Ollie’s gone psycho

[SilverBlaze]

So, my sweet bunny that used to have lots of fun has somehow, literally overnight, turned psycho. She managed to wiggle under the board I have to keep her out from under my bed, and worked her way up into the box springs. So I reached up and pulled her out, and put her back on the floor. She then growled and started lunging at me, screaming!! I put her in her cage for a time-out of sorts, because it really spooked me, and she then procedded to dump her litterbox everywhere.

So I pulled out the vaccum, and used the hose attachment to clean up the mess. When I tried to refill her litter box, she lunged again and bit. She freaking drew blood. So I took away her toys, because this is seriously not okay behavior. I can’t get near her cage without her shrieking, growling, and lunging. I tried to slip some lettuce through the door, and she slaughtered it. Needless to say, I can’t even get in to refill her food. 48 hours ago she was fine and sweet. Now, I’m seriously contemplating finding her a new home. I refuse to be terrorized by a freaking 2 pound rabbit.

Please help?!

Edit: Please note, it’s actually bok-choy… it’s green, it’s leafy, my brain defaults it under ‘lettuce’. I did with my guinea pig too. Realized abruptly I may get lots of notes to not feed bunnies lettuce. I don’t. It’s bok-choy.

[Monkeybun]

First of all, bunnies don’t understand punishment by taking away toys. That will just make her more bored and frustrated.

Second, she may either be frustrated you took away her new “toy” aka your box spring, or she may have gotten hurt when you pulled her out. If she is still freaking out, you may want to get her checked out. Bunnies are usually aggressive like that due to fear or pain.

She could also be getting cage aggressive. Alot of unspayed females will get like that. Spaying will help, both for that and for various health reasons.

Hope this helps

[Ahvo]

OH man, Ponyo does this now and then when he’s overexcited. He’s got an area in my room that is his to destroy (it’s lined with boxes, so anything cardboard is now deemed his, haha) but when he’s had a particularly… ACTIVE time in there, throwing stuff around and digging at the sides, SOMETIMES he’ll go nuts-o and go for my hand and growl any time I move or touch anything near him, or pet him too close to his butt (which he’s normally fine with, but bunnies nip each other’s butts when they play, so I guess he thinks I’m messin’ with him).

Normally, I leave him be for a bit, and he’s fine, but if I need to sometimes it’s back in the cage until he flops down because he was so tuckered out without realising, haha.

Don’t get mad! It’s not personal, I think some buns just get a bit rambunctious, like kids. <3

[Beka27]

Yikes! That does sound scary. When was she last evaluated by a vet? If this has come on suddenly, AND she is already spayed, I would be concerned that there might be something wrong health wise. Pain and discomfort can make rabbits act out like this too.

If she is not spayed, I would not expect this behavior to get better until after that has been done. Some rabbits don’t react as badly to hormonal surges, but it sounds like she is having a major hormone imbalance… or something. If she is intact, it could also be a false pregnancy.

[jerseygirl]

It sounds like most of her behaviour was reaction to your actions. We have to remember they are a prey animal. “Walk in their shoes” so to speak and see things how they see it.
When she is being difficult behaviour wise, just give her her space. Her cage should be her sanctuary and she’ll react toward anyone messing with it or “intruding” when she’s feeling frightened.

Did you vacuum up the litter while she was in there? That would be frightening… unless it’s something she’s used to you doing.

As mentioned though, if she’s intact, hormones will certainly exacerbate things.

Regarding lettuce, you can feed it to rabbits. It’s just one type (iceberg) that’s not good for them to have.

 

[SilverBlaze]

She was spayed about 2 weeks ago now, and yeah, I did vaccum while she was in there. I thought poking the hose in the door might encourage her to hop out for a while, but she just lowered her head and growled, and I kinda figured… push comes to shove, she’ll move, right? I’m used to the dogs not caring the least about the vaccum, except for the Golden that loves to be vaccumed. She’ll lay in the way to get you to use it on her. :/

 

She doesn’t seem to be hurt; she’s hopping around fine, she’s throwing food around the cage… she just attacks whenever you get too close to it.

 

…… and now apparently the litterbox itself. Legit, she’s boxing the litterbox and growling.

 

I really don’t mean to get mad at her, please understand. I’m used to dogs, and if a dog acted this way, I know what to do, and they’re big enough that I don’t worry about accidentally hurting them. She’s so small, but drawing blood, and nothing really seems to faze her. Time out doesn’t work, scruffing doesn’t work, growling back at her makes it worse.

[Sarita]

Her hormones are whacked out right now since she was just spayed.

None of those punishments will work for a rabbit. Scruffing her is just going to hurt her and cause her to not trust you which can cause this type of behavior. You just really cannot punish rabbits – they don’t understand and it just makes them more fearful of you which leads to distrust which leads to this type of behavior.

Definitely don’t mess with her stuff when she’s in there :~) they just don’t like that.

The best thing for aggressive behavior (and realize it’s distrust and fear because rabbits don’t have the capacity to be mean or vicious) is to keep trying to build trust by being calm and not reacting by screaming or being aggressive back. I usually just walk away and come back calm and try to pet them and speak soft and sweet and tell them that everything is okay.

[jerseygirl]

Yep, completely different from dogs!

I’m trying to think of some sites or books to recommend but drawing a blank at the moment. There is a thread at top of 1 of the forums that has some book suggestions. There’s some good ones that can be really helpful in understanding rabbts (to a degree) and how to approach things.

[LoveChaCha]

I think of how if a strange person invaded my apartment. I would not like it and would fight and do everything to get that person out. I believe that is how your bunny is thinking. Some bunnies are very cage territoral and is best to do some cleaning of it when bunny is out of their home.

[Stickerbunny]

Agree with everyone here – you just can’t punish a rabbit. You can tell them “no” if they are chewing something they shouldn’t and they’ll listen, for the moment, if they feel like it.. but that doesn’t mean they won’t chew that again if the mood strikes.

Best way to handle her is to understand first off, that at two weeks her hormones are still out of whack. It takes a month, or more, for their hormones to calm down after a spay. My female actually got WORSE before she got better from her spay. Secondly, you pulling her away probably scared her, so she lashed out. Pulling her out of your box springs was OK, but then the best thing to do would have been to leave her alone and ignore her until she calmed down. Yep they’ll make a mess, throw a hissy fit … think of it as a two year old child throwing a tantrum, you just have to wait it out. Then, once she is calm, you can get her out of the cage and clean up her tantrum mess.

You can’t take away their toys, or hit them, or yell at them. The best way to train is positive reinforcement. Ignore them when they’re bad, praise them when they are good.

The only “punishment” my girl gets is back into her area when she begins eating carpet because… well, she’s insistent and if she’s being bad, she loses her freedom privilege. But it’s a calm “Ok little brat, back you go” rather than being angry with her, she doesn’t know any better. And when she bites me, I push her gently away so she can’t bite again and tell her “no” firm, but calm and sit back away from her. She hasn’t bit me in a long time though, since her hormones calmed down after the spay (about 5 weeks after the surgery). The ONLY time she really nipped me before that was if I messed with her litter box – and the vacuum both mine are scared to death of, so I always make sure they are well away and have escape routes before I vacuum.

I think of them as 1-2 year old children. Curious, destructive, bratty, don’t listen… infinite patience and a good deal of good humor, even when they are scratching/biting you to pieces is needed (I say as my scratches from yesterday’s nail clipping are healing up…) lol

[LBJ10]

My two could care less about the vacuum. But I agree, some buns are scared and it’s best not to come into their cage with it when they are in there (especially if they are already upset). Everyone is probably right, she is probably having crazed hormone fluctuations right now. I remember Wooly was literally bouncing off the walls after he was neutered. When it comes to punishment, I will usually tell my rabbits “no”. If they don’t stop what they are doing, I will start coming for them. They usually see me coming and take off running. They know if I catch them that they are going to go back to their cage, so usually they won’t go back to whatever it was they were doing (at least not for awhile anyway).

[Monkeybun]

3 of my 4 buns are terrified of the vacuum. Monkey thinks it’s going to eat her. She gets so scared

Give her some space, let her calm down. Don’t mess with her cage stuff when she is in it. She’ll eventually get calmer again

[SilverBlaze]

Thanks guys. I slipped some of her rings back in her cage, as well as the beloved keys, and she quickly stashed them in her litterbox. Opened the door and sat on the floor until she hopped out so I could put back her blanket, and she stared at me for awhile before hopping over a little and cleaning herself by my feet. (Won’t lie, was terrified I was going to lose toes! >.<) She raced back in as soon as I reached towards the cage, so I sat back and resumed reading, and after 4 times of this, she watched but let me put her blanket and toys back.

This was a horrific flashback to Hershey and the terror she used to reign over the house, and it’s really scary. Bunnies aren’t supposed to be violent, you know? We read several books before getting the buns, and nothing mentioned this sort of freak out. Now if we can just figure out Frost, we’ll be good to go!

Thank you guys again, you’ve been absolute lifesavers. Literally.

[Monkeybun]

Well, I can say that the bunnies evidently do not know they aren’t supposed to be violent, as they often get that way maybe we should tell them…

[SilverBlaze]

XD We totally should. “No, you can’t be violent. YOU’RE A BUNNY!!! You’re supposed to be sweet and cuddly and fluffy!” XD

[TaraMichele]

now if only we could tell them they couldn’t have attitudes either!

[LoveChaCha]

But.. Miss Chacha wouldn’t be Miss Chacha Diva IF she had NO Attitude :'(

[TaraMichele]

very true, Ive been getting tons of attitude from Mr Cady today…Ive been sick for the past couple of days and theres one box he specifically loves to full out attack (which gets very loud) so I put it up and he’s been giving me the evil bunny stare non-stop and makes it known. He has been sitting on the pillows beside me bed (aka his steps to get on the bed) and giving me the ultimate look of disapproval…guess needing sleep doesnt trump a bunnys needs to destroy and conquer the cardboard world

[Arthur'sMom]

I got protest poops this am. Arthur wanted out of his condo an I was leaving to take my daughter to dance camp. He pooped right in front of his door. :/ What a stinker. And when I came back, he looked at me and hopped in his bucket-bed and layed down butt towards me.

[LoveChaCha]

Arthur’s Mom, your comment made me crack up lol! Yes, rabbits DO spite us! They love their routine indeed!!! XD

[mint]

Bamboo is doing that too. She was spayed about 3 weeks ago and she’s only 3 and a half months old. The shelter did the spay, I didn’t have a choice. I’ve had her since the spay. The more comfortable she gets, the more of a terror she is. She insists on getting into crevices, and when I block them off she goes up to the crevice, tries to get in, and when she can’t, she grunts and stomps her feet. It’s no use trying to get her away from something she is interested in, I just have to block it off. She’s extremely hyper. She gets out between 4 to 6 hours every day and she is running around, digging carpet, chewing furniture, or doing sprints around the room the entire time. I can’t believe her energy.

I figure she is just young and so she has a lot of energy, and she is getting comfortable so she is asserting herself. She is also starting to do territorial poops. I kind of gave up on trying to stop her from doing things. I’ll distract her or block off areas. She’s really bossy. Sometimes she nips me too and I just yelp and jump up. She gets kind of surprised. I hope she will grow out of it.

I don’t think you can discipline bunnies, all of my bunnies just think it’s a hilarious game when I scream and jump up from where I am sitting. They will hop away from whatever bad thing they are doing and binky in the air. Once I sit back down they go right back to what they are doing so that I jump up again, and then they hop away binkying again.

[LoveChaCha]

Chacha used to have a TON of energy. A LOT A LOT, zooming, doing sky high binkies. After she turned one, she has become a lot calmer and more relaxed. She prefers flopping and snoozing over binkies now hahaha. She is quite happy and content, but shows it in a different way.

[PuddleJumper]

All this rabitude stories have me laughing! Protest poops! missing toes! hahaha Bunnies are awesome even when their being evil!

[Beka27]

Rabbits may also go thru an adolescence period, which is above and beyond any hormonally-induced behavior. That is just them being a young, “rebellious” teenager, spay/neutered or not. This may last until they are 12-18 months.

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