Had it

[Quinton]

Hi,

I’ve just about had it with our bunny. She’s about 9 months old now. When we first got her, she could be handled without any issues. But as she’s got older, she started kicking really violently whenever she was picked up. As a result, I’ve left the picking up to my partner because I was sick of getting absolutely covered in scratches every day.

As a result, he now gets scratched up constantly too.

I’ve tried researching how to pick her up, and do it correctly.

I’ve tried stroking her in the places she’d normally get picked up and gradually desensitising her to the anxiety she feels about it (as per the many websites I’ve read with advice about this).

It works for about a day, and then she goes back to “normal”.

I feel in order to properly care for an animal, I need to be able to handle them without being afraid I’ll get sliced up every time. I’ve got more scratches and scars over last few months than I can count. And I’m thoroughly fed up.

We need to be able to pick her up on a regular basis-

-to lift her out of cage when cleaning it out and letting her run around
-to put her back in
-to fetch her when she’s run off a bit too far during her run around time
– to give her flea treatment
-take her to the vet if needed
-groom her, including clip nails or clean her when she’s saturated her fur with urine and it’s not hygienic to leave it on there
-and ideally, to have some cuddle time. That is why you get a rabbit after all I’m assuming, for the love and companionship?

Honestly don’t remember her being like this when she was younger at all.

She kicks so violently and forcefully that I’m afraid she’ll snap her spine one day. It’s totally unnecessary and she’s harming herself and everyone else with this behaviour.

I know rabbits are prey animals and don’t like being picked up for that reason. But why has this got worse as she’s got older? Surely she trusts us by now? She is otherwise very affectionate and loves pats and has no trouble approaching us if she’s running around and climbing on top of you for a cuddle.

So it’s not like she’s afraid of us. But why then does she act so psychotic every time she’s picked up?

It’s making it currently impossible for us to be good pet owners because we’re afraid that anytime we need to handle her, we will get badly injured.

I feel like I’m at the end of my rope with this, and not sure how normal this is, and if perhaps she might be better off rehomed with someone who has experience dealing with problem rabbits.

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

[kurottabun]

Well where should I start lol. Brace yourselves for a loooooong essay ahead.

When rabbits are babies, they don’t really show their true personalities. Baby bunnies in general don’t mind being picked up, which is why you may feel like she wasn’t a problem until recently. When they grow into adults, most bunnies (as you already know) hate being picked up. She is most definitely not a problem rabbit. At all.

It’s not a matter of her trusting you or not. If she doesn’t trust you, she wouldn’t allow you to pat her or climb on top of you for cuddles like you mentioned. Rabbits have their own ways of loving us and it may not necessarily tally with our own definition of love. Thinking your rabbit doesn’t love you because she kicks violently when being picked up is honestly unfair to her. Sure, there are SOME rabbits who don’t mind being picked up or tolerate it better, but that’s really the minority.

You really don’t have to regularly pick her up. To quote your own examples:

– I’m not sure what her cage setup is like, but a lot of bun owners allow their buns to run out of the cage on its own. If you have a top opening door, I suggest you either get a new cage with a front opening door so your bunny can run out and in on her own without being carried, or just swiftly pick her up and place her on the ground immediately without trying to cuddle her etc. Do the same when you want to put her back. Be quick about it.

– If she’s run off a bit too far, instead of picking her up, use her favourite treats to lure her back. Or nudge her in the direction you want her to go. Otherwise just block off the areas you don’t want her in.

– You can try to apply flea treatment when she is lounging or resting instead.

– Again, instead of picking her up, try using her favourite treats to lure her into the carrier. If it’s a top opening one, again, just pick her up fast and put her in the carrier. It won’t take more than a second to do that (I’ve done it myself).

– I try to clip my bun’s nails when he is lounging. It’s a bit more difficult but it can be done. Alternatively you can try the bunny burrito method – wrap your bun up in a piece of cloth or shirt and make sure all fours are steadily on your lap. Buns groom themselves so unless they are ill or have some sort of disability, they don’t usually require a lot of butt cleaning. If her fur is saturated with pee because she sits in it in her litter box, then try getting a litter box with a screen or grate on top.

– Bunnies are not cuddly animals at all. As I mentioned, they normally don’t see love = cuddling (with a few very rare exceptions).

I really want to spend some time in replying this because my own bunny, Kurotta, is very much the same as yours. He DETESTS being picked up. He kicks violently, scratches, and even squeals when we pick him up. He runs for his life when our hands go around both sides of his body, because he probably thinks that it’s going to lead to him being picked up.

Initially my hubs and I thought that we could get him used to it, but after attempting it for a few days (one of which he got so shaken that he hid in his cage for two days straight), we have since stopped trying because we were also scared that he was gonna hurt himself. I don’t think you’re a bad pet owner if you can’t pick her up.

When we absolutely have to pick Kurotta up though (e.g. putting him in our top opening carrier), we do it within 1-2 seconds so he doesn’t even have time to kick or scratch yet because he is still sort of stunned lol.

Apart from this, Kurotta is otherwise a very sweet bunny. He is curious and loves to explore his surroundings but is also very relaxed and loves lounging around. He binkies almost every morning when we let him out and when we come back from work in the evening (probably because he knows that’s treat time). He will also climb all over us for treats, and doesn’t even mind people touching his paws or tail etc as long as you DON’T. PICK. HIM. UP.

I think it’s so much more rewarding to focus on experiencing all the other nice aspects of your bunny, rather than the fact that she doesn’t like being picked up. Once you learn to see past that, there is so much more to appreciate.

[Tay]

rabbits in general aren’t typically “cuddly” animals. some people luck out and some are able to form that bond with them, but largely they don’t enjoy cuddling or being picked up.
i would say to limit how much you need to pick her up if at all possible.
my rabbit hated being held once she got a little older and the she still really dislikes it but will tolerate it. It took a lot of laying on the floor and forming a bond with her to get her to trust me. but there are still times where i get scratched because she’s not having it.
i would consider getting her fixed. it can help with temperament and is also good for females in general to prevent cancer.
after charlie got fixed she calmed down quite a bit.
i don’t think it’s fair to give up on her so soon, but i can’t tell you what to do. rather than trying to change who she is you should just try to accept that rabbits can be weird, finicky animals and work to get her to trust you. maybe try to find a way to let her in and out of her cage where you don’t need to pick her up? they are prey animals and it’s scary for them every time we reach down to pick them up even though we mean no harm.
it’s somethinf you’re just going to have to work with her on. charlie is nothing like
how she was when i first got her, but by spending a lot of time with her and giving her her space as far as being held goes, we have a pretty good system going.
Good luck. don’t give up on her just yet, and look into possibly getting her fixed. it could really help

[BB8]

I second everything Kurottabun said!
Most rabbits hate being picked up, it’s really not about trust at all. I’ve heard some people say for the bunnies it’s like being picked up by a predator so they of course hate it.
I place a fleece blanket on the ground and call my bunny over. Then while petting him I just wrap the blanket around him and pick him up. For my other bunny I have him go into a carrier and transport him that way. Different methods work for different bunnies.
To clip my bunny’s nails I wrap him like a burrito securely, I have someone else hold him for me, I pet him to help calm him, I get one leg out, I cut his nails, and then I out that leg back in the bunny burrito, and then get out another leg to clip the nails. Some bunny owners only do one foot a day and then do the other feet another day so it’s not as long or as stressful for the bun. You can also get your vet to clip you bunny’s nails for you.
Just please remember your bunny isn’t scratching you to be mean or because she doesn’t trust you. Best of luck!

[OnyxMoon]

Alrighty, hey there! 

I had a whole reply typed out and ready to go, but decided to switch from mobile to desktop and kurrota beat me to it!  we basically said the same things any way, so ditto!

As for my bunny scratching experience: My bunny Onyx absolutely hated being handled or touched in any way, shape, or form. If i tried to pet him, he would be frozen in fear. If i tried to pick him up, he’d run away. If i happened to be able to pick him up then he would scratch, squeal, and bite pretty hard! I had bruises, bite marks, and scratches for weeks. 

But i had to handle him to administer medicine for weeks, because he came to me with a respiratory infection and he was neglected to the point where he was half of what his weight should have been for a 4 year old bunny. So he needed tons of TLC and lots of patience. I had contemplated re-homing him, but i didn’t and still don’t trust anyone else to love him and care for him as much as i do.

Through the whole biting, and teaching him that biting isn’t okay, and being petted doesn’t mean ill pick you up, and the “i just want to love you” late night chats after his fourth time biting me that day, we bonded. And now he actively searches for my attention, although he is probably just looking for more pellets. (ill take what i can get!) 

After figuring out the problems, i found solutions. Don’t give up on your bunny. They are only acting on instinct and what they know. They’re prey animals, and they still act like it even if they’re domesticated.  Bunnies take patience and time, like Kurrota said, take time to learn their personality because its only now starting to shine through. She sounds like a wonderful bun.

[Quinton]

Thanks guys.

Yes, we have a top opening cage, which makes it difficult.

We already try to be super fast, like lightning getting her in and out. But it’s no use. Just not possible to pick her up for any length of time, no matter how quick without getting severely scratched up. She immediately starts kicking the split second she’s off the ground until she literally lunges out of your hands mid air while scratching you up in the process. It sucks!

Will try to look into a different cage.

As for running around time, it’s tricky because we live on an acreage surrounded by bush rather than a fenced in yard. So we have to be very vigilant when she’s running around so she doesn’t go towards the bush otherwise we’d never find her again. And when her play time is over, we have to take her back upstairs to the covered verandah where her cage is, which inevitably involves picking her up and carrying her back to her cage. We’ve stopped letting her run around so much as a result to prevent the dreaded ordeal of having to pick her up.

I tried doing flea treatment in the cage, which is really tough because she keeps getting away. She hates it obviously haha.

We recently changed her litter box to stop the urine problem too. The last one didn’t have a high enough edge and she kept peeing over the edge, and then soaking up the puddles of pee on her fur. So we got a big plastic container and cut a small entrance to it which helps as it stops her from being able to pee over the edge of it. It’s like a little house now within her cage.

Bunnies are definitely a lot harder work than I expected! And good to know why she was so much easier when she was smaller too. That makes sense then why she’s changed as she got older.

She’s not spayed yet so hopefully that might help too.

[sarahthegemini]

You don’t need to pick her up for all the things you listed.

-Get a different cage set up that doesn’t require her being picked up to get out
-If she ‘runs off a bit too far’ during her free time, set up barriers to stop her
-Don’t pick her up so YOU can have cuddle time. You shouldn’t subject your rabbit to something she hates (and is possibly terrified of) just so you can cuddle with her. That’s incredibly unfair…You said yourself that she likes being pet and will climb on you for snuggling. So why do you need to pick her up for it?

[Quinton]

Thanks, we’ll look into getting another cage. But as mentioned in my subsequent post, the run around time is going to be an issue. We are on a large acreage with no way to be able to fence it all in.

The cuddle thing was just something that would be nice. But I’m not too phased about it. I’m happy with getting affection from her in other ways, like the fact that she likes pats and climbs on you for cuddles and to be close to you is lovely. She’s a very sweet, affectionate bunny, so no trouble there. It’s the having to get her in and out of the cage part that’s made difficult by her kicking, scratching and making suicidal leaps onto the ground to escape.

[Deleted User]

Use a litter box to get her out of the cage and transport her places.

[Deleted User]

You could get a carrier to minimize picking her up between inside/outside. It would be more comfortable for her if you lure her in the carrier and bring her back and forth in that, rather than having your hands wrapped around her. Any time a rabbit is being held, it becomes a fear response, as if they are being lifted off by a predator. It’s not their fault that they feel this way, and so most owners try to minimize the times they pick their rabbit up. If you make some changes in the cage and change your expectations, I think you’ll find that she’s not as much of a problem as you think.

For nail trims, just take her to a vet. If she’s jumping from your arms mid air and you are not comfortable clipping them yourself, let the vet and vet techs handle it. She could seriously injure herself, which it sounds like you already know. As for outside, if you can’t fence in the perimeter of the yard, could you make a “run” or portable enclosure that you can put her in? It’s really not safe for her to run around the yard without protection from predators.

[Quinton]

She likes to jump in the litter box when you’re trying to clean it out, but if you try to move it while she’s in it, she’ll jump out. Guess I can try! If I’m quick enough, maybe I can lift her up in the litter box before she lunges out of it (hopefully not in mid air)

[Deleted User]

Why not just use the carrier so you don’t have that risk of her jumping?

[Quinton]

Will look into the carrier option! And yes, the enclosure/run is a good idea. No, it’s not ideal for her to run around. She’s generally pretty good like if you stand between her and the bush, she gets she’s not allowed to go in there and kinda stops and turns back usually. The hard part is getting her up and down the verandah because of the picking up involved. She also loves all the space to run around on our property but we have to be beside her the whole time to make sure she doesn’t get too adventurous.

[Nutmeg]

Hey – I’ll start off by saying I agree with all the advise above…. But wanted to chime in on a few things.

1. that every bunny I’ve ever had HATED being picked up – so just know that you aren’t alone there and its nothing against YOU. There is a lot of misconception out there about rabbits, so a LOT of first time owners (myself included) get a bit of shock and a sharp learning curve when they get their first one. So give yourself a break and take a deep breath – grab a glass of wine even lol – and just know that you can take this new knowledge and start to make a plan to make things easier on both you and your bunny!

2… this is the cage I have.. yes it opens from the top, but it also has a slide gate to open from the front so they they can hop in and out on their own.
https://www.amazon.com/Living-World-Deluxe-Habitat-X-Large/dp/B007BNE1YA

3… Now I also live in a country area where it would cost $30,000 to fence the whole thing in – ya, NO lol. So here is what I have done for when they have outside time and I hope it helps you too…

Step 1 – Trust me – Build a fenced in run area for your bunny – chicken wire and 2×2 wood is great for this! As much as she knows to just turn around if you are standing there, it just takes ONE time when she doesn’t.
** If your bunny is going to be out side running around – and also if you would like it to sometimes be in an unsupervised setting for periods of time – than make sure to have the checken wire go down into the ground a ways in case they try and dig their way out and also put a top on it if you have birds of prey flying around (we have lots of hawks and wild cats running around)

This is a very simple verison, that you can make much larger…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxq12FwIQ_0

You can also get very fancy with it;
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b5/e5/23/b5e52340dd3e52225e30c5a288a70fa1.jpg

Or build it off the side of your house…

Step 2 – I leave the bunny in the whole cage, pick the whole cage up and carry it down to the grass. Then just put it inside the run area, open the door and leave the bunny to jump out on its own Mine now get excited when I pick up the cage with them in it as they know it means outside time lol.

Step 3 – Use your bunnies favorite treat or veggie to get it to go back into its cage on their own. This has worked with ALL of my bunnies. This one coveted treat is ONLY given to them inside their cage. As soon as they hear that bag crinkly they BOLT back into the cage. Once I get them the treat and they are eating it I then close the cage door. Once they are done eating I carry the cage back up and into the house.

~ As for cutting nails – I’ve given up and have some one else do it now. They can be the bad guy lol.
How often do you have to put on the treatment? Can you time it that you take the bunny to the vet every 2 months and have them cut the nails (mine charges $15 – which is SO worth saving the stress lol) and have them put that on at the same time?

[Bladesmith]

I’m one of the lucky ones, in that Clover not only doesn’t mind being picked up, but DEMANDS it. That said, that demand is purely on her terms, and at a specific time. First thing in the morning, ONLY. She hops in my chair, and stands on her hind feet as high as she can reach to be picked up. If I don’t, she’s been known to hurl herself at me bodily. And that’s a lot of rabbit to have airborne and hurtling at your barely awake chest!

But any other time than that? She wants nothing to with being picked up. Great big nope.

She’s also a huge cuddler, but again, ONLY on her terms.

Which pretty much sums house rabbits up. They love us, but its always on their terms by their rules. Our human ideas usually don’t mesh with theirs, so it’s up to us to change our desires accordingly. They rule, we drool.

Everyone else gave excellent advice. I’ve found that 99.9% of “Bad” bunnies aren’t bad at all, we just don’t understandvwhat theyre trying to tell us.

[Quinton]

Thanks Nutmeg. That is all excellent advice and I will look into all of it.

Bladesmith, yes I can understand things being on her own terms, it’s more the unpredictability of her recent behaviour I’m having trouble coming to terms with. I accepted the not picking up thing, and all the advice on this thread helped me to do that.

But one thing the rabbit always loved is approaching me for pats and kisses. So I went to pat and kiss her and she kicked/lunged forward and really badly knocked me in the front teeth. Still don’t know how badly they’re injured but they still hurt 3 days later. I’ve done that literally 1000 times before and she’s never reacted like that.

If this is part of the “growing up” thing again, it means I can’t go near her at all anymore without risk of getting hurt one way or another, whether I pick her up or not. Just really over it at the moment and not sure I can keep going. Didn’t think pets were supposed to be this difficult. My cat is a breeze compared to this. I want the old bunny back that was sweet and easy to deal with! I remember all our friends and family used to come around and pick her up and cuddle with her and she used to love it. Seriously, what’s happened to her.

[OnyxMoon]

I didn’t see anything about this (i skimmed through the responses), but is she spayed?

[Quinton]

No. She’d be due soon I think. Will this help calm her down? Seriously, if my teeth don’t recover from this, I won’t be keeping her. Really cranky with her at the moment. Can’t say I’ve ever been knocked in the teeth before!

[OnyxMoon]

Spaying/neutering is one of the best things you could do for your bunny. Partly because of behavior, but for females they are at a very high risk for cancer in the lady parts. Not being spayed can cause false pregnancies, which are stressful for the bunny and for her humans, and hormone spikes that cause bad behavior and aggressive behavior. 

I’d recommend getting her spayed anyway, it could help her behavior.

[Quinton]

Thanks. This sounds promising!

[Azerane]

Is it mostly once you’ve picked her up or in the process of picking her up that she kicks and scratches? If the former try some different holding positions, sometimes they may be uncomfortable with one but feel more safe with another. Otherwise you could also try holding her in a towel so that she is more secure and can’t kick or scratch.

I know how challenging it can be because my previous bun was like that at first and it took several months of desensitising training but we got there and while he still didn’t like it he did accept it and not struggle or kick.

[Quinton]

Thanks Azerane. It is both. I’ve tried the desensitising but didn’t stick with it long enough because it was too hard. Now unfortunately she also gets aggressive when I go near her, which was not the case before. Think I’ll try spaying her and see how I go.

[BB8]

Hello again! I just want to add in case you didn’t know, that after her spay she’ll go through a hormonal spike and might be more aggressive for a few weeks. I hope her surgery goes well!

[Quinton]

Thanks for the heads up! Will book her in soon.

[Nutmeg]

I have always said that bunnies are more like Cats lol
I’m sorry you got bashed in the teeth! I agree with the hormones.
Mine is just over 5 months old now and she can give “cut-eye” when she’s not happy like nobodies business hahaha.

I don’t mean to laugh, as I know you are frustrated… but its like having a 3 year old kid… such attitude at that age.
Most of this will work out with the spay AND with spending time with her at her level (on the ground).. and honestly just with age.

We had to put down our 8 year old senior a few months ago… and all she wanted to do was snuggle and be petted *WHILE SHE WAS ON THE GROUND* – I put that in bold because even then if I tried to pick her up and put her on my lap she would NOT have it lol. But she would curl up right beside my leg and let me pet her for hours.
And according to her previous owner (she was 4.5 when I took her in) she never wanted to snuggle and be petted with her. BUT they didn’t spend much time one on one with her just sitting down with her.

Just please try and have patience. Once you change your expectations of what to expect from her and realize how much character they have… you will soon wonder how you ever got along with out her!
Just like people with kids say hahahaha

[Quinton]

Thanks Nutmeg. We’ve spent time with her at her level since we first got her. She always loved to run around and come up to us, climb on us, or nuzzle by our leg for hour-long pats. I was on her level when the knock in the teeth happened. Crouched down to pat and kiss her when she approached me. Like I said, have done it many times before but this time for whatever reason she perceived me as a threat and felt like she had to abruptly kick/lunge forward to get away from me.

My cat hates being picked up, absolutely hates it. She is not a lapcat by any means and is fiercely independent. But we have to sometimes pick her up to brush her teeth, take her to the vet, flea treatment etc. She has never, ever been aggressive over it. She lies there and gets annoyed and tries to leave, but even then is so considerate with how she does it so as not to accidentally scratch us. She also has different ways of showing affection, like purring when she’s in the general vicinity of you, following you around room to room, or getting a few pats and then walking away. But unlike rabbit, she has never hurt or injured me. And she sure could with those claws!

With this rabbit, especially lately, I feel like I’m dealing with a bundle of nerves that’s constantly in flight or fight mode. And it’s really frustrating. Even when I approach her cage to feed her. She used to super excited to see me. Now she just stands in a corner and doesn’t move or acknowledge me. Something has massively changed in her lately. Can only hope the spay works…

[kurottabun]

Cats are predator animals so her hating to be picked up is most likely just personality instead of instinct, which makes a really huge difference. She probably doesn’t feel that any harm will come to her – she just hates the feeling.

Rabbits though. They feel like being picked up = death, because in the wild the only time that they are in the air is when a predator grabs them off the ground for dinner. Although rabbits have been domesticated, most don’t lose that instinct.

You would find that in the wild, young animals generally don’t have a strong concept of “danger” too and will always try to wander off, which is why they mostly rely on their mothers for protection (in a rabbit’s case, being kept in the burrow). And that may also be a reason why your bunny was alright when she was younger. But now that she’s older, her instincts of danger have kicked in.

Do note that spaying will most of the time only deal with hormonal/behavioural issues, but will not change their instincts of being apprehensive about the picking up part.

[Quinton]

Thanks. That’s fine. I can deal with the picking up thing and find ways around it to deal with day to day stuff. Got a lot of good advice about that in this thread. Just a bit hard at the moment because after being knocked in the teeth from just patting and kissing her on the ground like usual, which she usually loves, I’m reluctant to go near her at all just because she’s been so unpredictable lately. It makes me uncomfortable to go near her because I never know how she’s going to react anymore.

[Azerane]

It could be largely hormones or there could be an environmental factor influencing things. If she’s suddenly standoffish to you it can be something as simple as a new body wash or cream that you are using that makes you smell different. A different job where you bring back different smells home, a friend you have been visiting who has a dog and bun can smell it on you. There can be so many little things that influence how our buns perceive us.

[Nutmeg]

That’s a good point Azerane makes about smells. My husband recently went back to work after being off for the winter (our bunnies are now 5 months old – so he has not worked since we got them 2 months ago)… anyways his co-worker smokes in the work truck and we don’t smoke.
I didn’t put it together, but yesterday was his first day back and I thought they were being weird with him as they were mad that he was gone all day – he’s usually home all day with them… but he went up and had a shower and changed and when he came back down they were excited to see him again.
I bet the smell of cigarette smoke made him smell different to them and it wasn’t until he showered that they were like “oh hey, I know you” lol.
I’ll have to tell him about that.

** Other side note – that is so good that she at least used to like to snuggle and hour long pets… That makes me hopeful that once her hormones settle down from the spay that she could go back to that later.
My bunnies, from the very start, will not come over for snuggles and for petting sessions. They hope all around me and only jump up on me long enough to see if I have any treats for them.
Now my last bunny who was put down – she LOVED to sit beside me for hours to be petted. And I sure do miss that. I just know that’s not what these bunnies like… hopefully one day. lol.

If you can’t think of any new smells or detergents that your clothes are being washed in… or even new changes in your home.. than I’m leaning towards just hormones – I’ve read some people posts that when they hit full on hormones its like a light switch is flipped, they go from happy bunny to demon spawn over night (or just a full 180 in personality)…. or it could be she’s not feeling well. I would suggest trying 3 things;

1. keep an eye on her eating / drinking and pooping / peeing. Rabbits are really great at hiding it if they don’t feel well. I’ve read many forum posts where people go to bed with a perfectly healthy looking bunny and wake up to it having passed away. I am NOT saying that’s whats going on here, but maybe she’s having some tooth issues or something causing her some discomfort and thats making her grumpy. So just keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary (other than her acting like a grumpy butt head)

2. Obviously the spay. Which should be done anyway. I’m hoping to have my girl spayed in the next two months. So we can go through that fun journey together haha.

3. Sit down at her level, but IGNORE her… just read a book or something. Even if she comes over to sniff you, ignore her the first few days. Pretend that she is a brand new bunny again. It sounds like she needs to get re-used to you.

** Oh and another side note – some bunnies do NOT like when their humans reach in to their cage. They see it as their territory. Most people will just wait until the bunny is out of the cage if they need to do anything inside it.

WOW sorry my reply’s have been so long

[Quinton]

Thanks so much for all the fantastic advice. Wow, owning a rabbit is so much more complicated than I thought! While I have been using some different creams, she seems to be standoffish with my partner too, and he definitely doesn’t wear any haha, so I don’t think it’s that. I will try ignoring her on her level again like I did at the start. Took a good few weeks of doing that when we first got her before she was comfortable to approach us. She still seems depressed/timid/not herself and just sits frozen in a corner when either of us go out to her cage, when she used to act so excitedly before. So she’s definitely not acting like her usual happy self. Wish I knew what was wrong she’s pooping etc fine, but will definitely book her in with vet soon for surgery and also for general check up. Hope she’s okay!

[Nutmeg]

Yes, sometimes that drastic of a change in personality can be cause for concern as rabbits being pray animals will try and hide any sickness or pain.
Perhaps call and book a vet check up just in case – they will want to see her before booking the spay anyways (mine wanted to see both of mine before she would book them anyways) so there is no harm in doing it now. Perhaps there is something bothering her – as that is such a big personality change for just only hormones, although I do think that’s some of it.
I always try and look at environmental changes first, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I’m a big “better safe than sorry” person.
Thanks for keeping us posted!

[Author]

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