Hi Gina And Kim.I am having...

Question
Hi Gina And Kim.I am having some real problems with my rabbit. She is a year old, and despite patient stroking, and hand feeding will not allow me to pick her up or carry her at all. When i go to pick her up she scrabbles and bites. I have had male rabbits before and have never had problems with them. She has excercise every day in a run, but cannot be allowed the freedom of the garden as with my other rabbits because she refuses to be picked up. Curently, i have to get her to sit in a box in her run, so i can get her from hutch to garden and back again, i have to use food to tempt her into it. It takes a long time!! any advise on winning her over would be great. Thanks. Charlotte  

Answer
Is she spayed?  If not, she may just be very hormonal, unspayed females are known to bite.

However, if she is spayed, she may just not want to be picked up.  Most rabbits do not like to be picked up, in the wild when they are picked up it is because they are about to be eaten.

You might look at this article, it talks about picking rabbits up and how to encourage them to let you - http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-11/lift.html

However, if she is not spayed, that may be the first order of business, she should calm down after that.

Here is also some information about aggressive rabbits, in case she is already spayed - http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/aggression.html

Kim