pregnant bunny?

Question
I have a female bunny that was recently given to me. The bunny is sweet and very comfortable around people. If I leave the door open tothe cage it normally will come right out and hop around wherever we are. However recently it's behaivior changed. The person who gave it to me also has a male and did let them around each other briefly. Are there behavioral changes in bunnies when they are pregnant? This bunny suddenly does not want to be around people. It's belly might be a little bit bigger, but I really don't want to pick it up because it seems to be afraid. When I put my hand in the cage it will go on it's back legs and hit at me with it's front legs in an almost aggressive manner. I know it couldn't hurt me like this, but I do not want to cause it stress by continuing to try and pick it up.   
Is this an emotional behavior of a traumatized bunny or is this something a bunny might do if it is pregnant???

Answer
Hi Cherie,

Your bunny is being cage protective.  Many of them do not want anyone in their space.  If she was not cage protective before and it occurred suddenly then indeed there is a chance she could be pregnant.

The best way to fix this behavior is to have her spayed.  Does that are not spayed have a tendency to be extremely aggressive.  I would not recommend an unspayed doe to anyone as a pet.  There are of course some out there that are just generally passive.  The problem is that if she is attacking you when you reach into the cage that this behavior may become worse.  If you have little children in your home who like to put their fingers in cages this can be dangerous.  I would strongly recommend that you have her seen by a rabbit savvy vet.  If you do not already have one you can try this site:

http://www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html

These vets are all exotic animal specialists that have proven credentials in treating bunnies.  Most vets will also be able to help you if it is a personality problem.

Some things you can do in the mean time are to let her come out of the cage to you.  When you feed her you may want to make sure that she is out of the cage before you reach your hands in there.  If she does not come out at feeding time make sure to put something between you and her while placing the food and water.  We do not keep aggressive does around as I have little children.  We will work with them and have very rarely had a problem after they have been spayed.  When reaching in their cage I make sure that they know I am coming.  I talk to them and come at them at face level.  You never want to reach over their heads because you can startle them.  My feeders are in the front of the cage and if the doe is overly aggressive I make sure to put a piece of cardboard between my arm and the rabbit.

If you have a way to get an exercise pen that is not her regular cage this can help.  We use large panel dog runs and set them up in the living room.  I will sit in there with the rabbit and let it come to me.  As long as you are in a neutral territory they will generally not attack you.  This has saved some of our aggressive bunnies lives.  

If your bunny is indeed pregnant the vet will be able to palpate her abdomen and should feel the kits.  This should never be attempted by anyone but a vet or very experienced breeder.  If there are kits they can be injured if palpated to hard.  Make sure to give her a private place and a nest box just incase.  You can use a commercial nest box or build one out of untreated pine.  If you don't know the exact date she was with this buck then you will want to let her have the box for up to 34 days from the day you got her.  If there are no babies by then she is not pregnant.  Make sure the nest box is filled with fresh hay.  If she is going to have babies she will start to run around with hay in her mouth and start plucking fur.  Most does that are good mothers will have their nest box prepared.  If they are first time moms or labor comes on to fast the kits will often be born on the cage floor.  For this I strongly recommend that you don't use a wire bottom cage.  We use plastic bottom cages with aspen chips.  If the does don't happen to have the babies in the nest or build the nest somewhere else the babies won't die from exposure on the wire.  If this is the case after they are born and she has built a nest you can easily lift all the nesting materials and babies and put them in the nest box.  You would then want to put the nest box in the place where she made the nest.  For the most part rabbits are naturally good mothers.  

If you have anymore questions please let me know.

Pam