hi can anybody offer advice on a rescue bunny

shes from the thread rabbit free to good home, so a rescue, she wasent handled much im guessing her her old home and came in a right state, when she first came she was a house bunny till her own cage came, in that time dident show any aggression and that was for the first 2 days, but you could tell she was stressed penned up

but i got her original cage the other day and since then all she does is grunts and kinda growls at you, she has attacked my son and scratched me big time and kicks like hell, also if you open cage door or run door, she tried to bolt, i know shes petrified bless her and its no ther fault but im not giving up on her, shes ok with my baby bunnys but tends to bit them then runs off, and tried to hump them shoudl i take her away from them ?they dont live togeather just been goign in the run with them for company, obviously she gets picke dup to go inand out of the run, but she wont let you sit and cuddle her so the handling thing i dont know how i can change it, but i have started before i cover her up at night i go in her cage and stroke her till shes calm, but without picking her up so she gets used to it, should i carry on doing this?and also is she being nasty with the babys?im a bit stuck ive had a rabbit liek this before but a lot worse she was nasty but with milly i think its more being scared than terratorial and experienced rabbit owner can you help me its been a couple of years since i had bunnys:help:

I woul have her spayed , thatb will deal with her hormones and she should settle in , I think as you haven't had her long she is just coming out of her shell, I woul tend to say with the babies she is trying to be dominant. Is she actually biting the babies? or doing any harm to them ?
If she were spayed I am sure that would make a difference though.

i thought the same thign teeny about being spayed just becouse it worked with my dog she was aggressive at times but as soon as i spayed her she was lol deifferent species but it worked lol, only problem is it will be at least 2 months until i can get her done becouse charlie my baby male is being done it 4 weeks, should i keep her away from the others untill shes spayed?what should i do about handling she hates being picked up and kicks like hell and tried to leg it lol, am i doing good by just stroking her untill she calms down then pick her up rather than just picking her up even if she fights?

carry on what you are doing and when shes calm from the start pick her up and just keep moving her closer untill shes willing to go on your knee. you could try having her done but it may not work she may have 2 be kept alone if she is 2 old hope this helps also try hand feeding her carrots n things

where where told by the original owners she is 2 years old is that to old?also i tried hand feeding her but she dosent want to know she wont even eat if your stood in front of her cage i keep trying mind i will never give up on her, i have a feeling she may have to stay on her own shes been in the run for 2 days with the babys but they are now scared of her, when she bites them she dosent cause damage except pulls a bit of fur out of the cashmere lionhead baby, but no obvious injuries

she is just getting to know you and trust you , a bond between you will take a while, lots of rabbits don't like being handled etc so I would just keep doing what you are doing she will learn to trust you.

yea shes 2 old max age 2 introduce them is round 12 months eventually she will let you hand feed her just wait till she trusts you it will take time but its worth it

At two years old, no she is not old. Rabbits aren't made to be picked up - its unnatural for them to like it. They're a prey animal, and therefore everytime you pick the rabbit up it thinks your going to eat it, basically.

She shouldn't be in with other rabbits if she is unspayed - unspayed does can be very agressive towards other rabbits/other animals/humans. I'd say the best thing you can do it a) get her spayed and b) stop trying to pick her up. As in holding her - training her to sit on your knee is another matter because she'll go on there of her own accord eventually. The best way to do it is by figuring out her favourite vegetable, and putting bits on the floor near you. Let her walk up to you, and completely ignore her. She'll come closer to explore - let her. Don't be scared - its only pain after all :P Gradually bring the food closer to your after about a week, and then put it on your knee. Don't feed her out of your hand unless you can get your palm perfectly flat, otherwise she will probably try to nibble on your hand creases which can be painful. Also, she might nibble your trousers or socks but won't purposely bite you.

yea shes 2 old max age 2 introduce them is round 12 months eventually she will let you hand feed her just wait till she trusts you it will take time but its worth it


We have had a group of 5 bunnies living together before, all introduced at various ages. The male (nuetered) was about 3, all the others were females (not nuetered) who were between 18 and 30 months old when we finally introduced them to each other (they were all rescues). After the initial bit of fur flying they all get along fine, and have now also been integrated with another 6 buns when they go out in their huge run. They all get along fine now and snuggle up and play with each other.

Hi - if it's the one I picked up - they told me that she did growl or grunt when anyone - but the husband -apparently - went into her cage. Just a thought - could it be that now she is in her 'own' cage she has got confident and hence started the old behaviour?? Or maybe she likes men? Also, as in horses or anything I would have thought - they all get their 'pecking' order in the herd or group - however, it is hard to stand by and watch them sorting it out - as there is a fine line between sorting out the dominant leader and bullying. I would take her away from the babies - at least until they are a bit older and may stand up to her a bit more - just a possible maybe, temporary solution.

Just a thought - could it be that now she is in her 'own' cage she has got confident and hence started the old behaviour??

ye i think this may be the problem, maybe when u get them a new hutch she wont behave like this.

yea there all going to be getting a new double hutch to live togeather and even if she dosent get on with them ever then the babys will have it, but even thats going to be another months or so i think lol, foxy, i think thats what it is she very very mardy lol, i have put her in run with babys today partly becouse ionly have 1 run lol, but shes gone in today and actualy licked one of the babys couldent she be getting on better with them?,its not even that she fights with them, she used to just nip and then run

You've had some excellent advice here but I really would second bobbybunny's advice. Take it at her pace, let her learn to trust you and build a bond with her at a pace that she is comfortable with.

The more you push it and do things she doesn't like, the longer it will take for her to trust you at all.

Please don't push her, it sounds like she has been frightened and reacted as all animals do (fight or flight, if they can't flee they'll fight) and as a result she hasn't been handled much so has no confidence in anyone. She needs to learn to trust all over again and you have the perfect opportunity being a completely new person to her.

I would also restrict B's access to her even after her confidence has improved as if she has had a rough time before or her confidence/trust isn't as good as that of your baby buns, he could still easily spook her :) Not saying don't let him - but definitely only when supervised (as should be the case anyway) and be careful how he's handling her.

I have a customer who has a house bunny who approaches her fine and sits on her knee etc. but hates being picked up, simply because they've never had to do it.

hey lotti, yes my son does not hold her, he never has done becouse she is to scared to handle him lol, she bit him and scratched him when he pulled himself up on the run obviously he was on the outside, she just ran over and lunged at him and got his fingers, today i have took the good advice and i have put her in the babys cage so she can get used to there smell while there in the run then after lunch ill swop put her in the run and babys back in there cage, its hard work with ehr but im determined she is a stunner, but is petrified,you can tell is more being scared thean aggressive becouse her ears are flat to her head when you touch her, but she is gettin there today i went in and stroked her and she dident attack just layed therex

That's good news.

hey lotti, yes my son does not hold her, he never has done becouse she is to scared to handle him lol, she bit him and scratched him when he pulled himself up on the run obviously he was on the outside, she just ran over and lunged at him and got his fingers

Aww poor kid, this is territorial behaviour, if I were you I would get her spayed ASAP, you will manage her much better after that I think.
When I was a kid I had a rabbit like that she would attack every time you went near her, she had obviously been let loose and decided to come and live with me cause she fancied my male rabbit...very nice of her grr :hihi: she was horrible until she got old, she was a big New zealand white, and there was no such thing as spaying rabbits in those days, or if there was we didn't know about it :rolleyes:

Out of interest Moonbird, why would this be considered territorial, not simply fright/insecurity?

Out of interest Moonbird, why would this be considered territorial, not simply fright/insecurity?

Well how I see it is if you approached the rabbit and cornered it then it might be defending itself, but to run up to the bars and attack is different.

Rabbits are by nature territorial animals and this sort of behaviour is very common amongst them and particularly in females, the excessive running about or patrolling and thumping described is also territorial behaviour.

I also noticed that when the rabbit first came it was just shy...not in its own territory then, now she thinks that she is, plus the fact that the rabbit guarded her cage at her previous home too.

I might be wrong I am not a rabbit expert but I have read a lot and had a lot of rabbits myself over the years, and am an animal watcher :hihi: I would like to bet that after spaying she will show a lot of improvement in a few weeks.

can somebody please rehome milly i need her rehomed, all my animals have just been killed, i know i could have her as a house bunny but i have 2 dogs and a guinea pig inside already and with her being nasty i can risk her attacking my son

can somebody please rehome milly i need her rehomed, all my animals have just been killed, i know i could have her as a house bunny but i have 2 dogs and a guinea pig inside already and with her being nasty i can risk her attacking my son
mummysaz21 I know that you are very upset at the moment, please don't act in haste wait a little while and then make a decision on Milly, what a horrible time you are having xx

poor you - hope someone can help out. If you get very stuck drp me a pm although my spare cage is in use atm.

i dont knwo what to do shes outside in her hutch at min i would be even more devestated if anythign happend to her aswell as she wasent in with them thank god, but i cant keep her couped up all day constantly in a cage its cruel, theres no way shes going out in a run on garden

i have a cage with her sezbetz

well if you can wait for a bit and see if anyone else could actually rehome her then that would be better but if it came to it I could take her on a very temp basis. Just pm if you need me, lets hope someone else has a better space for her than I do.

hi sorry to mess you about but i think i was being a bit hasty just becouse i was upset, but she is now indoors and staying indoors i cnt have her getting hurt, but shes seams happy enough im just going to keeop cage door open at night when my sons in bed so she cant hurt him but suprisingly she hasent been nasty since being inside lolxxxx

hi sorry to mess you about but i think i was being a bit hasty just becouse i was upset, but she is now indoors and staying indoors i cnt have her getting hurt, but shes seams happy enough im just going to keeop cage door open at night when my sons in bed so she cant hurt him but suprisingly she hasent been nasty since being inside lolxxxx

She is out of her territory again now you see mummysaz21, I would try having her spayed asap, it will remove the hormonal element to her behaviour.

no you werent messing me about at ll - thats another reason I didnt offer to rush down and pick her up from you :) I agree with the speying and in time hopefully she will settle even more with you.