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Post by skits on Sept 25, 2011 0:26:42 GMT -5
I just really need some suggestions on what I should do with my rabbit. I'm really at a loss and not sure what I'm going to do with him anymore.
We got him from someone just a few months ago, he was three years old and his previous owner mentioned he had really bad cage agression but apparently he was fine once you took the top of his cage off. I've moved him into a larger cage now and we can't take the top off so he's always agressive. Feeding him takes about an hour every day because he will NOT come out of his cage and he will bite and hiss at my hand every time it's in the cage.
He stresses me out so unbelievably much and I'm not able to take proper care of him like he deserves. I've worked with him for months and months and he's only getting worse. Just now, I had opened my snake enclosure and the sliding door on the opposite opened so I had to squeeze my hand between the rabbit cage and the snake enclosure, where the snake had full access of biting me. But who bites me? The rabbit. He's bitten me at least 10 times in the few months I've had him.
Has anyone ever had an agressive rabbit? I'm not sure if I should let him live out his life in the cage, rehome him, have him put to sleep...He's the sweetest bunny ever when I'm holding him, but just not in the cage or when he has free run.
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Post by Sherry on Sept 25, 2011 10:23:26 GMT -5
Do you have any rescues near you? Maybe they'd have some good tips on how to deal with it. Alternately, a good forum might be able to help. Sorry, the only pet rabbits I had were as a kid, and they had an outdoor enclosure.
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Post by skits on Sept 25, 2011 11:03:24 GMT -5
I've asked on rabbit forums and the only advice was to talk to him before I get to the cage and give him treats, but when I do he will hiss and attack the treats.  I'll try seeing if there's a rabbit rescue in my area. |
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Post by Sherry on Sept 25, 2011 11:10:28 GMT -5
Don't know if this is something you are already doing, but I googled "rabbit cage aggression", and came up with this: www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/aggression.html"Attila is adorable. But when we reach into his cage to pull him out he bites our hands. What's wrong?" Rabbits can be very territorial. The first step to helping this rabbit is to stop dragging him out of his cage; he needs a place to call his own. Open the door and let him come and go on his own time. Wait until he's out of his cage to clean it, change his water, or do other housekeeping chores. After a few weeks, you can begin to try to touch him in his cage, but don't grab him or mess with his stuff. Wear gloves so you don't jerk your hand around, which may provoke him. Keep your hand above his head and then calmly and quickly bring it down to the top of his head. If he lets you touch his head, very softly stroke it. Tell him what a great big, brave, beautiful rabbit he is. Then let him alone until the next day, when you try the exercise again. Eventually he should associate your hand in the cage with a nice nose rub, not being grabbed. Here is another site that deals with it: therabbitadvocate.blogspot.com/2008/12/question-from-audience-cage-aggression.html |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2011 17:04:25 GMT -5
Is he neutered? Rabbits that are not neutered are often aggressive.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2011 21:23:53 GMT -5
Gosh, I remember my childhood rabbit (well, my mom's) Stinker. She was ... well, a Stinker. The rabbit would growl and chase for presumably no reason. She would antagonize the cat by stealing her spot of the top of the couch. She put my uncle on a table. AND, she would PLAY with the beagle. (The beagle would chase her down the hall, and the rabbit would chase her back). She was a mini-lop, and could be sweet as could be. You just couldn't invade her space when she didn't want it. And, she would charge feet sometime (in retrospect, no different then Paulie does playing). I had never known rabbit's could growl before we had her.
She got more aggressive as she got older (possibly sick). Maybe he's not 100% feeling his best either. I'd definitely find a good rabbit forum and use their tips before trying a rehome.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2011 11:28:33 GMT -5
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Post by skits on Sept 26, 2011 18:30:29 GMT -5
I don't think he is neutered, he was my first rabbit so it never occured to ask when I went to pick him up.  I was thinking of having him neutered for a while now though so I'll have to get it done. I know I wouldn't have the heart to rehome him. I was also thinking that he's in the same room as my ferrets so it might be stressing him out. I'll bring his cage downstairs tonight and see if he calms down a little. novemberkris, that's exactly how my rabbit (calvin) is.  I was expecting rabbits to be completely different from how he is, it was a total shock. He will hiss at his lettuce, bite anything that gets around his cage, and once he's out of the cage he gets territorial over my entire room. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2011 19:09:28 GMT -5
Are you 100% sure it's a male? For me it always seems to be the does who get all aggressive How old is he? If he just matured it's really normal for them to change attitudes. I'd recommend having him neutered, that would help a lot. Also, at what level is the cage? (eye level, chest level, stomach level, etc ?) The higher up he is, the more 'dominant' they can be, not sure how to explain that. When I get an aggressive bun in, I move them to the bottom cage (closest to the floor). I keep them out of the cage as much as possible and when I go to feed/ get them out of the cage I talk to them and give treats. Getting them to come around can take a veryyy long time, it took me a little over a year to get Lilly to trust me, she turned into a big baby Sometimes it doesn't take that long though, the shortest time it took me was a couple weeks. Also keep in mind, they want you to leave them alone, so if he bites you, no matter how much you just want to scream and strangle him, keep a calm voice and continue talking to him and offering treats. I had one doe that was a pita, you could be over 5 ft from the cage and she would run and lunge at you while growling. She calmed down some after several months but she never completely came around enough for me to consider adopting her out. If you want to, you can PM me or contact me via email/text/IM. I'd be more than happy to help as much as I can  |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2011 20:03:10 GMT -5
I have two rabbits. in cage agression for MY rabbits means picking up and throwing around cage objects. We used our ferret marshalls playpin for our rabbits after they had that bad of cage agression where mimzy would bite me if i tried to give them food and such. and we just open the door and let them run around in it. we don't pin it closed but we just put it up against the cage. they love it. also if you want him to get out, put some veggies out in the playpin( if you have one of course, it worked for me!!!)
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Post by skits on Sept 26, 2011 21:17:13 GMT -5
We're definitely sure he's a male. We actually bred him to our doe about 3 weeks ago now. (We've been wanting to add a rabbit to our family but the shelter won't allow us to adopt because we have a snake and I wanted a baby that I can socialise with while he/she was young) and she's for sure pregnant. He has this cage.  But with the floors put differently and without ramps. That's why it's very hard to get him to come out of it. He really loves his cage too. ;D I can probably get him a playpen so he can run out of the cage while he's in the basement. We have the cats upstairs so it makes me nervous keeping an open top. I also gave him his veggies by hand today and he didn't hiss at all for some reason. I think he knows I'm talking bad about him. ;D |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2011 22:40:12 GMT -5
That cage looks too small. The minimum cage size is 8 square feet and it needs to be tall enough for the rabbit to stand up all the way. They need at least 5 hours a day in an area that is at least 25 square feet. Playpens make great cages. C&C/NIC cages are great too. Some examples of playpen cages www.sandiegorabbits.org/adoption/pen_living.htmlC&C cages. www.guineapigcages.com/C&C cages need to be at least 2 grids tall so the rabbit can stand up all the way. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2011 23:22:48 GMT -5
Maybe it could be helpful if he associates your prescence with good things. I am not an expert, but I did have an abused rabbit that I rehabed. Her leg was broken and rehealed badly, and she was fearful and very aggressive during routine care. I found her fav treat and sat with her a lot saying soothing things and got to where I could open the cage and put her treat in, then she would eventually take it from me. I worked up to nose rubs, body petting, and getting her used to lifting her a bit inside before she would let me pick her up completely. Stress is the biggest obstacle, I truly believe. All interactions were with me being totally relaxed. Animals can sense your worries and tension, and your calm energy can be your way to success.
Took me about 3 months. She had a smallish cage, I upgraded her after she was handlable, because I thought her evading me would take longer to earn her trust...she ended up being a very relaxed cuddly rabbit.....different things work for different pets, though. That is just my scenario.
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Post by skits on Sept 26, 2011 23:38:12 GMT -5
He was in a C&C before. It was 8x2x2, but he was such a pain in it and would throw everything all over the place and it was just impossible to clean. I was planning on building a multiple C&C cage for the babies and Calvin too and have coroplast on all the floors to make it easier to clean I hope. And suzie, I'll try that. Are there any treats rabbits like best? He's really picky. (To the point where he will only eat baby carrots an peeled!) ;D |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2011 23:47:23 GMT -5
Her treat of choice was the peeled baby carrots!  She rarely got them until I found out she really liked them, and then these were reserved only to the times I spent with her, strictly. Aside from regular diet with her other vegs, there were no free treats to speak of, to keep her looking forward to my visits. |
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I'll try seeing if there's a rabbit rescue in my area.
I was thinking of having him neutered for a while now though so I'll have to get it done. I know I wouldn't have the heart to rehome him. I was also thinking that he's in the same room as my ferrets so it might be stressing him out. I'll bring his cage downstairs tonight and see if he calms down a little.