an old, frightened, and grumpy rabbit

Question
5 years ago, my sisters and i were young and we bought a rabbit, but not knowing how to care for it, the rabbit has become grumpy, and is very frightened of us. it also snorts at us, which i am not sure is normal. we are not interested in spaying it. the rabbit lives in a wire cage in a large bathroom and occasionally goes into our carpeted bedrooms. the rabbit is also not trained in anyway. i am wondering if there is a way to make it more friendly toward humans and liter train it at this point in it's life.

Answer
Dear Trish,

You say you are not interested in having her spayed, but this procedure is truly critical to success in both winning her trust and in keeping her healthy.  An intact female is not only going to be constantly moody and grouchy because of the sex hormone fluctuations, but also she has a very high risk of uterine cancer (this is specific to rabbits).  So having her spayed is very important if you truly want to help her.  Please read:

www.rabbit.org/health/spay.html

It has more to do with her health and personality than with reproduction.

Once she is spayed and healed, here are some tips to win her over and make her trust you:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/shybun.html

and here are some tips to deal with any aggressive behaviors she's showing:

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/aggression.html

I hope this helps.

Dana