rabbit anxiety

Question
Hi... I've been concerned about my doe. She's ~3 years old and has had one litter of two babies. She lives in an outdoor cage adjacent to her male baby. (the other didn't make it.) Ever since she's had the babies she's been completely panicked 24/7. If you open the cage or go to pick her up she starts making squeaking and grunting noises and goes all bugged eyed and tense. I do approach her quietly, talk to her and treat her gently but she makes these noises all the time, even when you're holding her still in your lap. Recently she's been tearing out all the fur under her neck down to the skin, and when i turned her over she'd pulled out the majority of the fur on the inside of her legs. I can't find anything about severely panicked rabbits online, and I'm wondering if this is maybe something i should go to the vet about. Thanks!

Answer
Dear Olivia,

She's having false pregnancies, and needs to be spayed to get her old personality back.  This will continue until she's spayed.  Because unspayed, unbred females also have a high risk of uterine cancer, this is really advisable.

If you have the male baby neutered at the same time, you can bond the two of them so they can live in snuggly harmony without fighting or the danger of litters.  Please read:

www.rabbit.org/hare/spay.html

and find a good rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Once they're "fixed," they can be litterbox trained and live inside with you where they will be safe, and not bored in a lonely outdoor cage.  Please visit

www.rabbit.org/

and click on "House Rabbits 101" for complete information on how to make this transition, which you will love!  :)

Hope this helps.

Dana