Plan to reduce agression in a foster rabbit

[Harley&Thumper]

The local animal shelter asked me to look after one of their rabbits that was getting aggressive and always charging at people’s hands.

My plan to deal with the aggression is as follows:

1. Sitting on the floor with the bunny for a few hours each day, the bunny has about 50 sq. ft. of room to run around in so I’m not too worried about exercise.

2. Frequent petting, I place my hand to the side of the rabbits face, wait for the charging to finish and then start rubbing her head for a bit and then repeat.

3.On Friday and Saturday nights, I spend the night on the floor with the bunny to help her get used to my scent.

Do you guys think these steps will help reduce the aggression? Neither of my two rabbits are aggressive so I’m not used to dealing with it.

[LBJ10]

Is there something that seems to trigger her attacks? You mentioned she goes for the hands. Is it when someone reaches for her? Where is your hand when it happens? Some bunnies freak out if a hand approaches from directly in front of them (where they cannot see as well).

[Harley&Thumper]

If a hand approaches within 6″ (15 cm) then she grunts and starts boxing at the hand for a second or so. I always try to approach from the side but I haven’t seen that make a difference.

[LBJ10]

One website we found suggested approaching from directly above.

[Harley&Thumper]

I have unintentionally discovered that she does not like it when my head appears when she wasn’t expecting it and she will attack hard enough to break the skin.

[Harley&Thumper]

More updates: Spaghetti only grunts when I pet her without permission while she is eating otherwise she does grunt and occasionally tooth purrs. She still charges and boxes if your hand gets within 6″ of her but she is very quick to stop and then I can pet her. I’m still waiting for when I can put my hand near her and she will just lie down and ask for pets.

[LBJ10]

Does she accept treats from your hand?

[Harley&Thumper]

Yes, she will snatch the hay treats from my hand and then sit down to eat them or if I have tiny pieces of fruit she will eat out of my hand without nipping me.

[Wick & Fable]

She sounds like Wick during a topical treatment period. Constantly geared up to defend and nip, but pretty quick to realize the hand isn’t a threat. it sounds like good progress.

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.

[Harley&Thumper]

When she nips hard, should I just squeal and walk away?

[Harley&Thumper]

Also, if I forget to squeal and just quickly move away, am I making things worse?

[Wick & Fable]

It depends in my opinion. If the lunging is constant/caused by blindspot approach, I’d just keep your hand their so your rabbit gets feedback that not everything coming towards her is threatening or going to hurt her, so just take the hit so she learns. If it’s every so often and with intent (she definitely saw it coming, not from her blind spot), then I would squeal and retract.

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.

[Harley&Thumper]

When Spaghetti goes back to the shelter she is going to have to be picked up to be transitioned between her cage and her play area. Should I start picking her up to get her used to it? I don’t want to ruin the progress I have made with her so far.

[Harley&Thumper]

So I placed my hand under Spaghetti’s face to ask for grooming the way a rabbit would and Spaghetti responding by biting the crap out of me. Is that because she wants to be the dominant bun or is it because she is still very aggressive?

[Wick & Fable]

Rabbits don’t really see humans as a part of their hierarchy, and since we even visually look very different, it may have just been she read that as an attack or plan of assault. Plus it was something out of her control.

In terms of picking up, you can try small sessions, but keep in mind every rabbit has a different threshold of tolerance for holding that cannot be increased.

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.

[Harley&Thumper]

So is it worth continuing to put my hand under her chin? When she bit me she almost triggered the fight half of fight or flight.

[Alex&Clary]

One note on the picking up, the shelter that I adopted my last rabbit from uses litter boxes to carry their rabbits, so that they never actually have their feet off the ground, they train them to go into the litter box, then when they are carried they put the box on their hip, and put their arm over the rabbit so they can’t jump out. It seems to work for them, and once they know how to do it the buns tend to not have issues with it.
Just my 2 cents lol

[Wick & Fable]

Don’t put your hand under her chin since it doesn’t accomplish anything.

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.

[LBJ10]

I agree, I wouldn’t put my hand under her chin.

[Harley&Thumper]

Spaghetti has gone back to the shelter, hopefully she doesn’t become aggressive again.

[LBJ10]

Was she doing well before you sent her back?

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