Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog

Preitler has the Taming of the Shrew... I have the killer bunny from Monty Python!
{run away run away}

I have had three unpleasant does~ two came around and one didn't, but it died.

But now I have a 5 month old doe who is scary nasty... and she isn't a cheap meat mutt :x
She has been jumpy and shy since we got her (3 weeks now) but I have just persisted with touching her, and taking her out and handling her on the table.
She responded well to being held up and placed on the table, and I can turn her over for her nails etc. with little fuss~ she doesn't like it but she just glares at me.
(She has been shown so would have had some experience with these things).
So it seems like she is miserable but self-contained when out of her hutch... which makes me think she is territorial?

The first day in her cage she took a piece out of the nose of the young doe beside her.
I put a junior buck in that cage and she left him alone.
She grumbles when being fed/ watered (hands in her cage) or if you touch her (dodges and avoids hands).

So today I decided to start wooing her, and brought her a piece of apple.
I put it under her nose and you'd think I was poisoning her.
I took it out and waited a few minutes and put my hand back in with it and she lunged at me, snorting and aggressive.
What?!
SO I tried again, same thing.
So I pulled her out and gave her a good going over, calmly and she did well.

She looks ready to breed, so I put her in with the buck and she growled and carried on without lifting, so I removed her.
When I put her in her pen she arched her back, with her bum in the corner and bared her teeth and took little lunges towards the door.

I know I pushed her after her initial aggression, but that was not cool behaviour, and she was so much better on the table.

Would changing cages/ neighbours help?
I can't just cull her and I want to give her a chance but geez...
I also want to run away!

Aggression is often caused by fear, but as someone else recently discovered, it can also be a habit.

They managed to reduce aggression by changing up the routine. When she was all set up to lunge they walked away and ignored her until she calmed down(switched modes)...something along those lines. I don't have a link to the thread just yet..

The most expensive rabbit I've freezer camped (without saving anything from) only cost me $55 and a 5 hour trip. :roll:

I don't regret it for a second.
Those neurotic lines of silver fox belong in the freezer IMO.

(Sorry Zass... We must have been writing replies at the exact same time... Just after I posted this, I saw you had already related the same story... Guess I'll leave it though.)

I had that same problem with a doe about two weeks prior to kindling. Every time I opened her cage door to clean out any left over timothy hay she would back up to the cage wall opposite the door, then lunge at me, scratching with both front feet and biting. Looking back I think it was mostly territorial but may have also been hormone-induced.

I finally decided to try changing up my routine. Seemed we'd developed a "habit"... I walk to the cage, open the door, reach in to clean out the old hay, and she charges. I started walking up to the cage, opening the door, and walking away. (My cage doors open out and down.) As I would then move on to take care of the other three rabbits, she would eventually move toward the door and watch me. I would return, reach in and pet her. She seemed to calm down and would allow me to clean the cage without any further aggression.

Then I added old-fashioned oats. I would hold a tablespoon of oats in my open palm right at her door opening. Once she figured out what the oats were, she practically crawled out on the cage door as I opened it. If I gave the doe next to her oats first, she would pace back and forth and stand up on her hind legs just begging me to come to her cage.

She's become a very friendly, non-aggressive doe now. I do hand-feed my four adult rabbits with oats at each feeding (morning and evening). I'll let them eat a bit, then drop about a tablespoon of oats into their feeders. I also hand-feed about 1 1/2 teaspoons of BOSS to each nursing doe at each feeding.

All the rabbits practically beg me to open their cage doors now. No more aggression and no skittish bunnies.

Might be worth a try. Good luck!

She's become a very friendly, non-aggressive doe now.

Click to expand...

Yeah thanks rtower!! It was you I was thinking about.

The real test will be right after kindling.

Hormonal types tend to get very aggressive for about 10 days.

Ok--good to hear the success!
I have been opening her door and leaving it while I work, so I'll keep that up!
I do oats every few days so I'll withhold hers until she comes to get them-- if not them, then I'll find something else that turns her crank.
I think I might move her, too.
I hVe one 'magic' cage that seems to tame the wild beasts (first one I come to at eye level when I come out).

And patience. Not my strong suit!
We'll see how she does with a litter at least them I can see what passes on!

By the way, I should give credit where credit is due...

katiebear is the one who suggested "bribery" as a way to tame my aggressive doe. The idea is for her to associate your hand entering her territory with something "good" rather than a threat.

Hope that, and you magic cage do the trick!