Territorial behavior in SPAYED female

[Musel]

Hi everybun!

First of all and just to let you guys know, I’m from Denmark so english is not my native language. I hope you can understand me anyway. 

So the problem is:

I have a great female bun, spayed, approx 2 years of age. She is sweet and cuddly towards me, and I love her very much! She is free roaming in my appartment, is litter trained and yeah, pretty much the perfect pet for me. 

The problem then, comes to anyone else than me. She is VERY territorial in my living room (where her litter box is placed), and is a nightmare when I have visitors. She will run towards them and bite them in the ankles. If they sit on the sofa, she will bite them HARD (drawing blood!) and poop everywhere in the sofa. The problem is very bad with my boyfriend (who does not live with me) and he is literally scared to death of her. 

I have now bought a hutch to keep her in when I have people around, but she gets very upset about it and shakes the bars wild and violent.

So my question is: Do you guys have ANY suggestions or good advice on how to make this behavior come to an end? Is there actually any thing I can do, or should I accept that she can not roam free when I have visitors? My big concern is, that my boyfriend will move in with me sometime and if she keeps this behavior towards him, I don’t know what to do, as I have to either keep her caged/in her hutch or keep him out of the living room?! 

I have also wondered, if getting her a bunny friend would be good. But honestly, I’m so afraid that she would just express that exact same aggressive and territorial behavior towards another bunny. What is your guys experience with this?

[BlueMoods]

Some rabbits are very territorial, even after being spayed or neutered, more often it is a female that is like this.

I would suggest a larger cage, putting her litter box and toys in the cage and making that her territory. Clean anywhere she has marked (probably the whole living room) with vinegar or other pet odor remover and, after that anywhere she poops, pees or chins outside her cage immediately so she can’t re establish the living room as hers.

When guests come over, put her in her cage, which she is allowed to mark as her territory. Make her have only her cage as her territory, not the rest of the house.

[Musel]

Oh, I think I did not express myself good enough (it’s the language barrier I’m sorry!).

She has a cage in which her toilet, hay, food and water is places plus and a x-pen with toys that I keep her in when I have visitors, but she shakes the bars like she is crazy. 

It seems a bit unfair to keep her inside her x-pen at all times, or maybe not? I have tried to keep her in there for longer periods to make her feel like THAT is her territory, but maybe I should try the vinegar cleaning as well….

[RabbitPam]

It’s pretty aggressive to bite strangers enough to draw blood, so I suggest you keep her in her xpen whenever you have visitors.
I also would take her for a checkup with your vet, just to make sure she is totally healthy. Sometimes, when a bunny doesn’t feel quite well, they get more aggressive.

You can let her out with you about an hour a day in the AM, and again in the PM, if it works with your schedule.
I would suggest your boyfriend greet her regularly with a tiny treat, like a pellet or a raisin, so she associates him with a nice reward. But don’t let him give her one if she is at all hostile. She will quickly learn that being nice to him = goodies from him. (Not big or a lot, because it can get fattening for her.)

[Musel]

I have taken her to two different vets for health checks – she is perfectly healthy, so that’s not it. She has drawn blood from pretty much all of my friends…

At least she is sweet and cuddly towards me…. But it seems like I’m the only one she really likes…

I guess I just have to keep her inside the x-pen whenever I have people around. I’m very worried that she might never get along with my boyfriend as he will move in with me next year…

[Stickerbunny]

You can get your boyfriend to socialize with her, BB had to get her hubby to work with Viv if I recall correctly. Some rabbits are just territorial. Can he come over once a day, even if just for a few minutes, so she can get used to him being around? Is she aggressive to you when she’s being aggressive to them? Can you get one of his shirts from him, that he hasn’t washed yet, perhaps with his cologne (if he wears it) on it as well? Put that in your home and leave it, so she gets used to his smell. It may cause marking though, so be ready to clean. Treat it like bonding her to another rabbit, only, it’s your boyfriend.

[Standard_Procedure]

Couldn’t you use a water bottle to spray your rabbit whenever she gets aggressive? It’s a harmless method to deter bad behaviour. Seems to work when a rabbit tries to chew furniture so should also work for biting people.

[Stickerbunny]

Rabbits tend to be a bit more .. determined in territorial aggression than for chewing. You don’t want to have to soak the rabbit, due to their underfur getting wet can make it hard for them to get warm. If a spritz would deter her, that is good, but it often isn’t a very effective method for aggression. The best way in my experience to get rid of aggression in animals is to make them feel secure, get them used to the routine of people coming around and take away the REASON for the aggression (which is usually fear based, intruders can be seen as predators or dangerous).

[LBJ10]

Maybe some clicker training would help. Then others like your boyfriend could use the clicker so she has to focus on them.

[Musel]

Yeah, it is actually bonding just with a human 

I will definitely try the things you suggest! 

[Musel]

Posted By Standard_Procedure on 3/03/2014 4:06 PM

Couldn’t you use a water bottle to spray your rabbit whenever she gets aggressive? It’s a harmless method to deter bad behaviour. Seems to work when a rabbit tries to chew furniture so should also work for biting people.

This will be the absolute last things to try, if other attempts fail… I would like my bunny to like my boyfriend, and I’m afraid that she would just connect his presence with something bad if he or we spray her.

[Author]

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