Aggressive one minute, happy the next...

Question
Hello,

I have a 5 month old rabbit who I received at 10 weeks. She is litterbox trained, has been handled since birth, and I take her out of her cage for an hour in the morning and keep her cage open from the moment I get home until when I go to bed.

She seems very well adjusted and happy. Eats well, jumps around in the air, runs in circles, etc. But I have noticed the last few weeks that at times she has begun thumping her back leg at me and grunting at me when she is out and about and I go near her. I'm unsure why she is doing this all of a sudden? Sometimes she will let me rub her head and groom her for several minutes on my lap, then out of nowhere she'll thump on my leg and grunt at me! I'm wondering if that's her way of telling me she doesn't want any more?

I do have a check-up with a Vet next week, and plan to make an appointment to have her spayed in a month or so.

Lately it seems she has become more aggressive and less affectionate although I believe I am doing everything right.

I'm wondering if she is acting out because of her age? Is she too bored? She has toys and lots of space to run around.
Am I giving her too much freedom? Any insight/avenues to correct this behavior is appreciated.

Answer
Dear Stephanie,

While spaying her will very likely calm her down, I won't promise that it will stop her personality from showing.  :)  It's not uncommon for an extremely affectionate baby bunny (especially females) to become a bit bossy when they start to reach sexual maturity.  I suspect it's because the calm, happy ones are very confident around humans, and when they begin to get older, they are the ones who have the dominant personalities.  And they show it.  They don't care what size or species you are.  THEY are the ones who are Born Royalty, and we lowly humans must just accept it.

My little Scarlet is like this.  She was *wildly* affectionate as a baby when we rescued her.  But when she hit puberty, she realized she was the Princess Heir, and now we must do her bidding or suffer the grumpy thump-n-growl.  I do miss her crazy cuddliness, but I also do adore her real, adult personality.  It just takes a bit of adjustment.  Kind of like watching a teenager discover herself, and really bunnies are no different.

She *will* mellow with age, even if the spay doesn't completely "cure" the problem.  But bunnies are bunnies just as humans are humans, and our personalities change as we hit puberty, too.  It's all part of life.  And as long as we accept and respect each other's "growing pains" everything will be fine.

Hope this helps!  Give your little princess a noogie on the head for me.

Dana