2 year old new bunny HELP!!!

[Lucy_lover13]

My 2 year old Netherland Dwarf bunny Lucy just came home from the humane society. She just got spayed and has a very busy and fun attitude. But I’ve had her for a while now and I can’t get her to use her litter box no matter what I do, she doesn’t like me petting her very much, and she’s buying and nipping quite a bit. Is getting a rabbit whose already 2 years old too late to make a connection with her? I bought her a big own to run around in an play and she sprints in circles and does these huge binkies all the time, so I know she is happy but she Doesn’t seem to care for me. She head butts my hand away when I try to feed her or pet her even if I let her approach me first. Should I get a different baby bunny that I can raise and handle so she is completely comfortable with me? Or will Lucy open up to me if I give her a little more time? She’s not afraid of people at all if that helps. Please help?!?!
NOTE** Lucy was only spayed a week ago and I’ve read that sometimes when you spay a bunny it can takes many weeks for her to settle down and return to her normal behavior. This could have something to do with my case.

[BB & Tiny]

I brought Josephine home 1 month post spay, so I can’t comment on the week. She was 2 1/2 at the time and we have bonded, so no, in my opinion the age is irrelevant.

Perhaps other members have thoughts on this topic.

[Bam]

It’s exactly like you are already thinking: f she was only spayed a week ago, her hormones are going crazy right now. It’s called a post-neuter/post-spay craze, and it’s to do with the hormone production being shut off when the glands that make the hormones being taken out. There are still hormones in her body though and it will take like 8 weeks for them to subside completely.

So please be patient with her! She’s not herself right now.
If it was only a week, you should probably try and limit her binkying some, since she hasn’t healed inside completely yet. Give her stuff to do like cardboard boxes to tear apart and chew toys to chew (apple or willow twigs are excellent), pieces of cheap fleece blankies to dig in and make nests of etc. And hang in there! She may even get worse for some time now and be outright aggressive towards you – but it’s just her hormones making her act crazy.

[Lucy_lover13]

Lucy was spayed about 2 1/2 weeks ago and she’s starting to get really moody. One minute she will lay down next to me and let me pet her and play with her and the next minute whenever I put my hand in her big play pen (not her own cage) she jumps at me and bites me hard. Sometimes she’s good, sometimes she’s horrible and bites a ton. Do you think the biting will go away after her hormones clear out in a few weeks?

[Bam]

I do think it will get better. The biting sounds territorial, that has a big hormonal component to it. She may also be a bit insecure. My bunny Yohio could growl at me, lunge and box, then immediately put his chin to the floor to be pet. Or when I pet him, he could suddenly tense up, growl and lunge. I think that was insecurity. He’s not doing it anymore.

2,5 weeks is just about when the hormonal imbalance brought about by the spay will be at its worst. So hang in there!

[Lucy_lover13]

Now licy had started to settle down. But now there’s a new problem.. I put her litter box where she always poops and pees in her cage. But now she poops in the litter box without a problem now, but to pee she pushes the box away and pees on the floor. Why??

[Bam]

I’m not sure anybody really knows why, but it’s not too uncommon. Can you secure the litter-box in its place somehow? She obviously thinks the place where it stands is a good toilet-spot and that’s often the most important thing, if the box was in the wrong place she would go someplace else entirely.

[Author]

Messages