Attack rabbit?

[rabbitlady4433]

I have a doe that's similar, I'm a little person and she's a BIG rabbit. But, she puts out good litters. So when I take her to the bucks cage, I use a small pet carrier with some carrot tops in the back. I hold it right up to the door and she goes in. I do the same thing to take her out of the bucks cage and usually buy the time I get her to her home when she comes out she'll allow a head scratching. I do this for cage cleaning too.

 

[oneacrefarm]

We had one like this, she was so cranky! She even bit me, and man are those teeth sharp! She had a good litter and was still a bit cranky, we rebred her and Voila! Sweet as pie! Still with personality to burn, but not cranky. We also have one right now that was like that when we got her. I was caring for her mostly and then hubs tried to help. He reached it to get her water bowl and she nailed him! Took a chunk out of his thumb. But, he was in her space, not familiar and reaching low. So, we decided to give her a chance. We bred her and she mellowed out as she got more used to us. She now has a litter 5 wks old, is rebred and is a great rabbit. I say give her a chance, let her deliver, see how she does. She may surprise you. If not, then she has a standing invitation to freezer camp...

 

[zzGypsy]

cool, I can be a little patient.
she's working on the challenge, though, last night she came up after the towel, tried to box it out of the air at the top of the cage as I went in to blanket her. tough girl!

 

[zzGypsy]

well we had a couple of nice days, and now she's back to crabby rabbit again...

saw a little pulled fur, maybe soon, should be within the next week...

and my black doe had bunnies today! five fat little ones, they look pretty big to me, based on moma's size...

so we still have CalicoDoe and CrabbyRabbit to go...

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

i am going to be getting my first rabbits today. so i do not have first hand experience. but i have read that oats or other treats sweeten up some rabbits. if you give her some oats or some other treat before you handle her. kind of training her that she will get a treat when she needs to be moved. then she will be excited to be moved because she will know she gets a treat.
good luck!

 

[DKRabbitry]

With the *mean* rabbit we had, it was just when she was bred/had young babies. She was tolerable, though not friendly, when she was open, but once she was bred WATCH OUT! You didn't want to enter her space. I didn't even mess with her, DH did. Once the kits were about 4 weeks old, she was back to being okay again. And let me tell you, she was a phenomenal mother. 10-12 kits each time. Another mean doe we had was just always a grump. Never bit, but growled, charged and stomped. When she started to be mean and attack my bucks when I tried to breed her, she was culled.

 

[zzGypsy]

We've bunnied!

CrabbyRabbit's 6 kits:

and, yep, she's still a fighter -
we'll see is she settles out when they're weaned - and what kind of a mama she turns out to be in the mean time.

 

[Bunnylady]

Well, so far, so good!

 

[texcalkas]

In my experience, the crankiness really never goes away. My American Blue doe will attack me every time I put my hand into her cage so I just put my hand inside my coat and push her aside. If she keeps it up I'll shove her into a corner with her winter box so she can't come at me while I'm changing out her water or whatever I'm doing. Now, get her out of the cage and she's generally ok. The Giant Chinchilla doe has only charged me once and since she's about 15 lbs, I reacted pretty quickly. When I get enough breeding stock I will breed for temperment as well as confirmation but for now, I have to put up with tempermental does. Neither of them has had a "date" with their mates yet and we will see if they chill out after being bred. In the case of the American, I doubt it will make any difference. Over all, I'd say be patient. They see your hand in their cage as an invasion of their space, just like I do when someone else messes around in "my" kitchen.