Seeking advice for aggressive widowed bun

[Lemony]

Hello everyone, I had my dear Luna pass away about 3 weeks ago, I’m very heartbroken over it still but above all my concern lies with her bonded bun Leo. In many ways he is thriving better than I could have ever hoped, always binkying for food and zooming every morning, flops in the afternoons, no diet change, and no visible depression. I hoped that having him spend time with her body would allow him some closure and it seems to have helped.

He has never liked being touched by humans, only Luna. He HATES being picked up so I only did it when I had to. He did tolerate being brushed but only while eating. Since Lunas passing, I feel like his hatred towards being touched and general aggression has escalated– I can’t really brush him without him grunting and lunging at the brush, so I have to do it in the bathtub where he can’t run away. This doesn’t really do anything but cause him more stress and make him more angry.

He never bites me, unless he accidentally touches his teeth to my hand when he lunges but he wouldn’t bite down. I think he’s just very stressed when touched. He spends all day free roam with me and my boyfriend and we all hang out in the living room together where he has another litter box, we spend lots of floor time with him and give him treats every so often. He even jumps on the couch with us when feeling adventurous (still no touches). Sometimes he accepts pets if he’s in the right mood. He comes when called and in general is a very sweet boy, he just has all the sudden started grunting at me a lot if I try to do anything with my hands around him that he doesn’t like. And now I worry if he got sick and had to take any medicine there is absolutely no way I could restrain him, I mean all hell breaks loose when I try clipping his nails so I have to take him to the vet, that was even before he got more aggressive

Is there anything I can do to help his stress around me? I’ve made a point to only approach him from the sides of his head, announce myself before entering the room to not startle him, not pet him if he’s in his hidey place, things like that. I’ve heard of people using the car ride trick to bond humans with rabbits but there’s no way in heck he wouldn’t be thrashing around in my arms… And I don’t want to stress him out that much. Any advice would be so much appreciated!

[DanaNM]

I’m very sorry for your loss. 🙁 Some of his behavior might be grieving, so keep that in mind. I have heard stories of cases like yours where the more human-focused bun passes, and the other bun actually ends up bonding more closely with the human since the other bun is gone.

I think since he is sensitive about hands, I would do a lot of hand feeding with him. Hand feed ALL his greens (don’t let go of them or let him run off with them), and even hand feed some of his pellets. Spend as much time on the floor with him as you can, but ignore him. You may have done all this before, but the dynamic might be different now that he’s a solo bun.

For necessary grooming, I prefer using a tall table with a towel on it. I just do a really deep grooming every two weeks or once a week, and try to really pump up the fiber when they are molting. If you use one hand to cover his eyes and the other to brush you should be able to get it done without too much struggle. Of course a treat afterward helps them forgive you. 🙂 I also use the table for medicine giving. I wouldn’t stress too much right now about that. If the need comes for that I’m sure your vet can show you the techniques and you will be able to find a solution (a lot of bunny meds also taste really sweet, so bunnies like them). Some people like to give their bunny a syringe of banana water to get them to associate the syringe with a treat (usually if you just present the syringe to the bun they will practically yank it out of your hand once the smell the banana).

Another thing to consider is clicker training. It can be a really good way to bond with a bunny that isn’t as interested in pets, and can be used to make nail trims and medicine giving easier. It will also help with his fear of hands if you use your hand as the “target”.

. . . 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.  

[Lemony]

Thank you so much for the reply 🙂 I hadn’t thought about giving his regular food in my hands too but that’s a great idea. I tried this morning already for his breakfast and I thought he would snatch a piece of lettuce from me and eat it on the other side of the room like he tends to do with treats but the whole thing was out of my hands and in his eating spot! Hopefully that continues.

I used to do grooming and medicine for Luna on my kitchen table with a towel and it was really easy, Leo until now I had gotten away with grooming him while he was eating but when I tried putting him on the table he thrashed so much that I was really worried he’d try to jump off and that scared me. Even covered his face for a while to try to keep him steady before doing anything and he’d just chew up the towel beneath him and try his best to thrash out from under me, so since he grunts too much at me and lunges during feeding time brushing that’s why I’ve tried the bath tub instead (don’t want him to have bad associations with food).

Hopefully the hand focus helps him, my boyfriend also has him trained to come to him on command when he clicks his tongue so that might be a good opportunity to hand feed him a little treat each time 🙂 thank you again for all the advice

[DanaNM]

Sounds like you have a great foundation for clicker training!

You could even use clicker training to get him used to the brush as well. 🙂

. . . 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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