Netherland Dwarf Rabbit Vicious

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

That's they way mine was she would growl at you and attack you if you tryed to open her cage door. I hated that rabbit but man was she tough she got bit by a rattle snake 5 different times and she lived until she got bit on the foot ... and she poked one of her eyes out ... I should have renamed her "Snake Charmer!" LOL Her name was ... "Foofoo!"

 

[RabbitMage]

Yep, sounds like a dwarf.

Having her fixed might help, handling her more often might help, changing her cage/environment might help, but some rabbits are just mean no matter what you do.

 

[chickensioux]

I have a Netherland Dwarf female too that is very sweet most of the time except when I feed her. I believe this is just being territorial in her cage. Any other time I can reach in and pet her, take her out, hold her, play with her, etc.

 

[Sachasmom]

Quote:
How is she once you get her out of the cage? Some rabbits are highly cage aggressive, On occasion one will not the cage/location of their cage and simply moving them solves the problem. (Had it happen here!)

Do you have other rabbits that she can smell on you? Some rabbits will be aggressive if you have other smells on you.

Are you doing something WITH her, like is she for breeding/showing or just a pet. I am going to doubt you could show her (judges don't like to be bit) and you really shouldn't breed anything with lousy temperament (besides which there is a good chance she may kill her litter) Has she always been mean? Sometimes they get snarky when they are ready to be bred, but they'll be fine once they have had a litter, and the litter is about two weeks old.

Soooo, you gots two choices (ok, three really) Cull her, Deal with her, or work with her.

If you choose to work with her, first off you need to show her YOU are the Alpha Bunny. I don't doubt that rabbits can smell fear (since you are gloving up and using a dustpan to get her bowl!) I'd start by taking her out every day (you can use the gloves!

) Hold her until she calms down. When you put her back, feed her. Treats also help, make her come up and take them from you. Talk to her in a calm voice. Note that it CAN take as long as six months for her to come around. Everytime I fed my *iffy* does I petted them, even if I had to crawl in the dang cage and reach waaaay in the back to do so! My latest case (a NZ, so rabbits not known for fab temperaments!) took well over six months to come around. A cage location change helped, and I bred her. (I think the buck taught her some manors!) She now lets me pet her, handle her babies and doesn't bite/bat me with her feet anymore or grunt at me. She was never a nasty crazy attack rabbit though, just unfriendly and would get me with her feet when I tried to handle her.

I've done this on a *few* does that were unfriendly but not nuts. I'd probably go with option #1 if it twas me, since my life is too short to get ripped up anytime I open a cage! But if she is a show doe that you need the genetics from? You might want to breed her and foster her kits with plenty of handling.

If you choose to just deal with it, get a J type feeder that you fill from the outside and a water bottle, not bowl. Voila, now no more reason to open the Psycho Bunny cage!

I have a scar on my hand from where a 4H kids unbalanced Polish at our fair latched on and did a Pit Bull imatation. Had this been MY rabbit it would have been the very last thing it ever did!

Yeah, Cage Territorial at its best!

 

[bossynbella]

I know how you feel. We recently bought a 4yr old Blue New Zealand doe at an auction and she is great once you have a hold of her. She will let you do what you want. But when you reach into her cage (An old hospital crib turned into a rabbit cage) to feed her or pick her up its like cujo!
She lunges for you teeth and claws!
Yesterday she had a litter of babies... I may never know how many because trying to do anything in her cage now is risking my hand. Today I poored the feed through the top and then swept up what fell on the floor. It was safer then reaching into her cage!
I hope you have good luck with your bunny and I hope "big blue" calms down too she is such a pretty girl I feel like she has had a bad life. Maybe someone hurt her in the past?
She is being a good mommy but seems more like a Bear then a bunny!

 

[Bunnylady]

Quote:
Probably like the scar on my wrist from a ND buck that had been left with his mother too long. He was incurable, the only cure for him was a piece of rebar.


Some of the very sweetest buns I have handled have been Dwarfs, but the few truly vicious ones I have known have been Dwarfs, too. Since temperament is to some degree inheritable, I never breed anything with that sort of attitude. A little grumpy, I can deal with, but I don't ever want to be responsible for turning a two-pound fury loose on some child. A rabbit like that votes itself out of the gene pool around here!

 

[Sachasmom]

Ah, its a New Zealand thing, LOL Most of my breeds are fine with me reaching in and farting about in the box, A *few* times I had some terminally stupid ones, the ones that learned, got to stay (and live) anything that attacked its young ( Can I tell ya how very much it stinks to have to put down a couple day old baby a doe has laid open?) didn't get to stay/live. If I could foster the litter, it went Buh bye that day! Some things you just cannot tolerate in rabbit behavior (we raise for show/meat, so we have lots!)

Can you distract her to check for dead/icky stuff? Trust me, ya don't want to find it a week or two later!

I always check my boxes after birth, check for dead/icky stuff, then I check them again daily for two or three days (Looking to be sure they are being fed) then I leave them be until about 10 days, then I clean the box. I check their eyes about day 12.

I was cleaning my NZ's box the other nite, and ewwwww, I missed a dead one even though I checked. Bleh.

What level is the rabbits cage on? Are you reaching in OVER her or from the front? They don't much like to be reached in on top of, maybe its a predator/prey thing?

You can start handling those babies now though,(If Cujo the Attack Doe will let ya!

it makes all the difference in temperament if they are handled from when they are itty bitty.

 

[Sachasmom]

Hmmm, maybe instead of watch dogs we could have Watch Wabbits?

 

[cassie]

Want some recipes?

 

[bossynbella]

Quote:
So you think I should try and get into the box? She is doing good right now.. they seem to be doing okay. Im so worried if I mess with it then she will either kill the babies or just ignore them and choose not to care fro them anymore.
The cage is an old hospital bed it sits 3'off the ground and is 3' tall. The front slides down like on new cribs only its higher up. has like 3' legs for a total of like 6' tall cage. I don't like it as a cage for a bunny with babies but didn't realize this till the babies came. NowI know. Its a better buck cage then doe cage!. Gives them lots of room though but its too open.
She even trys to bite our hands as we lower the door of the cage. She runs the cage with you as you walk from one end to the other.
Im thinking Monday I will try pulling her out of the cage and having hubby hold her while I check babies. Im telling you its scary its like an episode of Crocidle hunter trying to feed Big blue these days!