Unexplained behaviour change: Aggression!

Question
Hello
Our normally gentle and kind Holland Lop has recently changed his behaviour.  In the last few weeks, he has become increasingly aggressive in his cage.  When you reach into his cage, he sometimes charges, makes low growling noises and digs at you.  It doesn't hurt, and he has never bitten (yet) but it is startling when he does it, and he's doing it with increasing frequency.  This morning after I gave him fresh water, he did the same thing while I was merely standing outside his cage chatting to him as I often do.  

My daughter was playing with him the other day.  She had him out of his cage and was playing with him as she always does. Suddenly he charged, growled and scratched at her, which he has also never done before.

He has a large cage, which is dutifully cleaned at least once per week, sometimes more if warranted.  He has an abundant supply of timothy hay, and is supplemented with rabbit pellets as well.  His coat is healthy, and he appears to be a good weight (not obviously over or under weight).  The girls play with him every day, taking him out of his cage and in good weather outdoors on a leash which he readily seems to enjoy (he does not freak out or fight against the leash).  He will be one year old in January, and was neutered 6 months ago.  

I am concerned with the development of this behaviour, and would like to remedy it before it increases to serious scratching or even biting.  Also, for his sake I would like it remedied as it surely seems that something is changing him.  This is our first bunny, so I have no experience to fall back on.  

We have not altered his care or feed, so I don't think that is the problem.  The only thing I can think of is that we are currently renovating our home.  When he comes out of his cage to play, the space he normally runs around in has been greatly reduced (temporarily).  But he used to really enjoy tearing around, jumping and twisting in that hilarious way that bunnies seem often to do.  He still gets out for exercise, but can not really go for those mad-dashes around the room like he used to.  

Would his change in behaviour be caused by this?  If so, do you think his good nature will return when the renovations are done in the next month or so and he has his exercise space back again?

And if you don't think this is the cause... do you have any idea what may be causing it?  I'm genuinely concerned and would like to fix this..  We adore him and want our sweet pleasant little bunny to be himself again.  

Thank you in advance for your time and any advice you may have.

Answer
Dear Nicki,

Rabbits are very emotionally sensitive, and Holland Lops are often unusually temperamental. So I would not be surprised if, in addition to his entering his "terrible teens" (this behavior is kind of typical for this age), he is stressed and angry about the renovations and change to his normal running area.  Rabbits are very territorial, and he may be thinking in his little rabbit head, "Well, these people ruined my big territory, and NOW they want to reach into my only little sanctuary and mess with this?  Well, forget that!  ARRRRGH!!"

Okay, I'm anthropomorphizing a bit.  But you get the idea.  He may be "cage aggressive" because the changes in his home have made him feel insecure and defensive.

It's also important to know what types of body language messages you're sending when you play with him.  A message that means "play!" in Dog Language can mean "FIGHT!" in rabbit!  For example, tapping the ground in front of a bunny's nose in what a human might think is a playful manner will be interpreted by the rabbit as a rival performing "displacement" digging, in preparation for attack.  So you really need to learn rabbit language to be sure you don't inadvertently trigger an aggressive response from him.

There's an excellent overview of the causes and possible solutions for aggressive behavior in your bunny here:

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

and some links to related articles.  Also please see:

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

Although it's about shy rabbits, the same type of things apply to most fierce rabbits, who are often simply acting out their fear with aggression.

I hope this helps you get your Good Ol' Bunny back again, and to better understand him so that the whole family has a wonderful life with him for a long, long time.

Good luck!

Dana