aggression and confusion

[La Luna the bun]

So if you’ve read my profile you know I’ve had a complicated history with rabbits so if anyone asks me i just say i have no experience.

this Friday ill have had Luna for three weeks. Luna is very calm (usually) and will come up to greet you when you approach her outside. (Luna has a 5 ft square pen outside to spend nice days in). Ive done a-lot of reading about rabbit behavior but i still find it bewildering. The problem is Luna keeps lunging at me and grunting/growling. specifically when i reach into her indoor pen to refill food/water or change litter. she also thumps her feet a-lot. the only toys i currently have are home made so shes probably bored as her indoor pen is a dog kennel (waiting for her new pen to come in the mail). 

she also has suddenly decided she doesn’t like to be touched. this normally wouldn’t be a problem for me, but shes and English angora rabbit! i need to touch her! ive given her a haircut so her hair is short so right now its not a health risk but i don’t want lack of brushing/touching now to cause problems in the future when i do need to touch her.

Ive done alot of research about picking up rabbits and im certain im supporting her right. i carry her usually in the “football” hold. Once you have her picked up shes fine, and calm. But when you go to pick her up she runs. (this makes me think she is a shy rabbit.)  this has gotten worse as Ive had her and now i have to forcefully catch her to pick her up. (i hate this it feels so cruel) i usually carry her back and fourth from inside to outside by waiting for her to get in her litter box, then picking it up with her in it, and putting her in a box and carrying her outside. (i have house dogs and them running around spooks her when i carry her normally). she doesn’t seem to mind this at all. infact she seems to enjoy chewing on the box. 

if i try to pick her up out of her cage, she completely flips out! growling thumping, kicking, you name it! 

every time i look these behavioral problems up i just get posts on how to trance a rabbit. and i’m very against that!

obviously alot of these problems are territorial, and luna is not spayed, my mom though it might be neat to have the option to breed once or twice in the far, far FAR future. i know intentional breeding is frowned upon but someone will ask. is there anyway to leaver her intact and calm the agression?

i see her binki and run around outside but i still have problems with lunging, growling. ive never had her try to mark me, but she does push my hand or whatever out of the way alot. 

my other problem is i need to be able to brush out her underside, (she has had alot of mats around her legs) but she wont let me flip her over (ive only tried three times i dont want to ruin her trust). i also cant trim the hair on her belly or comb it (she hates it when i try to brush it no matter what type of brush i use). im really stumped here guys, please help. sorry for the long post! 

shes about 10 months old. 

[Cinnabunn the bunny]

Few questions. How is her cage set up. If it’s a small cage and you reaching in seems threatening then she may be attacking you because she thinks you are coming after her. If not then it is probably a case of your bunny being territorial. Bunnies really do like their spaces being just so and I’ve been attacked by my bunns a few times because I messed up their arrangement. Honestly fixing your bunn really is the best way to calm them down. She’s just a pent up ball of moody baby making hormones. Is there any way you can convince your mom to not breed her? the longer you wait to get her fixed, her chances of getting ovarian diseases EXPONENTIALLY increases. Also, surgery gets more difficult on older bunns as the muscles are tougher.

As for the carrying thing, a lot of bunns really don’t like being carried. It could be that the reason why she has stopped liking you touching her is because so many of your touches have resulted in her being picked up in which case she associates your touch with scary bad thing.

A good way to handle your bunn is to put her on some type of table, hold her against your body and just lift up her front paws with her back towards you. you would want to make sure that her feet are firmly planted so she doesn’t kick up as much. If she is still being dangerously fussy then I would throw a towel over her to cover her eyes and help restrain her a bit. It’s unpleasant but just like nail trims it has to be done.

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