Aggressive doe now docile!

Last week I asked for suggestions to deal with an aggressive bred doe. Every time I would reach into her cage to clean up or add new hay she would charge, scratch and, finally one time she bit me.

I have tried to talk more as I work around the rabbits and I'm careful to move slowly. I tried raisins as a treat. One junior doe loves them. The others (two bred does and one senior buck) aren't interested. Drs Foster & Smith sell a treat called Alfalfa Slims, Carrot Slims and Corn Slims. The bred doe will eat those as long as I hold one in my hand. If I place it in the cage she ignores it.

But she LOVES Quaker Old Fashioned Oats!

The good news is, she stopped charging and isn't the least bit aggressive now. Here's what I think has made the difference...

First, I realized I had developed the habit of opening the door to her cage and immediately reaching in to remove any leftover hay. As I would reach for the door latch, she would "set up" by backing up against the cage wall opposite the door. As soon as I reached in, she would pounce.

So, I started opening her cage door, then walking away. She would still do her little "back up and set up" routine but since I would leave, she didn't charge. I would continue to service the other cages, while talking softly. She would begin to move around in her cage, kind of watching what I was doing. Then I'd return to her cage and drop a small pinch of oats into her feeder and again walk away.

Once she was occupied with her oats, I'd start removing the old hay and replacing it with fresh. Then I would slowly reach in and scratch her cheek and ears. After a couple of days of no charging I tried feeding her one of the "Slims". As I said, as long as I hold it she'll chew on it. As soon as I set it down she ignores it.

Anyway, the aggression has stopped. The charging has stopped. And she seems to have become a normal rabbit again.

Thanks to each of you for your input and suggestions!

Congrats!! I'm dealing with this now, but what I'm doing is going for the doe first. I've found that if I can reach in and pet her first, she doesn't really care what else I do.I think it's a little weird, but it's been working for me!! I'm glad you found something that works for you, .

Greg,

If she'll let you pet her as soon as you reach in, that sounds pretty encouraging. My aggressive doe would run from me if I tried to pet her. I could gently pin her down with one hand while I cleaned her cage with the other but that didn't seem to be a good long-term solution.

Funny thing is, now she comes to the open door and sticks her head out to be petted. She loves Quaker Old Fashioned Oats and each time I feed I put a small pinch of oats in the feeder on top of her timothy pellets. This morning, just for grins, I tried holding my open hand out in front of her with the oats in my hand. The first time she sniffed them she kind of jumped back. Then she put her nose up to my fingers again and started licking up the oats. In a matter of about a week she's gone from "scary aggressive" to the second most affectionate rabbit of the four.

I've begun to recognize that each rabbit has its own individual personality. Each one responds differently. Two of the four absolutely love Carrot Slims and Oat Slims. The buck simply pulls them out of my fingers and discards them on the cage floor. The previously aggressive doe will only eat one if I hold it in my hand and let her chew on it.

Out of the four rabbits, three now enjoy being petted (one insists on it... If I ignore her, she'll force her head under my hand!) and one still jumps just a bit and adopts a kind of "stiff" attitude each time I touch her. I'll just give her more time and see how she does after kindling. She's due around July 7th.

Good luck with yours!

Well, she grunts and squeaks when I start to open her cage, but I just reach in and pet her on the back. She's still a little stiff at first, but after a second or two, she's fine. She just had a litter on the 18th, but she was pretty skiddish before that as well.

I have one more that was pretty mean, but after her litter on the 21st, she has mellowed out on her own. She still doesn't particularly want to be pet, but she accepts it and doesn't have a fit anymore.

All 4 of my does were in a colony when I got them. The owner at the time never spent any time at all with them, so they were all pretty wild when I got them. The last thing they wanted was to be picked up. Now I don't really have a problem with any of them, but I haven't really picked them up for over a week, due to the rain we've been having. 2 of them mellowed out pretty quick, and after 2 months, the other 2 are coming around too.

Like you said, they are all different, and need to dealt with different. The hard thing is finding out what works for a particular bunny. I have 2 does that will be due on the 18th, so I'm hoping their attitudes won't change much after they kindle, but we'll see.

Good luck with yours as well.