Super Aggressive Doe

Rabbit Talk  Forum

Help Support Rabbit Talk Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
As a side note. She probably will calm down, for a bit. Expect her to seem much calmer right around the time the kits open up their eyes.

But, there is a good chance you will see a repeat of the aggressive behavior anytime hormones spike.
When she's ready to breed or after she's re-bred and pregnant, or when she has a new litter.

There are many breeders who consider the aggression to me "normal" and tolerate it.

and I've also noticed.... that people who have mellow rabbits have a totally different definition of aggression than people who have seen the real crazies, and they don't always understand.

The breeder who sold me the harlis was wary because I said I wanted rabbits who had good tempers. I eventually figured out that her definition of good temper must be a lap bunny, and my definition was a rabbit who didn't lunge at me trying to draw blood. :lol:

I LIKE my lap bunnies.
But I don't NEED them to be that way.
I just want to be able to handle them without gloves, and to not have to worry if my autistic nephew pokes his fingers into a cage.

The pic is my son's pet, Sushi (one of Mucky's offspring), sleeping on my lap. :love:
GEDC4371.JPG
 
Easy Ears":1wgadbmf said:
Is it just me, or does it seem like the really good mothers are not people friendly? :lol:
Not my unfriendly doe, at least not now that she's unfriendly. She had six. They seemed to be doing fine at first, but we were afraid to check on them much because of her. Finally, when they were two weeks old, we noticed an odd smell. That's when I had to use the hay rack to get the box out.

At some point in the day or two before, two of them had died. We also found at that time that two of them had gotten chilled before their fur came in. They're grey. They're Californians. They're not supposed to be grey. They turn darker only if their skin gets cold.

So... not a nice mother, and not a good mother either. Unlike a lot of rabbits, though, I don't think it's her fault at all, or the fault of her line. She and her sister were newly installed in our rabbitry when we had a stray dog come around and terrorize the rabbits and chickens through the fencing. He couldn't get to them, but he was able to scare them. Our buck got so stressed that he got very ill very quickly, and we had to put him down. Both of the Cali does aborted their litters. I was able to get this doe rebred before the dog came back and the buck got sick, and she raised them well. She slowly turned bad-tempered after that, but her sister didn't. I hoped another litter would help her pull out of it, but it hasn't. :( We'll be replacing her with one of her or her sister's doelings.

But really... this situation doesn't apply to the thread very well, because she wasn't mean to start out with. It was that dog. Thankfully, that dog is no longer an issue.
 
yep! Dogs can be quite the issue!! My rabbits are used to my dogs (Giant Schnauzers) running around the cages or rubbing their backs on the cage, and I've had no miss carries because if it. But my friend that I know that raises ML and ND that has issues with dog terrorizing her rabbits and they will not kindle for her when ever the dog is around. maybe try moving her to a more isolated place, you can give her one more go and see if she changes.
 
Celice":1izastte said:
maybe try moving her to a more isolated place, you can give her one more go and see if she changes.
That really is a good idea, with the potential to make a difference, but I'm just not willing to chance those teeth. :(
 
Hello everyone,
First time poster here.
I have only one doe that is/was aggressive.
I have turned the tables on her. When I open up her cage, I become the aggressor, I go after her and then gently but firmly pin her head down until she stops struggling. Then I let her go and I go on about my business of feeding and checking kits. She steers clear of me and it seems that in this way we have an understanding.
The reason that I do put up with her behavior is she is one of the best mothers I have - AND I know that if I were a rat or a snake after her kits I would end up resembling something like hamburger.
I do not sell for pets, meat only for my family and my dogs, so the temperament of this doe and her offspring is of no consequence to me.
Last month my granddaughter was able to reach in and play with the kits, NO aggression from the doe.
IMHO turning the tables on the doe has worked wonders for me. However, if at any time this fails to work for me I will not hesitate to put her in the soup pot.
 
That usually does not work well. It might reduce attacks when staying at the very front of the cage and not trying to catch them but often the rabbit becomes more defensive and strikes immediately with teeth and minimal to no warning when they feel they've run out of space and their newly defined personal bubble is being invaded. I had one I had pinned down for lunging at me come up over the food dish I was holding the next time to nail me with teeth. It's never worked as planned and often made things worse so I don't attempt that anymore. I would definitely not let a kid stick hands in there in case they push the wrong button on the rabbit. If you find a way to win the rabbit over or make it less cage aggressive you have a far safer rabbit than one you've just made move it's area of defense to the back of the cage. The rabbit that came over the food dish and drew free flowing blood did not get culled immediately for various reasons and actually he's perfectly fine now after giving him time, treats, and staying out of his face until he felt safer. I'm not sure what to do with him though. I don't need him for breeding, I don't need another pet, but what if he starts up again at a new home. You can just never be sure they are safe after such behavior.
 
In dealing with this right now, too (but in a virgin junior!).
I know it's an old thread that has been revived... So I'm curious how some of these stories turned out?

Re. 'Turning the tables'-- I wouldn't think it would be effective in most cases... Since the aggression is usually fear based (even protectiveness is a fear response). Even in a predator like dogs, meeting fear based aggression with dominating behaviour generally makes things much worse. And I wonder, in a prey animal like rabbits (even though they do practice hierarchy among themselves) if there is ever really aggression (esp does) that isn't fear based at its roots?

i would think it would be pretty tough to identify aggression that is really about dominance and offence?
 
I've met quite a few truely mean and aggressive rabbits - nearly all of them were females and pet breeds ;) who had NO fear and we're just bossy and territorial and wanted you out if "their" space
 
I have a doe that keeps attacking my children. She's never gotten me but has growled, shown her teeth, and stomped like she was going to.
I just got her in July. My husband was not happy yesterday to hear we drove 4 hours to get her, and I intend to breed her and weed her, but I can't keep a rabbit around that will attack my children. I will be selling her off to an all adult breeder when I get a good doe out of her.
On the plus side, the buck I bought at the same time is responsible for some glowingly beautiful bunnies born last Friday to my favorite bun!
 
Knock her up! You never know... mine has turned around with pregnancy (well, I am assuming she is pregnant, because there was no change in her last month and she turned out not to be pregnant... this month she has done a 180, so I am assuming she is in the family way ;) ).
My daughter (10) who knows not to open Moonie's cage came in this morning to tell me that Moona was eating out of her hand... and she is!
(same boat, long drive, $$ for a nasty doe...)
 
Perhaps it's a "people" fear? Does could be aggressive to those of us they associate with messing with their pens, boxes, food dishes, etc., whereas a visitor to the rabbitry is not considered a thread? Just a thought. We had a dog that feared men and was aggressive to men (she'd been abused by a man) but was fine with women and children; same principle?
 
Back
Top