Circling, lunging and grunting meaning

[Elva]

My bunny keeps cirling me everytime I get to the room she is. She grunts at me and sometimes attacks. Is this normal ? What does it mean? Is she being territorial and wants all the space on her own and me out of it?

[GeorgieTheBunny]

Could she be reaching sexual/hormonal maturity?

Circling, grunting and being territorial are textbook signs that she is now developed enough to get fixed.

[Luna]

I agree that it sounds like hormones. Circling you is her way of courting you , or she’s just excited to see you. The grunting could be honking. When you say she “attacks” is she scratching at you, nipping, biting (ie. drawing blood)?

[LBJ10]

It sounds like territorial aggression to me as well. Circling can be used in courtship, but it can also happen right before a bunny goes into attack mode. Grunting and lunging are also signs your bunny is being territorial. So yes, if she hasn’t been spayed, then her hormones are likely kicking in.

[Elva]

I don’t think she is excited to see me cause she doesn’t really like me so I guess it’s hormonal/territorial…
Luna she bites sometimes but just lunges most of them. She bites when I have food in my hand. I literally have to give her food very fast and take my hand away from her because I am afraid she will scratch or bite me. My vet told me this probably happens because this behavior was the only way to make sure that she will get to eat back to the pet shop she was before i got her…

[Elva]

She is not spayed but is there any other way to decrease this behavior? If i wait will it get better?

[Bam]

Circling, honking and territorial aggression are classic signs of a bun reaching sexual maturity. There’s not a lot you can do about it except start planning her spay. To an extent it can get better as the bunny matures – teenagers are always the worst =D – but the best thing for a girl’s long-term health is to get her spayed.

Maybe you could scatter her food on the floor instead of giving it from you hand. Very greedy buns often eat too fast and that can lead to dangerous choking-situations. Scattering food will slow her down, and it’ll also be enriching for her to have to search for food, plus your hands will be spared. Like your vet says, she might have had to fight for her food back at the pet shop and eat really fast, or the other buns would snatch her share from her. That leads to food aggression, it’s very common among puppy dogs.

[Hazel]

No, it probably won’t get better with time. She should also be spayed for health reasons, intact females have an 85% chance of developing reproductive cancer by age 3-4.

[Elva]

Bam thank you! I will try to scatter the food and see how it goes.I am also thinking about giving her a pellet to eat and while she is busy with that put the bowl with the rest of the food down and see if that will work too…

[Elva]

Thank you everyone for your advices!

[Author]

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