At wit’s end with aggression

[alallen]

I have two bunnies:

A male, neutered, who we’ve had about 3 years. He’s super sweet and we don’t have any problems with him.

We also have a female, neutered, who we’ve had about 2 years. Until she was neutered they were kept separately and then after being neutered we slowly bonded them and it was successful. They live in a fairly large pen that takes up half of our dining room. They’re litter box trained and have plenty of toys available.

Here’s the thing, though. The female has been aggressive since we got her. She was rescued by a friend (her neighbor owned the bun but put her outside when they didn’t want her anymore). The first few weeks she was super sweet and cuddly, nothing unusual. Then she started getting aggressive: lunging, grunting, all of it. I figured it was her hormones kicking in because she was obviously very young. I read up on rabbit aggression and tried all of the usual tips. When nothing worked, I figured getting her neutered would help. It hasn’t. She’s still very aggressive towards us (not the other bun, though). There’s no way she isn’t used to us because we’ve had her for years now. She’s free roamed with us, laid on our laps, etc (just those first few weeks, though). So I don’t know what gives. And it just seems to be getting worse. I’ve tried slowly “reintroducing” ourselves to her, just going and sitting in their area and letting her come up to us. I’ve tried bribing, treats, toys, slow pets, everything. I’m at my wit’s end here. Every time I go in their pen I’m attacked. What can I do? What could be causing this? It’s gotten to the point where I don’t enjoy owning her and that breaks my heart. The last thing I want to do is give her up, but I’ve started to consider it. I’ll try anything to avoid that, though. Please help. 

[Dasher]

She might be getting territorial if you are going into her pen. Can you open up the pen so she can come to you?

[DanaNM]

Hi alallen, welcome

Sorry you are dealing with this! I don’t have any personal experience with this, but I found an old threads where there some very experienced members had some good advice:
https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/120058/Default.aspx

Is she only attacking when you enter her pen? If so, it might be best to respect that, and only enter her pen (for cleaning etc) when she isn’t in it. Or making a part of her area that is her “safe zone” that you don’t enter (like a condo or cage), and then have a more open area that you can enter.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[LittlePuffyTail]

Can you describe the sort of aggression? Like the others asked, is it just when you enter “her territory?”

[alallen]

It isn’t necessarily when I’m first entering, though that does happen a lot. This morning, for instance, I was sitting in their pen and petting the male rabbit. He was being so lovey and I was just sitting with him giving head rubs. The female ran up to us and grunted and lunged at my hand. I hadn’t been interacting with her, as I’ve been taking a hands-off, “have her approach me” method. And sometimes when we enter she’s perfectly fine. But territorial feelings, you think? Any tips for that?

[alallen]

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

To answer the questions and give more info:
It’s not always upon first entering, but that seems to happen a lot. We try to go and sit with them in the pen fairly often. I’ll go sit and read and give pets if they’re feeling it. Sometimes she lets us pet her without issue. Sometimes she attacks from the moment we enter. Sometimes we’ll be petting the male bun and she’ll attack our hands, even though he’s clearly enjoying it and not feeling threatened/frightened at all.

I’ve noticed it’s worse in the mornings and she gets really aggressive when we give food (pellets in the morning, veggies in evenings). Well go to put the dish down and she’ll jump up and lunge at the dish while grunting, basically knocking it out of our hands. They aren’t going hungry, I swear. They are fed a great diet and are in perfect health according to our rabbit vet.

We do have plans to open the pen up more. Right now their pen takes up half of our dining room, and we’re working on bunny proofing our living room area so that we can open the pen while we’re home and give them more room to roam. I also like them roaming because I feel like we had a closer relationship when they were free roam previously (moved houses and this one isn’t bun proof yet, but it’s getting close).

I should mention that the move isn’t new, so it’s not a “new area” problem. BUT we did cut back on their area a few months ago. They previously had the entire dining room, but we halved it because I wanted to have access to the dining area and also in anticipation of giving them the living room access. Basically, I wanted to have them more free roam, as I said, and changed their area up as part of that.

There seems to be a consensus of territorial feelings, so any tips? Do you think opening the pen up when we’re home will help? Maybe giving them less room made her upset? She was aggressive before that, but as I’m typing this out I’m wondering if that change made it worse. They still have plenty of room to run around (it’s a big room), but definitely less than they had before obviously. I’m making the living room bun proofing a priority at this point because, like I said, I’ll do just about anything to avoid giving her up. I feel terrible that I’ve even started thinking about it, which is why I started this post. I’ll be grateful for any tips or suggestions.

[alallen]

Thanks for the info, I’ll definitely check it out!

[Dasher]

She doesn’t want you intruding on her space. If you let her out she shouldn’t feel as territorial as she does about her home because she won’t be in her personal space anymore. As with the food I’m not so sure what to do. It’s normal for bunnies to get very excited. My bunny didn’t like me getting too close to her food but feeding her was never a problem.

[Dasher]

Also it’s ok to feel frustrated with your bunny. I think we all do at some point. You want to have a better relationship with her and it’s great that you are seeking advice.

[DanaNM]

Reading more about her behavior, I wonder if a combo of more free-roam space, and then a space that’s only “hers” (and her boo of course) that’s within her current pen, might help her feel more secure? So maybe even a pen within the pen, or a condo, or a cage, that is her safe zone that you never enter when she’s in there (except for an emergency or medical necessity). Then maybe that coupled with more free-roam time?

Maybe temporarily, you could set up an add-on that’s outside the current pen where you sit to give pets, so they can come out to you, rather you going in to them?

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[LittlePuffyTail]

My little Bridge bunny, Olivia was exactly as you describe your girl, except that she was a non-bonded bunny. She would lunge and growl if I went into her space, she would sometimes knock the bowl right out of my hand, she would pummel me without warning sometimes, but despite this, she had a super sweet side too. It took me a long time to find it, like a year, but we eventually became great buddies and she loved attention and cuddles, but on her terms. In Olivia’s case, I suspect the aggression was due to being abused/neglected in the past as well as being spayed later in life. She retained a lot of her territorial aggression. Some bunnies are more dominant and territorial. All bunnies are unique. I loved my Olivia and accepted her for who she was.

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