Growling Rabbit

Question
Hello Mr. Lee,
Here are the answers to your questions.
1. He is still intact
2. He is a 1 year old.
3. He is an indoor rabbit
4. He doesn't get much exercise time.
5. I usually his back and between his ears. But mostly the back.
6. We have no other pets.
7. I am not sure where it came from initially.
8. The person that gave him to us in November did so because she was never able to spend anytime with the rabbit due to schooling. He was always alone.
8. He wasn't handled roughly.
9. No one smokes or wears a lot of perfume.
10. We grab him from his sides out of the cage.
11. No health problems.
12. About 30 minutes a day for exercise.

*Mr. Lee, I am 10 and I have a brother 6 and a sister 12 and we love our pet rabbit. His name is Snowball. My mother thinks because he came from a home where he had no attention to a home where he has 3 children always wanting to hold him and talk to him may be the cause of his growling. Also, we have hardwood floors throughout our home and when he tries to hop around he slides all over the place. I am afraid to take him outside because he may jump away. Any suggestions on how I can allow him to hop around better.
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
Dr. Meyer,
Our pet rabbit sometimes growls if we try to rub him. Should we be concerned or is it his way of letting us know he doesn't want to be bothered? He also bites us. What should we do?
-----Answer-----
Hi Kierra,

not sure if you had a typo or not, but I'm not a doctor, first off.  I don't want to portray a false image to you.

I don't have enough info from your post to tell you what is going on.  However, if you can answer some additional questions (below) in a follow-up post to my reply, I will try to help you more.

1. Is your rabbit been neutered/spayed, or is your rabbit still intact?
2.  How old is your rabbit?
3.  Is he an indoor rabbit?
4.  Does he get exercise time?
5.  How are you attempting to rub him?  
6.  Do you have other pets that you also touch/handle first, then go and try to pet your rabbit?
7.  Is he a shelter/rescue rabbit, or do you know if he came from a traumatic background?
8.  Was he handled roughly, before he came to you, or by people in the house?
9.  Does anyone in the house smoke or wear a lot of perfume?
10.  When you've picked him up, how have you grabbed him?
11.  What kind of health problems does he currently have, or recently gotten over, if any?
12.  How much out-of-the-cage time does he get every day for exercise?

In general, a growling rabbit is one that is on the defense against whatever is causing him concern.  There always is a reason for a rabbit's behavior.  That's why I asked you the number of questions I did.

Please look over the questions, and post a follow-up reply to me, so I can give you a more detailed answer.

Lee

Answer
Hi Kierra,

thanks for your reply.  You have a nice style of writing.

From your most recent writing, there are a few things that can help me help you regarding what is going on with Snowball.

First, going from no attention to much attention by multiple people can be a big change for a rabbit.  It can be unwelcome, or it could be appreciated - it depends on what exactly you are doing.  In fact, going from one house to another is a big deal for rabbits.  Their whole world changes whether they want it to or not.  So this is stressful.  New home, new smells, new people.  All very stressful for a bunny that is all by himself.

Second, Snowball not being neutered significantly affects his behavior.

Third, not getting a lot of exercise time outside (and I do not mean outside the house, but rather in the house, outside of his cage) combined with slippery floors is an issue.  I would not suggest that you take an indoor house rabbit outside.

So what to do?  

First, about interaction with your rabbit.  I can tell you what he won't like.  He won't like yelling or shouting.  He won't like loud noises or lots of fast movements by people.  He won't like fingers poking through the cage at him.  

Rabbits do better in a calm, quiet area of the house where people are, but are not doing loud things.  They don't do well in a high-traffic area where people go running by all the time.  

Rabbits don't like being held, as a general rule.  They are prey animals and have an instinct that being off the ground and not in control of what they want to do is a very bad situation to be in.  They don't like lots of hands reaching for them or petting them at once.  

Rabbits tend to do better when one person at a time is at their house (cage) and talking lightly and soothingly to them.  One-on-one direct contact is good, slow motions, letting him first sniff your hand to recognize you, then petting their head and ears.  Most rabbits really enjoy head and ear pets.  Not all of them enjoy back pets because sometimes they don't know what is touching their back and get frightened by it.  Better to pet their head and ears at the beginning, and then just extend your head pet over their ears and over their back in one long, slow motion.  If he likes it, you will hear a little teeth chattering from him.  

Your rabbit being alone a lot may have made it a little harder for him to build up trust in you, based on his past experiences with people.  This combined with the fact now there are a lot of people trying to get his attention.  

So the first set of things are:  go slow with him, make sure he's in a calm, quieter part of the house but still in an area people are and can interact with him.  Don't all reach for him at once, try having one person at a time have some time with him.  Talk to him quietly and with a light voice.  If he starts growling at you while reaching in, don't reach in. Just keep talking to him.  He's giving you a warning first before he may defend himself.  It may take time for him to build up trust in you.  And also keep in mind that he will not necessarily 'get along' with all of you the same way at the same speed.  He may get along better with you than your brother.  It may take more time for him to like one of you as much as another.  They have their own little personalities that way.  And it's okay, not every person gets along the same with everyone else.

Second big thing.  Snowball really needs to have a good rabbit vet, and be scheduled to be neutered.  Neutering will reduce the aggression you are noticing, as there is a hormonal component to this behavior.  To find a good rabbit vet in your area, go to:

www.rabbit.org/care/vets.html

and find a House Rabbit Society-recommended vet.  If there are none listed near you, you can call up local/regional rabbit rescue groups and shelters and ask them where they would go if they had a rabbit that needed surgery.

It will take about a month after the procedure for his behavior to really mellow out.  He has to 'use up' the existing hormones in his body and it takes about 4-5 weeks after the procedure.  You should start to see noticeable better behavior after the 2-3rd weeks.

Third, he really needs more exercise time out than 1/2 hour a day.  That also is contributing to his grumpiness.  Rabbits need 2-3 hours of exercise time outside of their cage, minimum.  He won't constantly be in motion, but he has freedom to do what he wants.  Sometimes he will run, sometimes he will nibble hay that is put out for him, sometimes he will find a favorite spot and sit, or lay down and stretch out and just relax.  

Being on hardwood floors will require putting cotton rugs (no plastic backings he can chew and eat) down (inexpensive ones) so that he has some traction.  Larger and more the better, if everywhere is hardwood floors.  You will also need with your parents to bunny-proof whatever areas (a room, part of a room, the first floor, etc) you will allow him to be in.  Things such as protecting/hiding electrical cords, moving out any plants he could eat that are toxic to rabbits, making sure nothing breakable is accessible to him on the floor, and using exercise pen pet gates (or doors) to block off areas of the house you don't want him in.  You will need to get a couple extra litterpans to put out in the room/area that he can use when he is out exercising.  You will also have to be more careful walking in those areas as rabbits will get under your feet and they can get right behind you without you hearing them so you have to always look before doing things.  

It may be best for you as relatively new rabbit owners to dedicate a room for him to exercise in, and post a sign "Bunny is Out, Please be Careful"  so people are aware that they need to be more aware of looking around so they won't step on him or be looking to make sure he's not there before walking, turning, laying down, etc.

The House Rabbit Society (www.rabbit.org) has great articles regarding neutering your rabbit, as well as bunny-proofing articles.  You and your folks should spend some time there reading them and printing them out for reference.  On their main page, search for "neuter" and "bunny-proof" and you will get a nunber of articles to browse through.

Feel free to write back anytime.  I am glad Snowball has found a home with people who really are concerned with giving him a good life.  By doing so, you will also be able to enjoy him a lot more, because if he is happy and knows he's in a good place, he will start returning love back to you.  And that's when it gets really wonderful.

Take care,

Lee