It does sound like she’s feeling a bit assaulted at the nose. First, you can definitely stop reaching into her cage for anything for a while. You smell like a big strange animal and you’re coming to get her. Try letting her come out by herself, maybe entice her with a treat to come out, and then when she’s playing nearby start to clean her house. She will probably inspect your work (unless she hides from it all) but it should help. Be sure to give her lots of pets and even get down on the floor so she can sniff you and smell your familiar smell again. Your hands are definitely carrying the other odors.

The others here know what to suggest in terms of washing, territory, separating before bonding, etc. If you do a search for Bonding among the older posts, you can read up on what to expect and how to do it. Lots of great input on that already written here. I think Marcusdark has a link to his bonding saga at the bottom of every reply he writes. His is the most challenging one. Check out the Bonding Info above on the pop up menu under Bunny Info on the green banner above. Since the baby’s smell is permanent in your house, she’ll probably know it’s safe eventually.

i wouldn’t try to use anything to calm her. i’m not a fan of using things that are unnatural on buns. Bunnytowne was having issues when she brought Itty Bitty Feda home and Cotton was going nuts on her. (as soon as he was the only bun again, he was miraculously fine…) but regardless, she was washing her hands and changing her shirts in between handling them. Cotton is neutered, the new bun was not. the two female bond is the hardest one i believe.

Hi Beka that is soo true. cotton is his happy affectionate self again.    I would handle 1 then change my shirt to teh cotton shirt wash my hands adn be able to handle cotton. but if he SAW me with the other bun he still went off. he would sit on my stomache to dig on me as usual look at me and lunge and bite me in the face too.not just my hands I had marks all over from his teeth and claws  I loved the other buns I had 2 new ones and 1 was a female  1 a male and nothing worked he was attack bun  so I gave up sides was sooo much work and sooo much poop all over  I am happy with 1 bun  so why rock the boat .  cotton has stopped all that behavior and is his normal self again he was so h appy when the other buns left. it was like he knew they were going. and when I got home he was doing bunny flops rolling in his litterbox on his back licking his front paws. he was 1 happy bun. so he is a bun who prefers me to a bun he just doesnt’ like other buns. I am still sad about the whole situation for I miss the others and then cotton comes along to nibble on my shirts and cheer me up lol. I dont’ know what to tell you except wash your hands adn change your shirt  as you go from 1 bun to another once it is fixed it may work if you put the time into it to bond them. will take work a lot of work tho. markusdark has all the experience with this bonding stuff. me I gave up if cotton got that upset and hubby so against me altering them he made me promise not to. I thought I could convince him otherwise tho.  in time I could have but anyway. I have lesson learned and got to move on from this adn not be so sad about it.    I hope it works better for you  oh I tried putting a towel that smelled like the other bun in cottons territory and he smelled it poop and peed on it and attacked it and then ignored it. wouldn’t go near it. that didn’t go over to well with cotton.  well you can keep trying or give up the new bun or try the towel with the new bun smell maybe the older bun will calm down eventually

by the way cotton would attack any other bun in here another reason to remove them from my home. fur would fly and he gave 1 buna nick on the neck

it’s easy to get excited over a new bun! don’t feel bad for showering him with more attention. on that note, i hate to burst your bubble… but the baby’s cuddly behavior will most likely not last thru puberty. that’s just the way it is. so enjoy it while it lasts.

yes new buns are so cute and cuddly full of binkys and playful always looking for new things to explore

Good luck Suzanne! Please let us know how everything is going! I might be in your place pretty soon, so we can share experiences!! Did you get the new bunny for Alliya, for her not to be alone? Anyway, don’t lose hope. I am not very experienced with bunnies, but yes w other animals, and pretty hostile relationships ended up in the warmest of friendhips!

I posted a message today about adopting a baby girl. Is Baileys expexted to act less territorial because he’s not sexually mature yet? On the other hand, he has his own room and garden. He does have a lot of contact with me and my husband, but he is more often alone, since I have many dogs, some of them quite predatory. He is with us while we have breakfast and then on and off with me in the morning. I get home at 5 pm, I go and cuddle w him for a while and open the door to his garden. From there he can see the dogs, so he sees he is not alone. Then at night he comes to the living room with us (in his cage) and then we feed the dogs and he has the run of the house for about two hours. Do you think he’ll be happier with a friend or not? Thanks!!

Yeah, my little Ella is like this – we had a foster in our bathroom for four days – an unspayed female – and Ella could smell her the whole time. She went ballistic, ended up breaking up with her mate Scooter MaGoo. Once the foster was gone, it took a week fer them to get back together.

Some bunns are just like that. Territorial like mad! I wouldn’t give up yet though. Just be very careful about transferring the scent to Alliya – change your clothes, make the lint brush your new best friend and keep them FAR apart!

You could try Bach’s Rescue Remedy to calm her down.

I do think that some rabbits are more sensitive than others and it could be age-related if she’s relatively young – all my rabbits are older and when I bring in fosters they do not act in any way aggressive.

I’ve never given Rescue Remedy to my bunnies but I have heard it does wonderful things for nervous, anxious dogs.

I used it on my wedding day and it was a godsend!

i was the one who said the “burst your bubble” thing… so i’m guessing you meant me not bunnytowne.  i *hope* she will stay nice and cuddly, but once hormones kick in there is no telling what will happen.  buns can be socialized constantly when babies (and they usually are) but i think that socialization is more meaningful and lasting when it’s done when they are adults.  i’ve made this comparison before, so forgive me if you’ve heard/read it…  but telling personality from a baby bun is like looking at a 2-year-old child to accurately determine what they will be like as an adult.  there is a whole lot of growing to happen between 2 years and 18 years old in humans.  same with a bun, a lot can change between 8 weeks and one year old.  so continue to play with her everyday, get her spayed as soon as possible to prevent some of the hormone behavior from occuring and it might work out well for you.  however, also keep in mind that if they do bond, they will turn to each other for comfort rather than you.  it’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it.