Strange (bipolar?) behavior

[Julee Bun]

I don’t really understand my rabbit. I recently got her (about a month ago) from a friend. She didn’t take very good care of her; no toys, small cage etc. So, within the past month, I’ve changed all of that. She not has an xpen extension from her cage. Basically, she gets a whole room to run and play. Some days she’ll be really happy and lick me and binky and let me pet her a bunch. Just things that typical (happy) rabbits do. Then, other days she’ll attack my hand when I’m giving her her plate of vegetables or thumps her feet and runs around. One time she even bit me! I’m really not sure why, as I’ve done nothing but be nice to her. I’ve never even picked her up. Keep in mind, I’ve always made sure that she’s aware of my presence. I usually baby talk to her and sit outside her xpen before jumping in or giving her vegetables… so, her behavior is very confusing.? Is it possible that bunnies can be bipolar? Also, just a quick add on. I’ve recently changed her water bottle to a water dish. I’ve seen her drink out of it before, but sometimes I hardly see her go near it. Should I switch back to the bottle? I only switched to the dish because it seemed uncomfortable for her. Thank you for your replies!!

[Dface]

This doesn’t sound like that strange of behaviour.
Female rabbits are more territorial, especially if not neutered. And, despite us thinking a month is a lot of time, she still sees you as a stranger(in addition to the fact she might not feel all that comfortable around any humans.)

Some rabbits get food aggression- so she might just really want her food off of you.
There’s also a chance that you are actually offending her in someway, or shes trying to communicate with you.
One of mine talks with his teeth- of he wants me to move , he nips me, of he wants my attention, he nips me.

We often assume that a rabbit knows we’re a friend to them long before the rabbit has actually become comfortable with us.

Try and figure out if something is different the days she’s acting up, and try to be patient.

As for the bottle bowl question- bowls are easier to drink from, so she doesn’t have to spend as much time at the bowl as the bottle, so that would explain why u see her near it less.

[joea64]

Fernando (male) has warmed up a lot quicker to me than Panda (female) to date. He’s now comfortable with me to the point that every time I come up to the condo, or he’s out in the X-pen, he runs up to the wire looking to be petted on the forehead (I reach in a finger to scratch him from nose to between the ears and he loves that). Panda exhibits more standoffish, reserved behavior most days so far, though she’s also getting more comfortable with her new living arrangements to the point that I’ve seen her binkying and bunny-rugging over the last couple of days! She rarely lets me pet her for more than a second or two before scampering away, but she appears to very much enjoy me talking to her.

I attribute their contrasting behavior partly to normal rabbit instincts on moving into a new place and having to deal with a new human, and partly on the differing life circumstances of this mother/son pair (Fernando is Panda’s son). Panda was rescued from a shelter this past winter soon after she kindled her litter of 4 kits including Fernando; I don’t know for sure where she’d been before giving to the shelter, but her foster mother and I think that she originally came from a show breeder – she looks purebred Polish – but was given up to the shelter by her previous owner when it was discovered that she was pregnant. I do know that when she first came to the rabbit rescue (Friends of Rabbits), she was very scared of humans and it took her quite a while to get comfortable with them again. Fernando and his littermates, by contrast, have lived their entire lives since they were newborns in loving, nurturing environments, first at the rabbit rescue and then with their foster mother, so he’s a lot easier among humans – in fact, he’s possibly the most affectionate rabbit I’ve ever met face-to-face!

[LBJ10]

She sounds like a typical hormonal bunny. I’m assuming she isn’t spayed yet?

[Mo-Jack]

My bun, Jackson, acted the same way when I first got him before I got him neutered. I thought it was strange too when he would be all happy and run around, then all the sudden get aggressive when you give them food. He’s gotten a lot better about the food aggression! He no longer grunts and charges at me. (Once he accidentally took a nice chunk outta my finger!) I don’t know about other bunnies (I’m a new rabbit owner as well) but Jackson is a very moody boy lol and often only wants me to love him when I’m trying to study or anything that takes my attention away from him but won’t let me love him when I want to!

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