major behavioural problems

[tkelly]

I got my bunny neutered at the start of May 2013, to stop his aggressive behaviour. But since the procedure, he has gotten worse, showing fear of me and my boyfriend. Examples of the behaviour I mean is pulling all the fur out on the front of his neck, lunging at us, growling, running away from us, hiding when he’s let out of his cage, thumping his feet, attacking me in particular (mainly kicking and scratching- he has never bitten anyone), destroying only my clothes, and by the looks of it, trying to hump them.

We have both tried to retrain his perspective of people by sitting and talking to him, not picking him up (unless completely necessary), hand feeding him and gently stroking him. We have blocked off areas we dont want him to get into hide (like underneath the bed), and have provided other things for him to hide in. But to date, none of it has worked, and its becoming difficult to deal with, as we dont know if the bunny is happy, which we dont want. Any suggestions of other things we can do to improve his behaviour and make him like us again would be appreciated

[NewBunnyOwner123]

The fur pulling is concerning. He sounds like a fearful, stressed bunny. I however don’t know what to do about it or if there is a medical condition that’s causing him to do this. Just dnt have the bunny experience in that area. Was he a rescue? How old was he when you got him?

[Stickerbunny]

Yeah, what is his background? He may have some trauma you have to work through if he’s a rescue. Neutering can lower HORMONAL behavior, but it’s not a magical fix for all behavior issues. Do you wear any perfumes, scented hand lotions, etc? Do you have other pets? It sounds like he doesn’t like something about the way you smell, since he’s attacking your clothes and you in particular. Sometimes something as simple as you smell like a predator, or your perfume bugs them can be what sets them off. Does he kick/scratch just for walking in the room, or is it when you touch his stuff? Have you tried laying on the floor and totally ignoring him, rather than petting him when he comes up?

[tkelly]

we got him from a breeder who was struggling to get rid of the babies, unfortunately he was kept in a tiny cage with his mum and 5 other siblings, so I couldnt leave him there. he was 3 months when we got him (he’s currently 1 year and 4 months old) and didnt seem to be socialized with people, but he got used to us and before the neutering he was very friendly, would curl up on the couch with us, and showed affection to us but he was getting very territorial, and the vet recommended neutering, and after doing research into the health benefits, I decided to have him neutered. I dont have any other pets, so he does get lonely, but we had to move and dont have a space to get him a mate as planned. He has his cage open for at least 2 hours a day on week days and all day at the weekends.

there were complications to the neutering procedure. he technically died 4 times during the procedure, and had to be fed the critical care food round the clock from a syringe, as well as have pain meds, antibiotics and an anti inflammatory, for roughly a week and a half. as i was ‘the bad guy’ and had to give him all these syringes, i thought this is why I was the target rather than my boyfriend who didnt really do it as often.

We have taken him to several different vets to get their opinion on why he’s pulling out fur, but they dont know why, he hasnt got flea’s or skin problems, so they keep saying stress, but he’s done it since before the neutering. He has also has his teeth checked every 3/4 months and they’ve always been fine. I’ve wore the same perfume since I got him, and hes never reacted to clothes or me in this way before the neutering, but the destroying clothes has been happening mainly in the past 3 months, and the fear of people has gotten even worse in the same period of time.

[tkelly]

the attacking mainly happens when I over step the mark with him I think, ie stroking him a few times after building up to it for a few weeks, or sometimes just for opening his cage door to put food in. I have tried lying on the floor in the same room as him many times, but when he gets close and I move very slightly, he runs in the other direction

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