Kingston is lunging at me!

[patricia*star]

Hi all,

thanks for the help with kingston-nesta, he love coming out of the cage now (which would be much better if he was fully litter-trained!)

But now hes starting to lung at my hand everytime i put my hand in the cage.  Ive just started litter training and ive been putting his poos into the litter tray so that he gets the idea quicker but now hes started running at me.

I do understand that im in his territory but how else am i to get him litter trained?  Just a second ago i went into the cage to get his mis-placed poos and he lunged at me again but this time he used his claws, prevoiusly he just aimed his head at my hand.

What should i do? is this normal bunny behaviour or have i seriously peed him off?

 

Lisa

[LittlePuffyTail]

Is he neutered? This was how my bun, Stormy, behaved before he was neutered. He would lunge aggressively and growl at any hands in his cage. He slowly calmed down and stopped this behaviour after I got him neutered.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Well, i’d say you have two options. One being, you never stick your hand in his territory again, at least while he’s in there (for cleaning let him out, block the area and do your thing) or two, teach him it’s not ok. If he lunges I’d immediately press his head down to show your dominant and say no! Once he learns your dominant then he’ll likely stop. Neutering will help this behavior tremendously too!

[patricia*star]

 

 

Thanks for the help guys.  Hes not neutered yet because as far as i know hes only 9weeks old.

I didnt think they got so territorial so quickly, i thought he would be fine because hes still a baby but hes getting more aggressive with each day.

I thried the head press thing and it seemed to work but this morning my boyfriend opened the cage to pick up his waterbottle that had fell down and kingston lunged at him and bit his hand!

I also suspect that i gave him too much freedom too quickly because ive let him out twice and allowed him full access (under my supervision) of the living room.  He did a hell of a lot of poos!

Am i going about this all wrong? i dont want to end up owning a little demon

 

 

[Beka27]

how positive are you that he’s only 9 weeks? has he seen and been “aged” by a rabbit savvy vet? 3.5-4 months is usually when males can get neutered. aside from pushing his head down when he lunges and cleaning when he is out, there’s not going to be a lot that can be done for that without neutering. this is a common situation with hormonal bunnies. some buns post-altering still don’t like hands in their space, but i think in general they are able to tolerate it better, esp. when they know that the hand is bringing food or hay…

how are his litterbox habits in the cage? once he is getting the box there, then you can start to expand his area slowly. be prepared that there might be marking poos, but those should decrease as he gets used to the new area (moreso after neutering too). if you don’t have a cordless hand vac, i’d suggest you get one (you can get them inexpensive for about 15-20 bucks!) and just suck up the poos when he’s done.

LOL! hormonal bunnies can be little demons. this is just the fact of the matter. i guess it’s the trade-off for going that route rather than adopting an adult, altered bunny. but don’t worry… with attention, proper care, and neutering he will make a wonderful companion.

do you have any other questions? if you have not read up on buns yet, you might want to check out the House Rabbit Society website (rabbit.org)
it’s the ultimate in bunny info, along with BinkyBunny of coruse!

[patricia*star]

I havent had him checked or aged yet but i had to wait a few weeks until i was allowed to collect him so i just came to the conclusion that he was still too young before i got him, and after my research i found that babys normally leave the parents at around 8 weeks so i jumped to that conclusion!

His litter habits seem to be okay, he is peeing exclusively in there but his poos are really eratic! when i first let him into the front room he did about 30 poos spread all around the room!
Luckily for me it was the hard ones so i could just pick them up but as soon as i did he went back and replaced them! Does this sound normal?

Ive been making a effort to not go into his cage and touch stuff, if i do go in its only to stoke his head and say hi and he seems to tolerate this.

My boyfriend laughs and says that it would have been easier to train a dog but after my research i can see why its so hard for rabbits. They have evolved as a prey animal and are scared of anything they think may eat them! dogs are lucky because they have evolved to work closely with humans.

I can see its going to be hard work but i also know that it will be well worth it!

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