Food Aggression

[Bella&George]

Hi all,

My rabbit George (1yr, neutered) has been getting really aggressive towards my other rabbit Bella (1yr, spayed) whenever i feed them their greens. I feed them their fresh greens twice a day, and lately he’s been lunging at her (especially her face) when he sees me approach with their food. He chases her and has grunted at her too, until she runs and hides away. Once they have their food, they happily share it and don’t fight. He hasn’t done any damage to her yet and no big fights have occurred but im scared its going to get worse. Lately i have been trying to stop him by loudly and firmly saying “HEY” or “NO” which makes them both stop what theyre doing but it doesnt seem like enough to stop it from happening again and i dont want them to be scared of me. Any suggestions on what to do would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

[DanaNM]

Some very food-motivated bunnies can be like this, it can be very frustrating.

How long have they been bonded? Is there anything else going on with them that might be affecting their bond at all?

I was dealing with this a bit with one of my pairs when they were newly bonded, but it seems like it has gotten better over time. I also started making a real effort to wait to put the food down until they were calm. I realized I was unintentionally rushing to put the food down to stop the chasing, so might have been actually rewarding the behavior I was trying to avoid! So now I just stand there in calm silence with the bowl, and wait until they aren’t circling or anything.

I had another pair that had a bit of this, and the bun that did the chasing was actually having dental issues and not eating enough hay. So if this was a sudden change for your buns and you don’t see any reason why their bond would be in trouble, I would have George checked out for dental issues or other health problems that could be making him more food- aggressive.

One thing I was considering trying (if things didn’t improve with the first pair I mentioned) was training my more food-crazy bunny to target to a mat during feeding time. Bunnies are pretty easy to clicker train, so if you can redirect the behavior to something positive when he anticipates food, that may help! I didn’t end up needing to do this, but it might be worth considering if all else fails with your two.

. . . 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.  

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