Bi-Polar Bunny

Question
I have a neutered 11 mo-old male lionhead (not full-bred but that's all I know about his breeding) who is unpredictable in behavior. he loves being petted and will get in the submissive position to be petted/massaged and oftentimes will just turn around and start licking/biting.  I have tried every disciplinary method I have heard of for rabbits but he still will sometimes even lunge and grunt at you, even if you've just given him a treat while out playing, or if you're holding him or petting him.  He has caused me and others to bleed on several occasions.  He is sometimes very sweet but for apparently no reason will just growl and bite.  I'm thinking about trying to get him a companion for this (i have already tried with two different spayed females... no particular luck, and the second female was supposedly normally submissive but she boxed him and nearly took his eye out).  He is not a dominant bunny always in situations with other bunnies... and I have shown him who is dominant often by placing a hand on his shoulders and holding him down.  He often obliges.  What can I do to make him stop being so aggressive unpredictably?

Answer
I don't know if I have a quick solution for you, and you may have tried some of these things but here's what I suggest you can try.

The first thing I recommend is to abandon the idea of getting a companion for now.  He and you don't need to additional stress of trying to get two bunnies to like each other.  Especially when he has some sort of issue that needs to be worked out first.

The second thing I would recommend is to not pick him up unless you really have to.  Most rabbits aren't comfortable with this anyway, and a rabbit that is acting in an aggressive fashion should be allowed to remain on the floor where he is more naturally comfortable.  

Maybe an example of my recent adoption will help.  I recently adopted a "aggressive" bunny from the local humane society.  She was a snarling, aggressive, lunging, biting, scratching, snorting, little diva beast.  Most people were afraid of her.  Twice, I spent some time with her before deciding to adopt her.  Because she did exhibit aggressive behavior in her cage, I opened the door and let her come out instead of pulling her out of the cage. During the first visit she would come up to me in the submissive pose and demand to be stroked on the head.  As I was doing this at some point she would then get upset and start charging and trying to scratch or bite me.  Everytime she did this I did not pull back or act afraid in any matter.  After a time, she went back in our cage and out visit was ended.

The next time, she was even worse.  She acted like she didn't want to be touched at all.  A regular volunteer in the rabbit room showed me the bruise that this little diva rabbit had given her just a few days before when getting bit.  I started out on the floor and just let her check things out.  After a time, I would slowly approach her.  Not to pet her but just to get near her.  Each time, she would whip around, ears back in a pose that indicated that she might go after me if I got closer.  Any move I made elicited an aggressive body posture.  After quietly waiting some more, I would approach her to pet her.  Each time, the ears went back and she tried to bite and scratch me.  And each time I just kept on gently stroking her head.  Like you, I placed  a hand across her shoulders like a dominant bunny would do and kept stroking her head with my other hand.

Fast forward a couple weeks, this bunny loves to be petted.  However, when I walk into her territory (the kitchen) and sometime even when I pet her, the ears go back, but as soon as I pet her, it's like she thinks "oh yeah, this person isn't going to hurt me, and I like this"

What I'm trying to get to in that example is to not back off and act afraid when your bunny attacks you.  If you do this, your bunny learns that behavior influences you and reinforces a bad pattern.  Which isn't to say you should force affection on your bun.  If he comes up to you and lowers his head pet him.  If he then gets aggressive keep right on petting him.  But you may want to wear some gloves.

Also, you may want to limit your rabbit's contact with other people until you have this worked out.  This will reduce the stress for everyone and will allow your bunny to learn positive patterns of behavior from you.

This site has more info on this technigue of dealing with aggressive buns:
http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/agressive.shtml

Another technique is to just spend some quiet time with your bun.  Sit quietly while he's out.  Bring a book, a laptop, and you could also bring some of his favorite treats.  Just let him learn that you're an ok person and he can trust you.

Some other resources are:
http://www.mybunny.org/info/aggressive.htm
http://www.hilltopanimalhospital.com/rabbit%20behavior2.htm
http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/aggression.html#common

If you've already tried this and feel that you need some more advice, I would recommend joining etherbun on yahoo groups and posing your question there.  There are a lot of very experienced rabbit people on there who may have some other good tips.