Bunny Suddenly Extremely Agressive

[Josephine]

Hey everyone, my name is Josephine and I am the owner of Eloise an 8 month old lion head rabbit. Up until this point she has been extremely sweet and never shown any aggression towards me or others. Recently however in the last week or so she has been extremely agressive, as if overnight. The first night she was biting my book bag so I went to zip it up and she attacked my hand, drawing blood. I was shocked and decided just to cage her for the night with her hay and call it a day. Then the next day she attacked me while I was getting out her pellets. She was circling like she was hungry so I gave her one and she bit my finger, drawing blood again. Then today I was petting her and suddenly she snapped and bit my thumb. I am wondering if any of you can give me insight of what’s going on with her. She has been eating and pooping normally, the only thing that has changed is a few weeks back I added pellets to her diet in addition to hay. Could it be a phase or is this something that is going to continue happening? I am desperate for help because I love Eloise so much and I don’t want to have to rehome her if this keeps happening. She has free range in my room and my apartment when I’m home and is only caged (in a large dog crate) while I’m gone and during the night. She is not spayed because I am in college and currently can’t afford that. I’ve had Eloise since she was one month old and this is the first I’ve seen of this kind of behavior. We have bonded and she typically snuggles in bed with me and follows me around the house.

[LBJ10]

How old is she?

Unfortunately, this is a common problem for many bunny owners. They have a sweet baby bunny and then one day, they are a terror. It can happen literally overnight, like a switch has been flipped. That’s what hormones do.

[Doodler]

I agree that this sounds like a perfect case of hormones. As soon as I started reading your story the first thing that came to my mind is that she isn’t spayed. This was well before I read that sentence. I know it’s tough when you are in college but I would definitely suggest doing whatever you can to get her spayed. It’s best for her health and this should help with the behavioral issue. The good news is at 8 months she is old enough to get it done now. When it comes to hormones it’s hard to predict how they will act at any given moment but it’s probably not a phase and it may unfortunately get worse if she is not spayed.

I do want to add in case down the road you want to get another bunny friend that one month is definitely way too young. They shouldn’t be rehomed until they are at least 8 weeks.

[lynnl]

OMG, Doodles… The cutest bun bun face!!!! Hi Josephine, yes I also agree, spay asap!! Oscar got neutered as soon as he was old enough ( 6 mo.) On the way to the vet, I told him he was getting his “nails clipped”. Lol. Seriously though, much better for their health, and you should have a happier bunny, which will make you happier too.

[BunMom#1]

If you want this problem to stop soon, I also suggest spaying your bun. But if your not in for that costly process, you can do what I did. Not that long ago, my bun started to have hormonal anger issues, and bit me quite a lot. I also don’t have the money to have him neutered, so I bought leather gloves to protect my hands, and went on a bunny-training regimen. If he tried to bite me, or hurt me, I would bop his nose. If he was acting normal, and was generally non-aggressive, I rewarded him with his favorite treat. it is now two months later and he has learned his lesson – he hasn’t tried to hurt me since. It just takes time, patience, and discipline.

[Asriel and Bombur]

I wouldn’t suggest nose bopping, no matter how gentle. In some bunnies it can make them fearful of you, and that’s not exactly what you want in your relationship with your bunny.

[JLH]

my female bun became a little grouch at 5 months, she was very sweet before then. I had her spayed and within 2 weeks after being spayed she was back to her sweet little self. try and save up some money and have your bunny spayed, what she is doing is normal, I agree with the other post on here of not punishing your bunny for normal behavior, please don’t bop her on the nose.

[Doodler]

Awwww. Thanks Oscar!  You made Doodles blush.  “Nails clipped”.  That’s funny!

Josephine I agree and would not do the nose bop technique.   Trust is so important and for some bunnies that can cause them to become untrusting and even more aggressive.

[Author]

Messages