My Rabbit just attacked me!

[SarahFair]

Well I was going to clean my female flemish giants hutch out and went to lift her out and she made this grunting noise and wiggled so I let her go. She then bit my hand so I immediately tried to pull my hand back but she lunged for it and chomped HARD! I tried snatching it back and she had it so hard it was dragging her..
She then started kicking my arm with her back legs and I could do nothing but sit there and yell out pain because she had me so tight. I didnt know what to do.
I now have a huge bite mark on the palm of my hand and over 10 scratch marks that are bleeding. Some over over 4" long. I ran inside after a few seconds of being baffled and washed it twice.

I dont know why she did this! I pet her right before I picked her up and she was fine. Its not like she isnt use to being petted and picked up

Someone left the latch on the hutch unlocked once and she was out with my male rabbit.
Will a preggo rabbit do this?
I understand maybe some nipping if she was hungry or thirsty but this was a full on attack!

I am scared now to clean out her hutch!

She LUNGED for my hand and brought it down like a dog on a coon

These cuts sting rather bad..
They should be ok though, right?
I took a few pictures of them..

Bite:

 

[Brindlebtch]

The bite doesn't look like punctures, more like blood blisters or deep marks, correct? As long as they aren't punctures you are fine. The scratches look totally superficial. Painful but not a problem. I would spread antibiotic ointment on the lot and forget about it.

As for the cause of the rabbit doing that, I have no idea. How scary!

 

[Cindiloohoo]

The grunt was a warning. Crazy preggo hormones I bet ya! Congrats, and give her a little time. how long ago was she exposed? they have 29-31 day gestation. She may have felt you were a threat if she is pregnant.

 

[SarahFair]

No more than 3 weeks ago

The bite mark...
They are blood blisters but there is one tiny punture wound below it.You can kind of see a darker shadow moving to the side of it

She sure got me good!
I dont know how to clean her hutch out now!


I was about to make her a run this week too but now Im scared she would start attacking my legs if I went in there!

 

[Cindiloohoo]

I wouldn't clean it if she is that far along. Give her a box to have the kits in and wait till after she has them to clean her hutch.

 

[SarahFair]

Im scared to even feed her! I want to put straw in there for her but

Truth be told...
I came inside and cried. Not because of the pain because it scared me so bad. While it was happening I knew the attack wasnt going to last the rest of her life but it lasted long enough to beg to God.
I tried to keep my cool as long as I could while she held my arm down.. There was nothing I could do but sit there and watch it all happend. For a second I thought about trying to pull her off with my other arm but that would have probly torn the skin off on my palm and she might have turned and grabbed my other hand.



....If this happens again what should I do to get her off me quicker??

 

[RiverOtter]

If you have to go in there, get a broom head, dust brush, giant paint brush or something like that. Put that in first (hold it in front of her face) and let her take her aggressions out on it while you do whatever you need to do quickly with your other hand.

It's likely hormones, but there's no need to pass on hormonally crazy rabbits, so if you got her for a breeding doe, cull her after this litter.

Get some antibiotic ointment on. Even if it just looks like a red mark, smear some on, better safe then sorry.

I'm sorry you had this happen. It's painful, scary and unexpected. Cull her and don't feel bad about it. They can do a lot of damage and it's just not worth it. I know that's hard to hear. <<hugs>>

 

[BlueLagoonRabbitry]

I raise rabbits, and more than likely she is preggo, ive had many females try and attck me when pregnant, just treat your wounds.

Preganant wise figure the date you found her with your male and three weeks after that date place a nestbox in her hutch with straw or hay so if she is pregnant she will have a place to nest.

 

[ladycrotalus]

I have a scar where my holland doe took a chunk out of my right middle finger. She was wanting to breed and i was just reaching in her cage to give her pellets. She hasn't tried since then but i don't fully trust her any more. But after the bite i started distracting her attention with a dust pan.

Now i have a nasty buck who grunts and stomps, same deal, i distract him while i dump pellets in his dish. He picks a fight with everybody though. One of my roosters hopped into the pen with him and they started going at it. Today, i had the door open to his cage while i was dumping pellets and hay in and the neighbor's cat walked right in there, luckily i grabbed her out just in time.

 

[Brindlebtch]

I never thought about aggressive rabbits. Being at the bottom of the food chain it never occurred to me that they would attack. Has this been accidentally bred into them? I have never ever heard about this happening with a wild rabbit. Maybe scratches, but not biting. Just wondering?