Hormones

My nethie is still being extremely vicious and it is really stressing him out. A friend had the same problem with her nethie (single neutered house-bun) and her vet gave him a hormone injection and she said it worked perfectly. Mine was neutered 3 years ago but has gotten vicious over the last 2 months or so.
He also has sneezing fits after he attacks, so I think the stress is really getting to him. I was going to take him to the vets about the sneezing but his nose is fine, he only starts sneezing when he gets all worked up about territory.

Has anyone on here had any experience with buns having hormone injections? I only heard of the idea yesterday and can't find much about it on the internet.

Thanks

I had no idea hormone injections were available for this purpose. Hopefully someone will come along who knows.

Does he live alone? Do you think he may benefit from a very calm ladybun?

He has a very very calm ladybun. I'm feeling really sorry for her at the minute because he keeps chasing and humping her. She was spayed years ago. They've been together happily for around 3 years

Oh! Sorry I didn't realise

I wonder if there's any cause for this aggression appearing over the last two months

If its recent aggression i would be looking at what has changed that would make him behave aggressively. Is it just towards you/when you are around or is it in general? has he been fully checked over by a vet? could be hes feeling poorly and taking it out on everyone else [typical man]

I had no idea rabbits could have hormone injections, but i would rather settle the issue/ whatever is bothering him instead. Plus im not sure people could fully know the implications of extra hormones in buns, i mean it causes enough problems in people.

I've no advice but hope you get it all sorted out it must be very frustrating

Dotdot wrote:Oh! Sorry I didn't realise

I wonder if there's any cause for this aggression appearing over the last two months

I'm pretty sure it's cos there are 3 more bunnies in the shed. He can't get to them though because they're in a different hutch, but he's behaving like he's un-neutered again. I can't keep him anywhere else. The other neutered boy couldn't care less about him and he's still super friendly with me. This hormone thing sounds like a good idea, I think I might book him in at the vets and see what they say. He bit onto my mum's foot 2 days ago and wouldn't let go, even when she tried to shake him off

Amelia66 wrote:If its recent aggression i would be looking at what has changed that would make him behave aggressively. Is it just towards you/when you are around or is it in general? has he been fully checked over by a vet? could be hes feeling poorly and taking it out on everyone else [typical man]

I had no idea rabbits could have hormone injections, but i would rather settle the issue/ whatever is bothering him instead. Plus im not sure people could fully know the implications of extra hormones in buns, i mean it causes enough problems in people.

Yes i'm worried incase the hormone injection could be harmful. He doesn't seem poorly, he moves around fine and has a really good appetite. I'll take him to the vets and see what they say. I'd rather get it sorted without hormones but I can't move him out of the shed so he's going to be in sniffing distance of the other bunnies even though he's not right next to them

The first thing I think to do is to get your vet to check there is nothing physically wrong with him. It does sound as though he may be suffering from referred agression, my Herbie reacts in the same way once he is close to the other bunnies. Touchwood, he is not as bad as he used to be.

Your vet could possibly supply you with Xylkene which is supposed to have a calming effect on rabbits.

If referred aggression is the cause then the only option if you unable to move him out the shed is to somehow shield him and his partner from the other rabbits if this is at all possible.

Good luck.

This is the shed at the minute, the rabbit on the left is moving out into her own shed soon and then i'll have the two pairs next to each other. It should be very easy to put a barrier between them, hopefully that'll help

Could you not move your nethie couple to the new shed instead?

I agree with sizer, it may be that he is in pain and its making him grumpy especially if this I'd a new thing.

Sue_pawz wrote:Could you not move your nethie couple to the new shed instead?

I did think about it but the main reason I needed the extra shed is because the French Lop is way too big for the space she has at the minute and i'm also hoping to get her bonded to another big rabbit when she has more room. If the barrier thing doesn't work then I might have to

I hadn't heard of hormone injections until Willow's unsuccessful spay. The vet mentioned to me then that if she had too much aggressive, hormonal behaviour it could be treated by hormone injections, but as it happens she didn't need it.

I hope the barrier does the job

I'd definitely address the cause rather than treating the symptoms. If he is constantly stressed, his immune system will dip and that could allow him to become poorly. We have buns who have underlying health problems which flare up when they are stressed. We're pretty sure most of the other buns carry the same illness but do not suffer from it because they deal with stress better.

We have found that our buns with referred aggression aren't particularly bothered by the smell of other buns, but the sight of them. Even then if they cannot get closer than a foot or so, there is no problem. It can be the difference between the runs being right up against each other or a foot apart - that no-mans-land in the middle seems to be accepted as neutral territory.

Can you photograph or describe the inside of the shed? How does he react when he is in the run and there are buns in the run next door?

Sparky wrote:I'd definitely address the cause rather than treating the symptoms. If he is constantly stressed, his immune system will dip and that could allow him to become poorly. We have buns who have underlying health problems which flare up when they are stressed. We're pretty sure most of the other buns carry the same illness but do not suffer from it because they deal with stress better.

We have found that our buns with referred aggression aren't particularly bothered by the smell of other buns, but the sight of them. Even then if they cannot get closer than a foot or so, there is no problem. It can be the difference between the runs being right up against each other or a foot apart - that no-mans-land in the middle seems to be accepted as neutral territory.

Can you photograph or describe the inside of the shed? How does he react when he is in the run and there are buns in the run next door?

Yes I think that is why he keeps sneezing, it definitely seems stress related.

When he is next to the other buns he acts normal, he will quite happily lie down and relax next to them with just mesh between them. He eats right next to them too and isn't bothered. He just gets aggressive when me or my mum go in the shed.

I will photograph the inside of the shed when its light tomorrow.
There is a double hutch along the back wall of the shed with a cat flap leading out into the run on the right. There's a single hutch along the right wall of the shed with a dog flap leading into the run on the left. There's also a double hutch along the left side of the shed which is left open for that pair to run around on the shed floor 24/7 without an outdoor run. I hope that makes some sort of sense!