Rabbit - Aggressive Behaviour

Question
Hi,
I have a rabbit who is 6 months, we have had it since it was 9 weeks. We are unsure of the sex of the rabbit as we bought from a friend who breeds and they said it was too early to tell(?). It is a rex. It seems to be very aggressive towards us. when we go into the hutch we slowly try and stroke it, and it will growl and "pounce" on us. We have alsways tried to give it fuss and tried to handle regular but it is to the point myself and my 4 year old don;t handle it only my husband. Once it is out it will sit and have cuddles, it does look very scared mind you. Is there anything we can do as we are debating finding it a new home. Thanks
Kerri  

Answer
Hi Kerri,

here's what happened between 9 weeks and now.  Your rabbit at around 3 1/2 to 4 months hit sexual maturity, and now is acting like a sexually mature, intact rabbit.

The behavior of growling/lunging in the cage, but being okay outside of the cage, is classic intact female rabbit behavior.  We see this behavior all the time with intact females at the shelter (but also from males who have had abuse issues - but this I am sure is not why in your case).

You should be able to tell at about 4 months or so.  Males should have a little package hanging back there (though they can pull them back into their body at will) but trust me, if you have a boy, you'd have seen them back there when he's running around playing with you.  The behavior you are describing is generally girl behavior.

The solution is very easy for this kind of problem.  The solution is to get your rabbit spayed.  Basically you'll get the bunny you fell in love with at 9 weeks back, without the hormonally-induced negative behaviors you've been experiencing.  Please be aware it will take about a month after the spay to get all her existing hormones used up that are already in her body.  During this month, however, you will start to notice decreasing negative behavior as it gets closer to 4-5 weeks after the spay.

You need to have this done by a good rabbit vet, not just any old cat and dog vet.  To find a good rabbit vet in your area, go to the House Rabbit Society web page:

www.rabbit.org\vets

and find a recommended vet in your part of the country.

Don't give up on your bunny, because it's an easy problem to correct.  Many people have this happen (buy a baby bunny, bunny matures and people dump the bunny) and they do not realize it is a correctable problem, and they surrender it to a shelter.  I am glad you wrote me about it because I am sure you'd rather keep your pet than give her up.

Write back anytime.  Lee