I have a question about my rabbit acting strange

Question
Hi I have a male lion-head dwarf rabbit that will be six months old in december and he is neutered. For about a week or two now he's been acting kind of weird. I always let him out of his cage to run around for about an hour when I feed him before going to bed and he has always jumped out of his cage on his own and jumped back in when I told him to. But now when he comes out, he refuses to go back in and when I try to pick him up to put him back in he runs away and hides behind things. Another thing he has been doing is cowarding away from me when I try to pet him too. Other then those things he runs around happily when he's out of the cage and everything. So could you tell me what is wrong with him? Did he finally realize there are cats in the house (he is in a private room and they have never met) or is there something else going on?

Answer
Hi Bonnie

My first thought is that your bunny is becoming an adult and is realizing that he is a prey animal.  Domestics do retain some of the wild traits of their past.  We have a couple of rabbits that did just that.  We were just patient with them and did everything we could to make them feel at ease. No louds noises, no sudden movements, no unusual appearances (such as wearing a hat not normally worn, carrying something ususual, etc.).  Rabbits see in shadows and they know you by your shape as well as scent and sound.  Get down to his level....stretch out on the floor and let him come to you.  Make sure nothing has changed in his environment....rabbit memorize their way back to safety in the wild.  In his room, he knows where everything is and it's memorized so he doesn't have to think about how to escape a perceived predator.  That trait is how we can have blind rabbits live perfectly normal lives.  And be patient and understanding.  At that age, he isn't quite a man yet but he isn't a boy....much like a college student living on his own for the first time....just feeling his way around.

There are some medical issues that might cause this too but judging by your description of his behavior.....I don't think you have a medical problem....just a maturing rabbit learning his ways.  In the cases we have had here, that behavior corrected on it's own but it took a couple of months of patience.  The only other thing I could suggest would to adopt him a friend....domestic rabbits are very social animals and having a friend may be of benefit to him.