biting and litter issues

Question
I am a fairly new rabbit mom, and while my girl is very sweet and seems very attached to me, she is biting really hard and way too often. The most recent bad bites she held on, once hanging off of me, and the second time I stayed still to see if she would let go, but instead I just watched her teeth sink in and my thumb flatten in her mouth.

She nips sometimes in a much less scary way, usually in an what seems like an exploratory way. Any advise? It is actually starting to cause me to fear my little 3 pound girl! I tried squeaking when she nipped in hopes that she would get it that it hurt, but after a while she just seemed desensitized.

Also, a much lesser problem but still not wonderful is that while she uses her litter boxes, she has also claimed my couch and bed as litter boxes (the entire thing, not just one spot). She also sometimes pees in the kitchen and bathroom, but seems to be getting better about those rooms.

Could it be a territorial thing? She was spayed about a month ago, I started fostering (and ended up adopting) about 2 months ago, and have since moved as well. She seems completely settled in otherwise (very relaxed plus shows she is happy by her many binkies) but developed the serious biting after moving.

Also, I should mention - I had been making some major progress with her before her spay - petting near her rump, some nail clipping, brushing and getting her comfortable being in my lap. After her spay she had to stay in her kennel for a week, and went through a period of mistrust where she would only snuggle for short periods.

With my limited bunny knowledge, I am wondering if there is something I could be doing differently to make it better? Any advise would be so appreciated.

~scared of my little bunny

Answer
Dear Alisa,

Once in a while there's a bunny who's a pit bull, and sometimes it takes a lot of patience and care to break the bunny of the biting habit.  Our Maggie was a regular werewolf, sometimes grabbing onto my arm, sinking her teeth in, and not letting go even if she were suspended several feet in the air!  She, too, started exhibiting this behavior only after she was spayed, so it couldn't be attributed to hormones.

One thing we did notice with Maggie, though, is that she had a very insecure personality.  Any type of change would make her fearful and clingy, and being outdoors nearly made her go nuts with terror.  All she wanted to do was be back inside.  I wonder if the move to the new house has something to do with your bunny's aggression, and her insecurity makes her act out in this violent way.

You can't very well move back to your old place, so the key now is to stop her behavior before it becomes entrenched and part of her "normal" behavior.  The tips here might help:

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

But it also will help if you start to notice the behaviors that precede a real and vicious attack on her part, and short-cut the biting with a gentle, loving display of dominance, such as strong stroking of her head and back, gently pressing her to the ground.  If this simply makes her more aggressive, then a time-out might be warranted, so she'll learn that these attacks are NOT the way to get attention.

More information on aggressive rabbits can be found here:

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/4-1/HRJ4.1_Letters.html

and if all else fails, I'd recommend contacting the experts at behavior@rabbit.org

I hope this helps get you started.  It might not be easy, but it will be worth it.  It's too bad that your very first bunny turns out to be an aggressive little bun (which usually means that she's also very intelligent, by the way), because they are not all that common.  You're getting a real trial by fire as a first-time bunny mom.

Good luck!

Dana