can't handle unaltered doe.

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Hattie

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I'm posting this for a friend who has a female unaltered rabbit named Chloe. She was bought from a pet store and didn't really like being handled. Well now (year later) she can barely clean her cage and can't handle her at all. Any advice I could pass along to her? She has no idea what her breed is. Was told a rex (not). She feels bad for her and just doesn't know what to do. Thank you.
 

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How big is she? That's d'argent type silvering. Not something you normally see in a petstore since they are uncommon and 8+ lbs.

What exactly is the problem? Grunting? charging? Actual biting?
 
Yowzer!!! That girl is a STUNNER :D

Her compact body type reminds me of a Netherland (or Polish, but her head is a bit big for this breed) and looks like some breeder is trying to get the silver genes in to them.

Behaviour wise, after a year it's likely too ingrained that she can boss your friend around and your friend is too nervous around her to be able to change the behaviour :shrug:

The House Rabbit Society http://rabbit.org/category/behavior/ actually has terrific advice on how to work with temperamental females and normally recommend spaying first to remove the influence of hormones and then working on behaviour modification.
 
she may need to do some work with her to desensitize her to touch. I've seen some interesting results from this. Helps to teach the owner confidence as well.

May need to look into getting her spayed.

may need lessons in confident handling.
 
Changing around the cage situation may also help. Raising or lowering the level of the cage in the room, or changing the cage style, perhaps including a closed in area for the bunny to hide in.

My favorite cages for house buns allow me to lift the bunny out from the top instead of trying to pull them through doors. Rabbits tend to really hate being lifted and pulled through small openings.

Actually, my very favorite enclosures for house rabbits are not cages at all.
I like large open top pens with a litterbox, a place for the rabbit to hide, and something to jump up on.


I also agree that getting spayed might might be worth looking into in this case, if she only wants her as a pet and has no intention of ever breeding her.
 
She doesn't like hiding she never goes in her "cave" not much room to raise or lower the shelf it's a smaller cage. It does open from the top and the front. It is raised up off the floor on a stand it came with. I've talked to her about building her a larger cage or a run off of the one she has now. She doesn't have a lot of space to put one were working on it. Bun is in the Living room so she is part of thier evenings. She doesn't let her out as much as she would like because they can't get her to put her away.
 
To give her more room she might consider a vertical cage. I have one that's around 2'X4' and 4' tall. They jump up the shelves.

A pair of thick leather work gloves would help prevent bites and scratches when cleaning the cage. If she can get her hand over the head and cover the eyes the rabbit may stay still enough to pet. If is a Dr. Foster cage she can get both hands in from the top and keep the rabbit still. Try that till the rabbit is used to being calm.
 
She is re homing her to a friend of hers who is home more and has time to work with her. Sad she's getting rid of her but happy that Chloe is going to get the time and attention she needs.
 

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