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Sweet Pet attacked my kids...

22 9:58:25

Question
We are raising a Dutch bunny who is about 4 + months old.  She has always been very sweet until today.  My daughter, 5, was playing with her and Rosie(the rabbit) chased her and bit her aggressively.  Within the following 20 minutes she attacked again and then attacked my 7 year old daughter.  The girls had held a few baby bunnies earlier in the day and their scent would have been on their clothing.  Does this sound like typical behavior?  Could she be aggressive due to the scent and puberty?  I'm afraid of her now.  She had been hand raised since birth and our house bunny but now we're considering finding her another home.  The bites and scratch marks on my girls are pretty bad.  What do you think, how could her perfect demeanor turn so abruptly?

Answer
Dear Sally,

Your bunny undoubtedly was reacting to the scent of the strange rabbit on your children's hands and clothing.  Her reaction was normal and to be expected.  This is one of the many reasons that the House Rabbit Society warns prospective "bunny moms" that these animals are *not* the best pets for children.  

She also may be starting to reach puberty.  At the age of 5 months, she can be spayed, which will usually help curb aggressive behavior.  Please read:

www.rabbit.org/health/spay.html

and

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/spay.html

Once the scent of the strange bunny is gone, I am betting your bunny returns to her old, sweet self.  But note that she may be an "alpha bunny" whose personality may become more dominant and possibly more aggressive once she really reaches puberty.  So its time to schedule that spay with a rabbit-savvy vet:

www.rabbit.org/vets

You can find more information on aggression in rabbits (and how to deal with it) here:

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/aggression.html

I hope this helps.

Dana