Starting to become aggressive

[Brownie's Mama]

Hi my little dwarf has suddenly become aggressive. She is spayed and is about 9 months old. Whenever I shake her treat bottle she jumps into her cage and waits for the treat but this morning as I was putting her treat into her bowl she lunged and bit me! I don’t know why she is exhibiting this behavior now! Any suggestions?

[LoveChaCha]

Brownie’s Mama, it sounds like your lady bun is territorial of her cage!

My Chacha bun is a spayed female and if I stick my hands into her condo while she is in it, she gets angry and lunges at me.

[Brownie's Mama]

What’s weird is that she’s never done that before… While she was eating spinach I was petting her and praising her. Hopefully she doesn’t keep doing that or giving her treats will be tricky!

[lmais]

I have a female dwarf as well, and she sometimes lunges at me because she thinks it’s funny, and dances away after. She is also pretty territorial of her cage, if I stick my arms into her cage she gets mad but doesn’t bite. Has this only happened once? It’s possible that you startled her

[LittlePuffyTail]

Sounds to me like she’s just super excited about her treat. My female gets like that too.

[Brownie's Mama]

Ok update! Brownie is no longer being aggressive. She doesn’t eat her yogurt treats anymore either so I don’t know what’s going on with her now. She is pretty spoiled and normally gets her way. I actually have to hand feed her the orchard grass… LOL!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Is she still eating everything else? I’m always concerned when my buns refuse treats.

[Brownie's Mama]

She stopped eating her pellets will eat her alfalfa hay (she refuses to eat Timothy) and I give her spinach since she doesn’t like any other vegetables. I also hand feed her the orchard grass.

[Hazel]

Just a heads up, yogurt treats are bad for rabbits. They should not eat anything that contains dairy. I know they sell all kinds of treats at the pet stores for bunnies, but most of those are actually unhealthy for them.

[Brownie's Mama]

Really? I didn’t ready anything about them. I know I usually give her just two. Once in the morning and once in the evening. Although she is not eating them now anymore!

[lmais]

They might be making her feel sick.. I had bought some yogurt treats, from the pet store too when I first got Ruby and, of course, everyone there said they were fine. I asked my vet before I gave her any and she said definitely not, there’s the dairy part like Hazel mention and there’s a bunch of additives too that really aren’t good for them. Try maybe some Oxbow treats, they’re great at keeping their stuff natural and healthier than most treats. It’s like $5-7 (CAD) for a bag and you can give 1-2 (sometimes 3-4 depending on the treat) per day, but each bag will tell you how much is allowed per day. Either way with treats you want to keep them as healthy as possible since rabbits go gaga over them. Ruby loves the Strawberry treats and barley treats from oxbow and the “hearty apple dumplings” from Little Friends.

Or if you have a lot of fruit at home (I don’t have a clue if they have these same treats in Hawaii lol, but I’m assuming fruit may be easier or cheaper to come by) just a little slice of apple or some pineapple works as a treat, too.

[Hazel]

Have you tried craisins? Bunnies go bonkers for craisins! Although they shouldn’t have too many of them either. A couple a day is ok I think.

[lmais]

Pineapple in very small amounts though

[Brownie's Mama]

Man this is going to be a challenge! Brownie is SUPER picky! She won’t eat lettuce, carrots, celery, parsely… She prefers spinach tho…

[Brownie's Mama]

Posted By Hazel on 11/06/2012 03:32 PM
Have you tried craisins? Bunnies go bonkers for craisins! Although they shouldn’t have too many of them either. A couple a day is ok I think.

Are you talking about like the Ocean Spray craisins?

[lmais]

If it helps some favorites over here are swiss chard, chicory, dandelion, basil and carrot tops. Sometimes it takes time though, I think most rabbits are picky to begin with, some of her favorites it took her weeks to even try and now she gets mad if she doesn’t have them one night

[LoveChaCha]

Yeah, the yogurt drops are a no-no as buns cannot digest dairy products

Brownie’s Mama – YES! Buy a small bag of Ocean Spray Craisins and give one to your bun. Craisins are an addiction that my bunny has BTW, Aloha

[Brownie's Mama]

I will definitely try the Craisin.. At least if she doesn’t eat it then I can!! MAHALO everyone!

[Brownie's Mama]

Oh BTW what treats would be good for her from Petco as that is what we have in Hawaii?

[lmais]

http://www.petco.com/product/117588/Kaytee-Timothy-Hay-Baked-Small-Animal-Treats.aspx

Depending on the additives that are in it these seem good! Also if you haven’t bought apple tree sticks for her already those are really great for their their teeth

[tanlover14]

My buns go NUTS over Craisins also, haha.

Petco has a treat called Nibble Rings also. My buns LOVE them and they are crunchy. But made out of the same things their pellets are made of.

And I have to agree — my buns are all picky eaters too! SUCH brats. I got them some Botanical Hay the other day as a treat and they went on strike. Refused to eat it. Brats.

[Brownie's Mama]

Oh I have the apple sticks for her, she won’t even touch it… I will try the Craisins tho!

[LoveChaCha]

Posted By Brownie’s Mama on 11/06/2012 04:04 PM

Oh BTW what treats would be good for her from Petco as that is what we have in Hawaii?

I also buy the dried papaya sometimes.

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