It’s probably her hormones. Speckles did the same thing for us. She went back to being normal after about a month.

Yes, I totally agree with hiskatey. It’s very common, more or less standard, that a newly spayed/neutered bun gets what’s called a “post-neuter/spay craze”. It’s about their hormones, they don’t disappear the moment the bunny is spayed, it takes a few weeks – a month for them to subside. And as this is happening, the bunny has what can be described as mood-swings. It can show aggression, defend it’s territory, pee- and poop-mark all over and/or display sexual behaviour. It’s normal. You just have to wait it out. Don’t let her have access to beds and couches or other furniture that’s difficult to clean during these next few weeks. Bear with her. It will go away.

I am having this exact same problem with my bunny. Netherland dwarf female that was spay at the end of September (she was born early March of 2015) and has gotten progressively more aggressive, from little nips to full on biting and grunting and charging, to the tipping point this morning. She hates me after I shower, I have always assumed because of the smells (yes, I have tried different body washes and even once I didn’t do anything, just got wet – didn’t make a difference). This morning I sat down on the couch and she hopped up, like always, and just kinda looked at me. I reached for the remote and she attacked me. Latched onto my pinky finger and I lifted her up off the ground as she was latched on.

It has been months and she is only getting worse. I have had her checked out for illnesses and she comes back healthy as ever.

Hi, me again!

So I contacted some people and made some posts elsewhere and was directed to a website to learn about “rabbit speak”. I’m about 1/3 of the way through and it’s been a good read so far, so I recommend checking it out! http://language.rabbitspeak.com/

I have also posted up a question and gotten a response here, if you would like to check it out: http://www.allexperts.com/user.cgi?m=6&catID=703&expID=126709&qID=4974557

I hope this helps, and good luck with your bunny!

I totally agree that aggression in a bunny should be dealt with, if it persists beyong the normal 4-8 weeks after a spay (although for some girl buns it may take more like 6 months.)

The method the allexpert describes seems sound to me and in line with modern methods of training animals. Don’t provoke but stand your ground, don’t back off (if she thinks she’s succeeded in chasing you away, she’s had success with her behavior and the behavior is reinforced. Much like a dog that barks at passers by – it thinks it’s the barking that chases the passers-by away, and that reinforces the barking).

Reward non-aggression. Animals do stuff that works for them. It’s not so much about trial and error, but about trial and success. If a behavior gets the animal what it wants, it will keep doing it. An animal trainer can and should exploit this. (It doesn’t go for just animals btw, people function the exact same way.)

If you’re interested in training animals, there’s a really great book on operant conditioning called Don’t Shoot The Dog by Karen Pryor, a former dolphin-trainer. It’s available as a pdf:
http://clawbiespups.yolasite.com/resources/Don’t%20shoot%20the%20dog.pdf

I know it has been a long time but I had to log back in to update:

It has taken about 7 months but I am confident that I have eliminated almost all of the the bad aggression she had. She will still get defensive, but will no longer lash out or bite. I have attributed that to the fact that she is either VERY protective of Roscoe (my other bunny), or she doesn’t like it when I pet both of them at the same time and wants the attention for herself (which happens very rarely, because normally they are like two peas in a pod!)

All I can say is that it took a very long time to show her that I am not something to be feared or hated. As someone who has trained dogs for over 15 years, owning a rabbit has been one of the most stressful and rewarding experiences.

The one thing I have not been able to get her to unlearn is that whenever I have treats she will get VERY impatient and try and snap them from my fingers. But if I put her up on my shoulders (like a parrot) she is very calm and will take the treats carefully. Something I am still working on, but feel it will take A LOT longer to turn around.