Help, My Rabbit is Mean!When you think of rabbits, you usually think of adorable balls of fluff that are docile and friendly. While most rabbits are relatively passive, there are the select few individual rabbits out there that would give the Monty Python rabbit a run for it's money. It is important to remember that, like people, rabbits have their own unique personalities. While some are very sweet, others can be much more standoffish or even attack. There are many reasons why a rabbit could be mean, and this blog post is dedicated to those intimidating floof balls as we learn how to help and co-exist with them. Aggressive Behaviours:
Pain/Health Issues The most important item that should be addressed is pain and health issues. Rabbits will hide their illnesses very well, and it takes a keen eye to know when something is wrong with your rabbit. If your rabbit suddenly becomes mean or aggressive, it is important to rule out health issues. Pain can cause a rabbit to suddenly become distant and unfriendly. You should schedule an appointment with your veterinarian to rule out gas/gi issues, dental issues, injuries, and anything else that could be making your rabbit feel unwell. Your rabbit could also have a vision (especially white rabbits with red eyes) or hearing impairment that might cause them to be startled by you and react in an aggressive way. Hormones Once a rabbit reaches sexual maturity (4-6 months), hormones take over and you may start to see some big changes in their personality and behaviour. Female rabbits especially may become more territorial. It is highly recommended that you spay/neuter your rabbit to improve litter habits, personality and health. While this surgery is not guaranteed to totally correct the problem you are experiencing, it does help your rabbit drastically in the long term. Fear/Trust Often times we forget that our small friends are a prey species. They react differently than a dog or cat would to us and our actions. Be patient, and take some time to earn your rabbit's trust. You can learn how to bond with your rabbit from one of The Rabbit Lady's previous blog posts. Avoid things like reaching for your rabbit from above or lifting/carrying your rabbit. Housing Believe it or not, the type of housing your rabbit stays in could be the cause of their aggression. The culprit is often cages purchased from pet stores. These cages are far too small for a rabbit to live in. When you reach into their space, it can be intimidating or threatening and the rabbit may react defensively to keep you away. I recommend using an xpen for housing your rabbit in. This gives your rabbit space to hide and move away from you if they feel uncomfortable, and it requires you to walk into a space rather than reaching in and bumping into your rabbit's personal space bubble. Food Just like dogs, some rabbits can be food aggressive. These rabbits may try to attack your hands while you fill up their pellet dish. This aggression is easy enough to work around by distracting your rabbit (example: toss some food on the floor near by then proceed to fill their dish). Some rabbits, despite all the love and kindness we show to them, are just simply mean. It takes a special kind of person to love a rabbit that doesn't love them back. Despite their aggression, you can learn to co-exist with these hard-to-love rabbits. You need to learn the rabbit's triggers, learn respect for each other, and develop some communication. Try to teach your rabbit some basic tricks. Most rabbits are highly food motivated and will put in a bit of effort to earn a treat. Start with easy tricks like learning their name to come for a treat and how to spin. Teaching tricks will increase the trust between you and your rabbit, and open up communication (ie asking rabbit to move to a different location, distracting them so you can be in their area without getting attacked), and increase trust.
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