So.. he now stays in the front of the cage as I open it, he comes to me and gets treats.
BUT... now he's showing aggressive behaviour! I do hope this is just a test phase or something passing caused by insecurity.
When I stick my hand in the cage to feed he's ok. He might puff on my hand and after that he runs to his house. If I start messing with the straw or just let my hand be there (offering him treats most of the time as I want him to stay with me) he then charges and growls at my hand. He skids to a stop a few inches away from it, glares at me and then puffs it with his nose, then takes the treat or retreats back to his house.
I don't move my hand (I have the feeling that if I pull back I'll let him know that he chased me away and will teach him it was a successful behaviour.) but I can't figure much else to do either. While in a sense I would like to dicipline him, I don't want to trigger an actual bite OR make him scared. I think he's testing me and he may be protecting his house, feeling insecure if I reach too far in.
It's not that I've never handeled aggressive rabbits before, on the show jumping times they usually sent me to get the aggressive ones out their cages when they bit too hard for their owners etc. I'm probably a nice or crazy person because I usually helped them out, usually having a few new holes in my hands each time (gloves? What's that?) But that was other peoples rabbits that I just met once and never more. I just grabbed them and took them out. my own rabbits never showed any aggressive behaviour, I've never had to deal with it. Or worked on preventing it.
On the up-side; he let me pet him on the back while he was eating today. When he was done with the growling and charging thing, that is. And he hasn't been freezing up since I spent some time in his cage.
I'm not one to excuse bad behaviour normally, but I have a feeling this is temporary and that he'll turn out to be a good rabbit soon enough, unless I mess upp fatally and trigger this behaviour. If he wo't get out of it though, or if his upcoming kits shows this type of annoying behaviour, he's not a decent breeding buck in my book and will be removed from my program. But as it is.. I'm not sure it's a bad genetic trait as much as a misdirected trait due to environment changes, and I don't think it's permanent.
Whatever makes him chose this approach now could be a trait that - on a rabbit used to being handeled from early age - could make a rabbit more prone to learn and figure things out. If he is testing this approach, like I get the feeling of, it means he has a good ability of trial and error, and learning. I also like how he's more interested of me than of food. He feels like a sharp animal.. you know? The type that can be a pain to the wrong person and a dream to the right?
It could of course also be that he's a mentally unstable creature that will pass bad genetics down on his offspring and I'll end up with a bunch of skittish-aggressive, spotted rabbits with huge ears. Hm.
For now, I think he needs more time before I can evaluate him. And if he turns out to become a nice rabbit, I need to evaluate his kits before I decide if he's good for my breeding.
__________ Sun Jul 21, 2013 6:22 am __________
The doe is making less obvious progress, but on the other hand more stable progress. She's coming to the door when I feed, I could touch her without having her running away. A bit. She's stll not sure she likes me.. but she's less afraid.
BUT... now he's showing aggressive behaviour! I do hope this is just a test phase or something passing caused by insecurity.
When I stick my hand in the cage to feed he's ok. He might puff on my hand and after that he runs to his house. If I start messing with the straw or just let my hand be there (offering him treats most of the time as I want him to stay with me) he then charges and growls at my hand. He skids to a stop a few inches away from it, glares at me and then puffs it with his nose, then takes the treat or retreats back to his house.
I don't move my hand (I have the feeling that if I pull back I'll let him know that he chased me away and will teach him it was a successful behaviour.) but I can't figure much else to do either. While in a sense I would like to dicipline him, I don't want to trigger an actual bite OR make him scared. I think he's testing me and he may be protecting his house, feeling insecure if I reach too far in.
It's not that I've never handeled aggressive rabbits before, on the show jumping times they usually sent me to get the aggressive ones out their cages when they bit too hard for their owners etc. I'm probably a nice or crazy person because I usually helped them out, usually having a few new holes in my hands each time (gloves? What's that?) But that was other peoples rabbits that I just met once and never more. I just grabbed them and took them out. my own rabbits never showed any aggressive behaviour, I've never had to deal with it. Or worked on preventing it.
On the up-side; he let me pet him on the back while he was eating today. When he was done with the growling and charging thing, that is. And he hasn't been freezing up since I spent some time in his cage.
I'm not one to excuse bad behaviour normally, but I have a feeling this is temporary and that he'll turn out to be a good rabbit soon enough, unless I mess upp fatally and trigger this behaviour. If he wo't get out of it though, or if his upcoming kits shows this type of annoying behaviour, he's not a decent breeding buck in my book and will be removed from my program. But as it is.. I'm not sure it's a bad genetic trait as much as a misdirected trait due to environment changes, and I don't think it's permanent.
Whatever makes him chose this approach now could be a trait that - on a rabbit used to being handeled from early age - could make a rabbit more prone to learn and figure things out. If he is testing this approach, like I get the feeling of, it means he has a good ability of trial and error, and learning. I also like how he's more interested of me than of food. He feels like a sharp animal.. you know? The type that can be a pain to the wrong person and a dream to the right?
It could of course also be that he's a mentally unstable creature that will pass bad genetics down on his offspring and I'll end up with a bunch of skittish-aggressive, spotted rabbits with huge ears. Hm.
For now, I think he needs more time before I can evaluate him. And if he turns out to become a nice rabbit, I need to evaluate his kits before I decide if he's good for my breeding.
__________ Sun Jul 21, 2013 6:22 am __________
The doe is making less obvious progress, but on the other hand more stable progress. She's coming to the door when I feed, I could touch her without having her running away. A bit. She's stll not sure she likes me.. but she's less afraid.
