sad rabbit?

Question
hello i have a rabbit and she is the most loving, sweetest and has the best behavior. Yesterday i put my hand in her cage to pick her up and she kicked the floor with her back legs around 3 or 4 times and started running around, she started also to make these realy loud noises, they kinda sounded like snorting/ loud coughs! i thought i may have just startaled her so i put my hand near her face for her to sniff and see me and she just jumped on my hand and sunk her teeth in me and scratched my arm real bad. A few weeks ago i moved her into an in door cage from her hutch out doors so i moved her back out doors thinking she may be missing it. I went to cheack on her this morning and found a huge nest of her hair she had ripped out D= . Can you say if youve heard of a very good rabbit behaving like this? I would think of it just her being moody but i dont want it carrying on as i am too scared to put my hand in and take her bowl out now because shes quite big, (6 and a half pounds)and would prefer not to get a biteing from her again!
thanksss

Answer
Hi Holly,

Ok well when she kicked her feet on the floor she was telling you that either she was mad at you for something or that something in her surroundings were different.  The grunting noises also mean that she was expressing dissatisfaction with you.  That is why she bit you when you reached your hand in front of her.  Most rabbits are cage protective.  They don't want YOU in THEIR cage.  That is their territory.  Don't be afraid to reach your hand in to grab her food dish.  Distract her with your other hand and get it out fill it then do the same thing when putting it back in.  

Another thing you might want to do is just keep her right inside instead of switching back and forth.  Find an area of your house that is safe where she can't get into anything. Honestly when I am training my own rabbits I use the bathroom.  There are no electrical appliances in there so there are no cords to chew.  Of course make sure there are no chemicals or anything else within her reach.  Put her cage on the floor with the doors open.  Then go in and sit on the floor.  She will come out and come to you.  She will be curious what you are doing.  Don't try to pet her just let her sniff you.  

After you get her coming out to check you out on a regular basis, then you can start showing her that hands aren't such a bad thing.  Start holding your your hand completely flat with a small treat in it.  Let her take the treat from you.  After a while she will associate hands with "good things" and won't see them as such a threat.

You asked if I had heard of a very good rabbit behaving like this.  I have one right now in my very own bathroom that was the exact same way as yours was.  After about a month of sitting on the floor and letting him come to me, I can now get right in his face and he will rub his nose to mine.  So it can be done.  It is just going to take patience.

Also, when she bites you make a high pitch screeching noise every time.  She will know that means it hurts.  That is what rabbits do with each other when they bite to hard.  Just try to remember that.

One last thing, if she is not spayed and she is between about 6 months to a year old, she could very well just be very hormonal right now.  If that is the case the best thing to do is get her fixed.  Honestly unless she is used in a breeding program you should get her fixed regardless.  Just make sure you find a vet that is qualified in small and exotic animals.

I am giving you a website with rabbit language.  You might find it interesting when you read through it.  Much of what your rabbit is doing is in here.

http://www.muridae.com/rabbits/rabbittalk.html

I hope everything works out..

Pam