Angry doe, how to tame?

[Myrepete10]

Good morning, I traded last night one of my bucks for a year old New Zealand mix doe. The previous owner had told us she was 'a bit crazy' and had plenty of bite wounds and scratches from her. When I held her she was calmer but still looked scared. I've only recently decided for raise neat rabbits (a month ago), my first herd being 2 does and 3 bucks were sweet and friendly.

When I fed her this morning the second I opened the door to her cage she started growling and lunging at me. I am curious how I can calm her down to make her tamer? The guy I got her from said she was rehomed one before to a pet home but was given back because she was very underweight and treated like a dog. He bred her twice then she became more aggressive.

Is it because she had a litter that made her this way or the abuse? I want to make sure she has a happy healthy life with us.

 

[messybun]

I’ve unfortunately dealt with a lot of abuse cases. I’ve both adopted and worked at a rescue. The best thing to do is ground work. It’s hard telling her exact problem without being there. But I would suggest ground work. Get her to a neutral space, like a small enclosed pen or a play pen she can’t get out of. I start at one corner and gently walk toward the rabbit and crouch down. Your crouch is the “safe” position. It means you keep your hands still and never pick up the animal from that place unless it’s an emergency. Gently stand up and move a step or two towards the animal and crouch again. Keep your posture open, but calm. Keep calm yourself and talk gently. When the rabbit gets scared or is about to bolt just stay there and talk gently, even take a step back if you want. You are basically letting her control the situation without knowing she’s leading. When she gets scared back off and when not you Can either toss a treat near her or gently lay it down and walk away. That being said, some rabbits are just born aggressive or made that way and will never be able to get over it. I have met a few of those. I would probably work with leather gloves on, rabbits can bite through them, but it’a safer. If she doesn’t make some improvements quickly I would suggest seeking other options, as a meat rabbit it might not be worth it to you to put the time in. She might not even respond, it sounds like she is pretty bad, I just want to manage expectations.

 

[promiseacres]

Many rabbits are territorial or cage aggressive and it can be genetic. Keep you hands high and wear leather gloves if you need to. Sometimes it's hormones but generally improves when breeding.
Most breeders meat or not won't tolerate a hard to handle doe, though due to hormones does can get a pass or too.

 

[Myrepete10]

Unfortunately ground work would be difficult. Even walking by her cage to feed she lunges out and growling. She bites through leather gloves according to the previous owner. I'm planning on just using her as a breeder with a lot of caution.

 

[Myrepete10]

Many rabbits are territorial or cage aggressive and it can be genetic. Keep you hands high and wear leather gloves if you need to. Sometimes it's hormones but generally improves when breeding.
Most breeders meat or not won't tolerate a hard to handle doe, though due to hormones does can get a pass or too.

That would make a lot of sense! He mentioned her mother was the same way after awhile. I am hope she will calm down, but if she doesn't then we will cull her. She has beautiful litters. Thank you!

 

[messybun]

Unfortunately ground work would be difficult. Even walking by her cage to feed she lunges out and growling. She bites through leather gloves according to the previous owner. I'm planning on just using her as a breeder with a lot of caution.

Yeah, she honestly sounds a bit insane. Sorry. I don’t put up with that, but I also don’t do meat rabbits it’s up to you. Keep the leather gloves loose, that way when you get bit she’ll be biting the glove and your fingers will be able to slip out.

 

[Beekissed]

Genetic, most likely, and you really don't want to breed that into your rabbitry. I had a doe like that once and we culled her for it....no matter what we did, she continued to be aggressive. Just like not all dogs, horses, cattle, sheep, chickens, etc. are "good", not all rabbits are either. Temperament matters, even in food animals, as we have to handle them down through the years we keep them.

The person you got her from was likely getting rid of her for the same reason and at least gave you fair warning she was "crazy".

 

[Niele da Kine]

It could be fear, although it could also be genetic. But, at least you've got a sensible attitude about what you want out of the doe. She will probably never be a cuddly bun, but you could probably hammer out a working arrangement between the two of you.

We have angoras and they require a lot of hands on work, but I don't demand that they like it or even act happy about it. They have to tolerate it and I'm bigger than they are so they get the idea really quick. We've been breeding for good temperament so now most of them are pretty human friendly, but when we started, there was the occasional bun that wasn't very happy about humans. At the moment, we have one who gets scared easily and will act crazy out of fear but that's lessened with training and age. That one won't be bred much, either.

Give her a roomy enough cage that she's not just in one spot, but a cage where you can easily reach her no matter where she goes. She should have a place to hide in there and try not to ever haul her out of her hide, but it's not sacred, either so if you have to do it, do it anyway.

If she lunges and growls at you when you walk past the cage, stamp at her and go towards her until she backs down. If she is still in your face when you're up to her hutch, pick her up and keep her restrained in a football hold or some other 'can't move' situation. Maybe roll her in a towel if she's really crazy. Hold her until she stops struggling, then put her back in her hutch and feed her a treat.

If she doesn't stop struggling, roll her upside down and keep her restrained until she stops. When she does any sort of good behavior, give her a treat.

When I"m grooming the angoras, if they misbehave, that's when they get their toenails clipped. If they behave through the whole grooming session, then toenails are done last, followed by a massage (they like their ears scritched and a neck rub) and then a treat and then back home again. Reward good behavior, punish bad behavior. Of course, this then puts toenail clipping into a punishment, but it's gotta be done and may as well use it as a training tool if necessary.

If she bites, thump her on the nose. A solid, yet not too painful thump. Mostly it's to startle them, not hurt them. And immediately, not two minutes later. They don't have much vision directly in front of their nose, so all they know is they bite and then something thumps their nose. They learn pretty quickly, most times one thump will give them the idea that biting is a bad idea.

It can also be territorial, bunnies are territorial. Switch her to a different space and see if she doesn't defend it as much.

You'd probably want to breed her to an experienced buck, she may be aggressive to other bunnies, too. Worst case scenario, get one litter from her and then invite her to dinner. Cull her offspring for temperament.

The bunnies here get gentle yet firm handling. The ones who respond in a friendly manner get treats, ear scritches and neck rubs, the unfriendly ones get left alone unless there's something that needs to be done and then they get to tolerate it. Those aren't the ones chosen for breeding unless there's some other characteristic they have that we want bred into the herd.