Sudden growling and attacking. HELP!

[SamanthaCohen]

I am a first time bunny owner so I apologize now if my question has an obvious answer.

We rescued a small bunny yesterday. We were told she is a 3 month old girl. I was able to hold her there and in the car. When we got home, she was given free range of the house to explore and get used to the place. She even stole an old toy that belonged to my cat who passed away and took it everywhere with her on her adventure. She let me, my boyfriend, and his 8 year old daughter pet and hold her. She even headbutted my hand at one point to get attention. When we went to bed, we put her in her cage. This morning I went to put new food in and she was growling at me. I figured she didn’t want me near her food, which I am used to because I used to rescue cats who did the same thing until they warmed up to me. A few hours later I went to let her out and moved her toy which she growled again and lunged at me and bit me. I started talking to her in a very soft tone but didn’t take her out. A few hours later I gave her a small bit of apple which she ate out of my hand but when I attempted to pet her, same thing. She lunged and bit me.

Is this just a “I’m scared and in a new home” phase even though she was very affectionate and adventurous yesterday? Or is this something that I will have to look more into? Like I said, first time owner and I want to make her as happy as possible and give her the best life possible and am trying to learn everything.

[MeowBun]

Hi there! Congrats on the new bunny! It sounds like your girl is just being territorial, which is normal. Rabbits, especially females, need a place they can call their own and can get a bit aggressive if they feel their space is being violated. The best thing to do is to try to clean her cage etc. when she’s out exploring or playing to minimize aggressive behavior, and getting her fixed when she reaches the appropriate age will also help. I also suggest, though, not giving her too much free roaming space until she’s proved she is litter trained (assuming you want her to be; there’s lots of info on here about how to go about accomplishing that). Another way to minimize aggression in my experience is to minimize the number of times you pick her up (if she doesn’t like being picked up, which the very large majority of rabbits find stressful) to develop a trusting relationship instead of one built on dominance and fear. Anyway, that’s super simplified but there are tons of other threads on here about the specifics. Best of luck and welcome to the club!

[Megabunny]

Yup. Some buns are very territorial and that’s just the way they are. I think you can try putting on a glove and not jumping away when she attacks. Pretty sure I’ve read that here. It kind-of worked for my bun, though it never totally went away until he was put in a huge pen with his new girlfriend and he’s been so much better ever since. Enjoy! It doesn’t mean she will be a miserable pet. But she may remain territorial in her cage.

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