Bunny behaviour change

[Nzbunny]

Hey all, I have a 2year old female bunny not spayed. She has a cage which shes always used just as a toilet and shes free to roam the courtyard and house. Shes never let me pick her up and petting her has barely been tolerated (i got her off her 3rd home and i feel she wasnt given much love the first few months of her life), anyway in the past few days she has been acting very different. Shes extremely interested in licking my feet, if i lift them up and away she will frantically scratch my legs until i put them back down. She also runs around me again and again and has started pooping everywhere as she runs, which is very odd as shes never pooped anywhere but her cage. Apart from the pooping, its very sweet because it feels like im finally getting some affection back from her. But its also very different and im constantly running around cleaning up her poop before my 1year old tries to eat it. Does anyone know what could be going on her with her?

[Luna]

Aww she loves you!! Consider her actions as “bunny courtship,” – however I’m not sure the pooping is part of it. And my bun never lets me pick her up either. Don’t be offended – as prey animals, most buns reject being picked up. But I would keep trying to pet her as often as possible. If she’s a little aloof, try petting just her head/back, and not the sensitive areas like the nose/feet/tail until she’s more comfortable.

[jerseygirl]

Yes, it does sound hormonal. Is it Spring now where you live? Im not sure if your screen name denotes the country or the rabbit breed!

[MrBun&Daisy]

Since it sounds hormonal, maybe the poop could be her way of marking you as hers? also- we use a small hand held vacuum to grab stray pellets. Ours is fairly quiet and they buns got used to the noise quickly. now they will even come up to it and sniff it while its on and they don’t even mind when I use it right next to them while they’re eating. if she tolerates it that could be a quick way to get the pellets out of toddler hands!

[Nzbunny]

Yes it is spring here, im a bit clueless what does that mean for rabbits? Im not sure what breed she is, i was told when i adopted her that she is miniature floppy ears, but shes grown well past miniature stage lol

[Bam]

Spring means activation of hormones in rabbits – as well as in humans and many other species mammals, actually. It’s the increase in amount of light that reaches the brain that sets this off. It’s not just sex hormones that are affected but several other signal substances, but the rise in levels of sex hormones is as a rule what we notice. This is why hares and cats and other animals go crazy in March, as the saying goes.

This can actually happen to neutered animals as well, but much less markedly so.

[Author]

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