Assertive Bunny

[harpmom]

Twinkles is about 9 months old (Humane Society rescue -- we think he was an unwanted Easter bunny), neutered in October. Our previous experience was with a very mellow spayed girl who never made any noise (except when she ran too fast and crashed into the walls). Twinkles thumps, snorts over his food, and has taken to growling and lunging at me. This usually happens when I'm adding food to his stash, i.e. putting in the hay after he's attacked the pellets I just put in, or when I'm giving him greens after he's attacked the carrots I just put in. I'm trying to be careful about not bringing my hand in too directly in front of him. It's almost as if he thinks we're going to take his food away (which we've never done, of course). I'm afraid I'll draw back a bloody stump one day when putting his food in!

He also gets nippy when we're doing things he hates (going outside to be brushed during molt, getting his toenails clipped, getting picked up for any reason at all, etc.)

Is this just his personality to be aggressive or something we're doing? Or maybe the way he was treated in his previous home?

He is strictly indoor, uncaged during the day, plenty of cardboard boxes and paper bags to play with. But no mate (I would like to find a spayed girl for him, but my husband remains unconvinced).

[Karen]

It may be just his personality, just a lot of time and care may make him realize you are no threat to him, but as he is a rescue, we don't know - he may have been hit by human hands before, which is why he's skittish and defensive.

[harpmom]

Thank you. That was my suspicion. I didn't mean to leave the impression that he is difficult to get along with. Actually, he is very funny to live with. His current project is trying to learn how to open the refrigerator door by himself. He thinks we don't give him enough carrots quickly enough and would like to be able to help himself!

[Liradralyn]

I wouldn't worry, harpmom. Your bun sounds exactly like my rabbit was when I first brought her home. Like yours, she was a shelter bunny who had had a rough past (she was apparently abandoned in a parking lot and was almost eaten by a fox).

When I first brought her home she was quite vicious and not at all trusting of me. She frequently bit me as hard as she could, and barely tolerated being touched. But I persevered and she's mellowed quite a bit.

The most important thing is to have patience and be gentle so that the bun learns to trust you. It probably won't be an overnight process, but I've learned first hand that it is possible for angry bunnies to mellow out significantly

[Daisylover]

Harpmom,
You are to be congratulated for rescuing that poor bunny. I am involved with bunny rescue and agree that with time, patience and a lot of love your bunny will turn the corner and discover that humans can be their friends. The main thing to remember is that bunnies have been prey animals for thousands of years and are instinctively afraid of anything bigger and louder...for fear of being eaten.

There are two things I would encourage you to do: 1: talk to him all the time in a soft voice, being sure to use his name in almost every sentence.... and 2) is to get down on the floor with the bunny as often as possible. That way you are down at his level and not so threatening. Watch Tv, read a book or newspaper or even balance your checkbook! He may not come over right away but bunnies are very curious animals and eventually he will come over to check you out. Again speak to him softly, and try to pet him...it may take many attempts doing both of these things or he may decide you are ok very quickly....there's no way to tell and each bunny has a diff. personality.

As far as the food thing goes, can you feed him outside of his cage? This behavior sounds to me like he's protecting his sacred territory (his cage). Never try to remove a bunny from his cage by force (picking him up IS force), just open the door and let him come out in his own good time....same goes for getting him back in his cage....although a treat, like a carrot usually helps buns be encouraged to go back in on their own. Good lucjk and please keep us informed for his progress.

[harpmom]

We've the Twinklebutt since June and have been doing all of that. He's calmed down a lot since his neuter, but he is still a character. He has decided (operant conditioning is amazing) that when I sit on the floor, that is his cue that snack time is coming. He'll approach and ask for pets (he purrs when you stroke his cheeks!), but he really wants his carrots and greens. We don't argue about being shut in the cage for the night when there's carrots and greens to attack. When I've sat on the floor with a book he comes up and bites the book. I can't tell if he just wants to chew on it or if he wants to take it away from me.

I might try moving his food dishes out of the cage, but where he stays in the cage overnight (he's otherwise not ever locked in there), I'm reluctant to move them out completely. Especially when the way we get him in the cage in the evening is salad.

It does seem to help if I make a conscious effort to make sure he sees my hand when I reach in with hay. But he's still been known to attack the hay hand. Twinks never just eats, he attacks his food. BTW he nearly always has hay available and its a kind he likes, so I know he's not starving. He just thinks he is. And he's still gaining weight according to the vet's scale -- he's up to six pounds.

Our Twinkles is quite a character and I can talk/brag about him somewhat endlessly. I'm sorry for him that his previous owner didn't realize what a goofball he is, but I'm glad for us that he came to us.[IMG]m:\pictures\twinklesresting.jpg[/IMG]

Thanks for your willingness to help bunny parents.

[Daisylover]

Harpsmom,
It sounds like you are doing everything right. I suspect he may have been teased with food or has gone hungry in the past and that is why he is so "enthusiastic" about his food. My bunnies too will tug on my books, etc., I think it's a way of them saying, "hey, notice me!!!" Then on the other hand bunnies love to chew and I can't tell you how many of my books, some good ones, that my kids have badly mutiliated or destroyed even though they do have an old telephone book for this purpose.

I suspect that Twinkle will continue to mellow out the older he gets. My newest bunny Noah is still under a year old and quite the hellion. The other 7 are all quite a bit older and no where as lively. You might want to appreciate this "crazed phase" while it lasts!

As far as moving his food goes, I would not be concerned about doing that. A bunny will ALWAYS find his food, esp if all you do is move it to just outside the door to his cage. In fact a friend of mine plays hide the parsley, or carrot, etc., with her buns and she says they seem to get a kick out of it.

I have a discipline secret for you.....when one of my bunnies, usually Chocolate, gets out of line, I place the palm of my hand gently on her head and press her head to the floor, said NO a few times and held her down (head only) 5-10 seconds. In bunny language this is a way of saying "I'm the boss" and they do not like it. It does tend to stop bad behaviors. In fact one time was I was really making an effort to keep her in line and she started chasing and biting Miss Emma, I said her name and she skidded to a stop....you could tell she REALLY wanted to go after Emma but chose not to. Of course bunnies don't have a long memory and I didn't keep the head press thing going so she has forgotten all about it, and she no longer responds to stopping at the sound of my voice when I say her name....but it worked for a while! I believe I got this tip from the House Rabbit Society website www.rabbit.org or maybe from one of their newsletters.

Again, best wishes with Twinkle and let us know from time to time how he is doing.

[harpmom]

Thank you for the tip about holding the bunny's head down as a discipline trick. It took about a week of my using my right hand to move the water dish or add the hay while using my left hand on his head, but he finally got the message. He still growls at my hand, but he almost always refrains from attacking it. I can handle the growling, just not the scratching and biting.

I'm also making a real effort to stop and stroke his head anytime he's out of his corner being active. He loves having his cheeks rubbed, too! Such wonderful bunny purrs!

We're working on a new trick! I'm trying to teach him to give kisses on cue. We've gotta work on the alfalfa breath though.

Again, thanks for the input and we are enjoying his antics!

[Daisylover]

Harpmom,
Sounds like you and Twinkle are doing much better, congratulations! Is it not possible to give him food and water when he is not in his cage? Bunnies should get 2-4 hours of exercise outside their cage twice a day. A cage is not a natural environment and young buns are full of excess energy. If you are worried about him eating the furniture or electrical cords, the House Rabbit Soc now recommends portable puppy pens for bunnies instead of cages. (HRS also has tips on bunny-proofing your house). The fences come in diff heights, are made of metal, collapsible and have 8 sections so they stand alone. The smallest one will give a bunny about 5-6 ft of room to run around in. They are also less expensive than the average cage. I haul the fence around and let the buns outside or take it if we go to Grandpa's. The fence are really nice to have. By placing the fence to the front of his cage you expand the amount of room he has so he can be out in a room without supervision.

One last thought...You think he's about 9 mo. old and that he has alfalfa breath. Is that hay or pellets? Not that it really matters I guess but once bunnies reach 1 year they should be weaned off anything with alfalfa in it. Alfalfa is very high in calcium. Adult bunnies have stopped growing and no longer need the calcium. The excess gets excreted in their urine, leaving a white patch in the middle of their pee. This is a warning sign often overlooked by many people. In time the excess calcium can form crystals in the bladder and eventually turn in to bladder stones, very painful for the bunny. You want to switch Twinkle over to timothy hay that is soft and green. See nutrition link in wwww.rabbit.org. If your local pet stores don't sell timmy hay you can look at www.oxbowhay.com or americapetdiner.com. Pet stores in Michigan seem to sell only one brand which my guys refuse to eat (it's packaged by a well-known company). As I said timothy hay should be green and soft....what the stores are carrying has some green but is mostly brown and brittle, thus no nutrients.

Keep in touch and send us pictures!

[harpmom]

Twinks is only confined to his cage overnight. Otherwise he has the run of the pantry and the kitchen (which is the largest I've ever had!) He can go in his cage when he needs some quiet time, but when family is home there is a near constant parade of people thru the area so he gets lots of interaction time as well. This morning he wanted attention so he was playing with our feet under the breakfast table (bunny nose on bare toes is a funny feeling!)

None of the stores here carry the good hay -- I've been getting it at a store in another town about 200 miles away, but I think I'm going to have to start ordering off the internet. Because he's still fairly young, I had not really gone after timmy pellets, but I think I'll need to do that on the internet as well.

Again, thanks.

[Karen]

So glad he's doing better, and you and he are training each other well! Yes, a change to Timothy hay is in order, gosh most pet stores near me, even the big chains, have Timothy hay! But I know people do order it from the Internet, and have had good experiences doing so.

So many people don't know just how much character a bunny can have!!! Give him a nose rub for me!