kind of a weird question but i think she is either A. mad at me or B. just going through her teenage stages i read about. i bought a mini lop from a pet store about 2 months ago. shes a beautiful broken black and white lop. the workers said all their bunnys they get are under 6 months old. so im assuming by now, judging by her size and everythign shes about 6 months or more. when i first got her it was kind of hectic but we finnaly built her a nic cube cage. shes been living in that since then. she ushualy was let out of the cage every day to play and run around and always got attention. now the past 2 weeks, i just recently started a bartending job, so my schedual is kind of messy. i make sure though i spend at least a half an hour to an hour a day petting her and playing with her. possibly letting her out of the cage to run around and do her thing if i have the time. im trying to make sure im not neglecting her in any way. i havent been able to pick her up recently at all though due to me not needing to because she can now let herself in and out of the cage. i used to pick her up a lot and hold her plenty the first few weeks we got her. now when i try to pick her up she just jumps out of my hands. i cant even get her an inch off the ground. but at the same time, when i pet her, she will sit their calmly and let me pet her like crazy(unless she is out of the cage, then she looses intrest in the petting and gains intrest on what she can jump on). now is the whole picking up thing due to me not holding her lately, or is it because shes just being a bit bold and going through a stage? i just hope shes not mad at me or anything. i also noticed when i pet her in the cage, if she is laying down, she will let me pet her, but soon as she smells my hand or her mouth gets near it she jumps back. im just being nervous, but i would like to know a possible explination to this. thakn you and sorry about how long this is.

Welcome lopdaddy!  (now you've been entered in twice for the drawing!)

Okay as for your question - Not weird at all.  Very common actually. Many people think their bunny is mad at them when they see changes that seem anti-social.  Don't worry she's not mad at you, and she's lucky to have you because you are concerned about her and want her to be happy. There are a few things in your question to cover, so let's take them one by one.

1.)  Teenage time: What I think is happening is exactly what you suspected.     The teenage years are when their urges to explore become strong.   Some bunnies can even become feisty - growl, lunge, bite and scratch as their territorial behaviors dominate with surging hormones.  These will die down in time, but may not completely.  Spaying will really take care of this. (not to mention that unaltered female rabbits have an extremely high risk of cancer in their reproductive organs.)  I am assuming she's not spayed yet?

2) Not wanting to be held anymore/exploring:
I think there are two reasons for this.  Because she has less time out, she's anxious to get out and have fun first.  I suggest letting her run around and explore for awhile first (unless she's not litter trained yet)

Then the other part of not wanting to be held may be due to the fact she's just growing up.  Unfortunately, most adult bunnies don't like being held. Most rabbits only "tolerate" being held. I wish they wanted to be held! I'd snuggle those cute faces in my arms all day.   But the truth is that even if a rabbit was used to being held as a baby, doesn't necessarily mean it will enjoy it as an adult.  Most don't.

And though getting a bunny to tolerate being held helps with nail clippings etc,  if you force your young adult/adult bunny to be held everyday when it no longer wants it, you may actually be creating a negative reaction.   Out in open space she may only see you as the "freedom squelcher" and she may end up avoiding you.  

I suggest gaining her trust and affection by just grabbing a few pillows and hanging on the floor. Let her run around, get her exercise and need to explore out of her system.  Let her come to you.  Have a few treats with you, so when she comes over, she will associate you with positive things.

I snuggle with mine on the floor and though it's not the same as holding them, they are happier, and they trust me and they seek me out to get attention.   That's the best!

3.) Schedule change: Our lives will always change.  We all have to work, and our lives can really get hectic. And sometimes we're just beat!  I know you want to be able to give her more time out, and because bunnies really need at least three hours of exercise,  what about attaching an x-pen to her cage?   If  you're worried about her messing up the floor, buy a small square of linoleum, or put a tarp down.  (just be sure to keep the edges outside of the pen so she won't chew on them. Both are easy enough to roll up and put away if you only want it there during her playtime.

Is she litter trained yet or is that still challenging since she's not spayed.....or is she?

Oh, I forgot.  We are collecting pictures of great set-ups to put in the cool habitat gallery.  So if you have any pictures, send 'em over and I'll put them in the gallery.

Those cube types are wonderful aren't they?   They look better than a regular rabbit cage (especially since they are going to be in our homes) and they offer our bunnies more room.  

Don't be afraid to post long messages.  The more information you provide, the better I can help you. 

Ah ha.  I see.  It sounds like she's definitely not shy around you     I love it when bunnies use us for "jungle gyms"  (perfect term by the way)

I definitely still don't think she is mad at you, I think it's just that since she has less time out, she wants to explore.   

I know you said that you were going to wait to litter train her, but it might help the process of learning and help her get it quicker when she does get spayed.   Bad habits won't be completely set in this way.   I know my friend's  bunny was also such a messy disaster and though  it took longer for her unaltered bunny to get it, he did get better, and less messy.  He learned to do big piles and pees in the box,  but the territorial markings (scattered pills and peees) were still out of hand.    Then when she neutered  him, he was already litter trained because he no longer had the urge to do the territorial pees & poos, and the regular pees & poos (piles), he already did in his box.

Just something to consider and you can check out the litter training section to get some tips if you decide to go that route.

All and all, I think she will get used to your new schedule, and you will probably find a way to give her more time out once you settle into your schedule too.

But in the meantime she sounds like she loves you.  So don't worry your doing a great job.