full of careless people and predatory animals… Her cage is about 6 times her size laying down and the house rabbit society recommends at least 4 times so she has less space than I’d like but she’s comfortable. I am planning on getting her an x pen for added space. I think that if she has her cage which is her space, and than a place that we can be together in that is more like neutral territory (the x pen) it might be more relaxed. This probably wont happen until after Christmas however, simply because with all the gift giving I’m fairly broke.
Yeah she seems to consume a small amount of water but I do feed her plenty of veggies daily so that might be why. She does drink and everything seems normal so, cool.

[anneNjoerule]

Beka27 What is the best time of day to feed a rabbit and should I give her the pellets, hay, and veggies all at once, or spread the three out throughout the day?

[Beka27]

Casual visitors shouldn’t have access to her space at all. They can interact with her in a more open area during her exercise time, but no one should be putting their hands in her cage but her main caregivers.

[LoveChaCha]

My friend’s rabbit (that passed recently) was a boy who was territorial. He was neutered also. Just did not like when my friend put her hand in there to give him pellets. It is quite normal behavior.

About dealing with people putting their hands in her cage, I would advise against it. I know, cute bunny.. but it is similar to a human walking into a strangers house.

Some people are on routines with rabbit feeding. I am. I give bunny her pellets in the morning, add more hay for the day, and give veggies at night, and add more hay. There is always plenty of hay going around

[anneNjoerule]

I would definitely prefer if people didn’t get in her face. I am an extremely non-confrontational person but I will mention it for her sake. Thanks Brittany, that sounds like a good feeding schedule, I’ll start that up today.

[LoveChaCha]

Whatever works for you I tend to be very uptight when people ask terrible questions about my rabbit (ahem.. you know.. those rabbits can be eaten ones.. ugh) and I will always fight for my bunny.

I always have fresh hay out for bunny, even if she is tucked nicely into her hidey hut ‘sleeping’ lol!

*steals your bunny*

[anneNjoerule]

Does anyone know the best height for an x pen? I’m seeing mostly 24 and 30/36/38 but they do go as high as 48. There is quite a price range in all the sizes, but I want to make sure its right even if it’s the most expensive.

[Beka27]

I think most people do 36 inches. It’s a good height. There are buns that will jump that, and for those, they need the 42. I wouldn’t personally go less than 36.

It’s very important that you learn to be a voice for your rabbit (and your pets in general). It’s up to you to ensure that she is safe and happy and protected. This starts by protecting her space. What I’ve done before with people is hold a bunny and tell them they can pet him/her on their back gently. The bunny is comfortable because they trust me and I have control over what is going on.

[MirBear]

i had a cage agressive rabbit, and she would only lunge and growl at me but attack everyone else, i always fed her a peice of pellet or veghie BEFORE even opening her cage, then i’d open it, give her anorher peice and fill up the dish, then a quick nose rub wnen i was done.

Larger cages with lots of items has seemed to reduce agression in my expirence.. this could be different for other bunnies.

[Elrohwen]

Just another suggestion for cage aggressive buns – some people have success with putting a well-gloved (for protection) hand in the cage and holding it there still. If the rabbit lunges, don’t worry, just keep your hand there so that she knows her blustering won’t control your actions. As soon as she is calm and friendly, put her food in with the other hand. Often bunnies are territorial when they know it works – it’s scary to see a bunny lunging at your hand and anybody’s first reaction would be to pull the hand away, so the bunny thinks their tricks have worked. By keeping your hand there and then rewarding her with food when she’s polite, she’ll hopefully realize she can’t boss you around and that staying calm gets her food.

It might not be a habit of hers you can break, but this technique (or the petting on the head technique) are both good to try.

[anneNjoerule]

Thanks for the suggestion Elrohwen, that makes sense and your right, I do pull away out of fright!

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