young buck bites

I was talken by a surprise today. I was petting a buck today that i know loves to be petted. So i decided to go to the next cage which he is 4.5 month old buck.He was on a back burn for breeding. I opened his cage and put his salt spool back in his dish and moved his tin can that he likes to play with it. He turned around and charge my hand and bit it and drew blood. I grab him and pinned him down to show him that i am the boss not him. I had to come to the house and wash my hand. Now i am scared to put my hand in his cage. Is there a reason at this age to be doing this. Or will he be a mean buck that i have to cull. ? I am still shocked typing this out. Would it be because of the smell of the other buck on my hands? I have never had a buck charge and bite like that ,and at that young age. WOW. I had females do it with there babies. What should i do . Give him another chance and wait for his age for breeding as see if he gets better . OR should i cull him. ?

Some of my rabbits will freak out if I touch a buck and then a doe. So smell could be it.
Also, when they start to reach sexual maturity, the not level testosterone and such can definitely make them act wonky until things even out.

ChickiesnBunnies":31v5aiko said:

Some of my rabbits will freak out if I touch a buck and then a doe. So smell could be it.
Also, when they start to reach sexual maturity, the not level testosterone and such can definitely make them act wonky until things even out.

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Ok thanks. I wasnt to sure. I had never had a buck bite before.I will have to wear gloves with him to be safe. If he continues after he reaches in 6 months age to start breeding. Then he is going to the soup pot. So i guess it is normal then,

MaryAnn,

Actually, a buck that bites like that is not normal in the sense you are speaking about. Yes, his hormones may be at the bottom of the biting, but IMHO, that is still no excuse for biting. You did the right thing by pinning his head, but if you are afraid to handle him in his cage, then you are losing, so consider carefully how he stands in your breeding program. The way to test whether this was a reaction to the other buck or is hormonal/attitude related is to handle this buck first and if he still attacks, then it is most likely hormone related.

The problem with it being hormone related is that it can quickly become an attitude issue. In my experience with many other animals, once they start biting, they very rarely stop on their own. Now, there are a few tricks you can try to break him of this bad habit ... 1) move him to a different cage to see if it is cage aggression. 2) heat a small potato in the oven and present that as your "hand" so he bites it and burns his mouth a little ... when he associates the pain with biting you, he may quit. 3) if he savages you 3 times, off to freezer camp as bad attitude can be passed to offspring.

If he is crucial to your breeding program, try him in a larger cage and seperate him from the other rabbits. And keep a pair of handling gloves at that cage so you don't forget

Thanks. I didnt think it was normal as i had allot of bucks in my time with rabbits. But i always second guess myself. I really need him for my breeding program. I will like to see a few litters out of him and then cull him. I dont usually tolerate this kind of behavior. But this rabbit cost me allot of money i have to see something out of him. Not all rabbits take after there parents. I have proof of that. But some do. I do not put my hand in is cage unless i have gloves on. Once a rabbit bites. I never trust them again. :angry:

That is such a tough spot to be in ... when it takes just a little extra to raise gentle/tame babies, it really annoys me that folks just won't take the time, then sell to others who have to deal with the issue.

I have a doe that I have been having to "bribe" with carrot tops to try and get her to gentle down ... she still tries to bluff me with charges and grunts and sometimes outright open mouthed assault. So far, she hasn't gotten ahold of me recently, but I still have to deal with her assertively rather than the lovey-dovey I get to do with the other rabbits.

Besides, it is FUN to raise the babies "to hand" and results in a much calmer adult! Even for the most shy of the babys.