My Rabbit just attacked me!

[Emzyyy]

I'm allergic to rabbits aha. My friends babysitted a rabbit and AFTER they had given it back I came over and I couldn't stop sneezing and my eyes get all red and itchy. I always pick rabbits up anyway then I suffer the rest of the day.

 

[crtrlovr]

Any pregnant or nesting critter will kick into overdrive to protect its nesting territory just like they will protect the young after they arrive. I know you're upset over what happened, but try not to take it personally. FWIW, neither would I kill her because of this incident. Consider it a lesson learned -- the grunt from a rabbit is always a warning to stop what you're doing and assess the situation.

A stomp along with a grunt means it's about to get ugly ...

 

[Pupsnpullets]

I've heard female rabbits can be nasty. Sorry about your hand. If it starts looking as though it's getting infected you can soak it in water and epsom salts, as hot as you can tolerate. That will draw the poison out. I used that when I grabbed a cat that was circled by not too friendly dogs. The only one injured was me when the cat bit me good! 4 deep puncture wounds. It was turning nasty so I used the epsom salts a few times and that healed it up well. Washing your arm well and adding neosporin is a good start, though. It is probably all you need, fingers crossed.

 

[SarahFair]

If she is pregnant I do not blame her...
I havent taken it personally, yet. If she doesnt have a litter in the next week and a half two weeks.. I dont know what Im going to do with her.

Like I said.. As soon as she grunted I put her down and then she proceeded with the attack.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

I would say she was just defending her "space", they do get very protective when pregnant. The thing to do is be firm and not back down. They are just like any other animal in that if they can push you around they will. My wife Sharon usually does the rabbit "chores" and they are used to her, I get alot of growls and back leg thumps when I feed them but when she gets one that does it to her she just grabs it and holds it down and pets it until it calms down. You can't really make them submit like a dog but you can show them who is in charge. Just be careful and keep an eye on her, sometimes they will turn aggressive and stay that way.

then it's a cull.

Steve

 

[Brindlebtch]

I do wildlife rehab and have a pair of padded welding gloves that come up the my elbows to handle the critters I think might bite. The gloves are a little too big, so if something does try to bite they invariably get only glove, so far anyway.

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

Rabbits are social species. Plus they can be very very aggressive. Just because they are toward the bottom of the food chain doesn't indicate that in a situation where they are not being hunted they can't be aggressive. Look at rats, they are also toward the bottom of the food chain but they can be viscious with eachother when breeding and defending territory.

I have seen vids of rabbits fighting and its not pretty, they really go at eachother. If you go to youtube i think you can find some clips of it.

 

[Bunnylady]

Quote:
No, actually, this is something we are still trying to breed out of them. People have it in their heads that the domestic rabbit's wild ancestor, the European wild rabbit, is by nature social. While it is true that they are often found living in groups, there is some evidence that they are forced into it by environmental factors rather than doing it by choice. Rabbits can be astonishingly brutal to each other, when they can't have their own space.

Rabbits do a lot of communication through body language. A rabbit that is being territorial will stand rigid, body tensed, on its feet (not hunkered down) with its head up and ears back. High is dominant, low is submissive. They usually just slap with their front feet, launching such an all-out attack is rather unusual. I agree that pregnancy and kit raising can push an otherwise reasonable rabbit "over the edge," but this is going to be tough for you to deal with. That's a big rabbit to get roughed up by! (My vicious rabbit scar is on my wrist, and was done by a 2 lb. ND buck!) Good luck!

 

[RabbitMage]

If you have rabbits, you will get bitten and scratched at some point. It's a fact of life. You have to contend with squirmy, upset babies, hormonal does, bucks who are in the mood...it'll happen!

Rabbit scratches are just south of cat scratches on the pain factor, IMO. I know mine stay red and puffy for a day or so. I usually wash them well with soap and water, maybe use a little peroxide just once to clean them out. Keep an eye on them, maybe try an anti-histamine (I'm not allergic but find it helps sometimes) if they stay swollen. You don't run a huge risk of infection, but just like any animal scratch you have to be careful.

The hard part now is for you to decide what to do about this behavior. There's not much you can do to train hormonal behavior out of a rabbit beside removing the hormones. So if you continue to breed her, you can probably continue to look forward to her attitude. If you stop breeding her, she may or may not settle down, same with spaying.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
OOh yeah... rabbits can give a nasty bite! And they HURT with those big teeth!