My rabbit use to love me, now it dislikes me!

Question
Me and my boyfriend live together and 2 months ago we bought a 3 month old dwarf rabbit.  Our rabbit was extemely friendly and happy from the first day we picked it out at the pet store. We let it run around the house for long periods of the day and she is very pampered.  It is extremely easy going and loveable.  It bonded to us very quickly and would sit and lick my hand and let me pet her for a long time. She was very relaxed around me would even lie on her side and let me pet her, i was soo happy cause i knew some rabbits can be the complete opposite.  However, in the past 3 weeks it has started to dislike me it seems. We found out about 2 weeks ago that our rabbit is a female and like i said in the past 3 weeks she has changed towards me but she has become even closer to my boyfriend, she LOVES him!  She runs away when i try to pet her and wont tolerate being in my arms for long, when i pet her she will run away, but she will constantly look for my boyfriends attention she will lick his hands constantly, & sit in his lap for extended periods while being petted, she has become cloer with him and more distant to me.  I have never done anything to hurt her or me mean to her, we both treat her the same. We take turns takin her in & out of the cage and giving her treats just to be sure she would not dislike one of us. but it seems our efforts have backfired cause there is a extremely noticable difference in her behaviour to me! It is making me very sad because she use to be so loveable to me before and i have no idea why she changed. Its hard to watch her bond with my boyfriend more and more each day!  The only thing I can think of that may have something to do with it is some weekends we go home to visit our parents, & the our rabbit will stay with him at his house.  However, even when she is at his house on weekends I am there everyday, so its not like she is away from me for any lenghth of time.  Could this change be hormonal or something, could she be seeing my boyfriend as a "mate" and me as competition? Its very bizarre & troubling to me what is happening, she went from adoring me to disliking me more and more as time goes on.  Can you please help, any insight would be very helpful!

Answer
Hi,

your rabbit has hit sexual maturity.  They hit sexual maturity between 4-6 months old.  So she's picking up on yours' and his pheromones.  You will need to find a good rabbit-savvy vet (not all are, it is critical to find a rabbit vet) - you need to anyways for regular checkups and when she's sick - and get her examined, and then set up a time for her to be spayed.  Spaying reduces moody behavior, she will be less cage-aggressive (defensive of hands in her house when she's in there) and she will get back closer to where she was before sexual maturity.  You will also double her lifespan as intact females usually die by 5-6 with uterine cancer.

Start here:

www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html

to find a House Rabbit Society recommended vet near you.  Also I suggest spending time on their website for the hundreds of great articles on all aspects and care of rabbits, and suggest picking up the books I mention in my profile information.