What to do if a family member is abusive towards my pet bunny?

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. If you believe that Boston Bunnelby may have been injured by his cage, I recommend bringing him to your veterinarian. He/she can perform a full physical exam and look for evidence of soft tissue or skeletal injury and treat accordingly, if needed. If he is otherwise moving around as usual and acting normally (eating, drinking, urinating, defecating) normally, I would not be concerned. I hope this is helpful!

Bunnies can become very stressed if they are chased or scared. Your brother must not be allowed to do this as it can be fatal. Ask your parents to help you. A single pocky stick will probably not cause any harm butI don't recommend feeding them in the future.

Hello. I would definitely consider neutering Bun Bun in case this is testosterone/sexually based aggression. If so, his attitude should improve over the next 4 weeks. This could also be aggression based on resource protection. Some rabbits become a bit aggressive when an owner is changing food or even putting out fresh hay or treats. A rabbit can perceive this as a threat to his "stash". But the easiest thing to do is neuter him, & of course, never reinforce his aggressive behavior ( some people will see this as cute & funny & inadvertently cheer the behavior on ). Good luck & thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I am so sorry that this change is happening - it is never easy when one pet starts to be aggressive to the other. I don't know when the last time that you had a wellness exam performed on your rabbits, but I think that would be a good place to start with these two. Sometimes a more dominant animal will "pick on" the other if it isn't feeling well - this is often picked up by the animals in the house long before it is noticed by the humans in the household. Your veterinarian would perform a physical exam, and then could also perform some blood work to evaluate systemic health. Since it looks like your rabbits spend some time outside, they may also evaluate the feces for any evidence of parasites as well that they may pick up. I would also recommend weighing both of the rabbits - it sounds like a lot of the negative interactions occur when food is present, and this may make it hard for your lop to get adequate amounts of food, and weight loss can occur. Additionally, there may be a process going on in the dominant rabbit that is making it need more nutrition and, therefore, is becoming more aggressive about food items. One thing that you may try while waiting to get into the vet is separating the rabbits with a physical barrier that they can still see through - then if they still want to lie next to one another against the barrier they can, but the lop can get away easier if getting picked on. You can feed them near the barrier as well, in case they are social eaters. This may make them feel more comfortable than being completely separated from one another.

This sounds potentially quite dangerous as Bun Bun could suffer trauma or predation while out on her adventures. I would recommend keeping her in a rabbit enclosure or a closed room inside your house, especially when you’re leaving the house and not supervising her. She can free roam when you’re there to keep an eye on her, but if you’re opening the door to leave or having people over, she should be confined. This will prevent her running out the door again. As for not remembering your sister, she probably does but may still be on high alert from her outside events and may need some time to calm down and respond more normally to people. As a prey species, rabbits are always on high alert for dangers, and the chemicals in her body need some time to adjust to the change in scenario.

Oh no, I'm sorry you lost Boston Bunnelby (I love his name)! I would go over to your neighbor's house to see if you can search their backyard for him. I would search other neighbor's yards as well, but hopefully he's just over next door. If you cannot find him, I would make a post on social media with a picture of him letting people know he's missing, you can put flyers up in your neighborhood and in your neighbor's mailboxes, and you can notify local vet clinics and the SPCA that he's missing in case someone turns in a rabbit. I hope this helps and you find him!

I’m sorry to hear that! Rabbits can be great pets, but can sometimes to a while to warm up to people, and can suffer from stress that may make them difficult to handle. Visit the following links for some tips on how to care for your rabbits and hopefully that will help! http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=3015&S=5&SourceID=43 http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=502&S=5&SourceID=43 http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=470&S=5&SourceID=43 http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=667&S=5&SourceID=43