Sudden Good Change in Behavior?

[Philomena]

Hello, I’m a new bunny mama and my little sassy  6-7 month old rabbit has started to show some changes in her behavior. I had her spayed about a month ago today so I’m not sure where this is all coming from. She has started to chew things that she wouldn’t normally chew (or would at least sop after I corrected her with a sound). She won’t stop chewing the bars of her cage and I let her out as much as I can, but being a college student it’s difficult to give her more than 3 hours a day of playtime. I set up an ex-pen outside her cage for when I’m in class and such but then she chews those bars too. I’ve given her plenty of chew toys and she tends to ignore all of them after 20 minutes. I wish I could give her free roam of my apartment but I do not have the tools to make it all bunny proof and I still have my roommates to consider. She has started to dig up her litter box and make a mess of it. She’s much more prone to temper tantrums too. I once left her cage open over night so she could play in her ex-pen but in the morning she ended up getting out. I was able to get her back in her cage but  I had to get to work so I didn’t have time to figure out how she got out of the ex-pen to fix it. She threw a huge temper tantrum according to my roommate. If someone who she doesn’t know comes inside while she is out playing then she will stomp and growl at me every time I move. Even if the guest is doing nothing but ignoring her and sitting on the couch. She will continue this even after the guest leaves. She used to take food out of peoples hands if they were offering it to her. But now she just tries to find reasons to be mad at me. However on the bright side she is more out going and will even jump up on the couch with me and play. She also lets me pet her when no one is looking and will nudge my feet and use me as a jungle gym. So it’s not all bad. I just can’t explain her sudden naughty behavior. Please help to explain this?

[litheandgraphic]

It sounds like she is both a bit bored and a bit insecure still in her space. It takes some bunnies many months before they feel truly comfortable with everyone and everything in their environment. She probably also has a small grudge against you for spaying her, heheh.

The chewing of the bars and the tantrums may be coming from boredom. You may want to try different kinds of toys, tunnels, boxes, and thinks she can climb on, in, and explore. Challenging but rewarding toys such as treat balls can provide good mental stimulus.

You may also want to try Velcro to keep the litterbox down on the floor.

[Philomena]

Is there anyway I can get her to be more secure with her surroundings or is this one of those give it time situations?

[Author]

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