Ignoring/ kinda mean bunny-is getting worse

[BunBun260]

So I posted not to long ago about how I took my bunny to a boarding place, and they miss treated both my bunnies. My female bunny was very scared when I first got her, it was clear that she had no human interaction and was scared. Before I took her to a boarding place, I was finally breaking her out of being scared all the time. She had even started licking me.

Flash forward to today. It’s probably been a month since the event, and I feel like she is getting worse. I finally got her to stop biting me when ever my hand was near, but now she ignores me completely, or does this honking sound. She is very scared to come near me, that it’s hard for me even to pet her. I tried laying on the ground, and letting her come to me but she only comes for a second and runs off, or she doesn’t come at all. She doesn’t even come to me when I have treats.

It’s very off and on for her too. Yesterday she let me pet her and even licked me, and today she back to advoiding me and honking at me. Most days it’s like that. Yesterday was the first day in many she was back to her self. My bunnies are not bonded yet, they were doing good before the event, but the place let them out together multiple times even though I said not too, and I even provided them with gates to keep them apart, which they didn’t use. They both suffered multiple wounds (nothing to bad). So I have held off on bonding, but I am still pre bonding.

I’m very frustrated, cause I hate seeing her like this. It stresses me out too, because I feel like it’s getting worst and I don’t know what to do. She also tearing up everything in my room as well again, which she hasn’t done since the first week I had her. She is biting base boards, eating carpet, throwing things around. I understand this is normal rabbit behavior, but she is doing it 24-7, and also being more destructive. I provide them with lots of toys outside the cage, including, sticks, a tunnel, things to jump on, and even treat balls. She is 6 months currently.

If I can just have some advice on what to do, maybe I’m doing something wrong. I just need help, I’m at a loss of what to do. I thought she was getting better, but this last week she has really just gotten worse.

[DanaNM]

Hey there,
I’ve obviously been following your bonding thread, so I know the struggle you’ve had with them.

I thought this was already covered, but seeing Bunnie’s age, I wanted to double check, is she spayed?? I ask because females are usually spayed at 6-8 months, so her young age makes me think maybe she isn’t, and we somehow missed that bit of info in your bonding thread?

If that’s the case, that explains a LOT of her behavior, as well as the trouble you’ve been having. When females hit puberty they can get crazy destructive. Tearing up things is also a type of marking, as buns will chew and scrape at things to show other bunnies they’ve been there.

If she is spayed, I will say it’s normal for your buns to be mad at you during bonding. With how much you have to handle them etc, it will feel like you are completely going backwards, but things should return to normal once they are bonded.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[BunBun260]

She is spayed. The humane center where I live is really insane about spaying and neutering animals at such a young age. I don’t really agree with how young they go sometimes. I got my male bunny when he had just turn 2 months and they had neutered him the day he turn 2 months. So her reaction towards me is simply because of her not being bonded with him yet? I just don’t want her to hate me. If that’s the case though, I guess it would make me feel a little better knowing it’s not really me it’s just the situation.

[BunBun260]

I should add she was spayed at 3 months. The day she turn 3 months. Sometimes I do question if she is really spayed or not. She has a medical history of it though. But she is very terrotorial and marks her territory a lot.

[DanaNM]

Wow, so young!

In that case I do think it’s because of all the bonding stress. My buns would always bolt to the corner of their cages and start thumping at me when I would come near because they would assume they were about to get scooped up for a bonding session. I wouldn’t stress too much about it, she doesn’t hate you, and she will forgive you once all the bonding hullabaloo is done.

(The marking is also due to not being bonded. My buns litter box habits went out the window when they were not bonded)

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[sarahthegemini]

Wow I’m absolutely horrified that they spay/neuter so young. That’s…so risky :-/

I wonder if a full spay was completed? Of course her behaviour could be because of being near a bunny that she isn’t yet bonded too and being mad at you for bonding but I figured it’s worth mentioning as incomplete spays do happen.

[Asriel and Bombur]

If she was that young, get her back to the vet. Girls are most definitely not fully developed enough yet to be getting spayed at 3 months. They probably didn’t get everything while they were in there.

[BunBun260]

Is there a way for me to tell if it was fully completed? And I was horrified too. That is mostly why I got a second bun, and why I refused to do “speed dating” when picking another bunny with them. That is the only place to get bunnies though. I live in a small town, and there isn’t any other place close enough. We also saved a cat from there and they had neutered him at 2 months while he was deathly sick. It’s absolute sick. I got both my male bunny and my male cat during free adoptions, I did not get her during free adoption though.

Also if I can’t check myself, what tool would a vet use to check? Wondering for price reasons.

[Asriel and Bombur]

It’s definitely a vet only kind of a check. They’d probably use an ultrasound I’m guessing.

[BunBun260]

So I called my vet, and they think it is 100% gone. But they did suggest an ultrasound if I wanted to just make sure. She said I should probably call the humane society and ask them as well. But honestly I don’t think I’m going to get anywhere with that. The ultrasound is about 400$, but she said it might be less for a rabbit. Is there any signs I can look out for that might tell me if she is fully spayed? I done bonding sessions before and they seem to have went well.

[Asriel and Bombur]

Just a lot of her behavior in general is just typical of a hormonal rabbit, not a spayed one. That’s really the only way you’ll really sorta be able to tell.

[sarahthegemini]

That is expensive (or is it about normal? I’ve never had to ultrasound my rabbits) but it really would be the only way to know for certain. If it were me, I wouldn’t be able to relax if I didn’t know due to the obvious cancer risk. Do rabbits need to be given anaesthesia for an ultrasound?

[DanaNM]

I wonder if they could do a hormone test?

With unspayed females, they will can have false pregnancies where they pluck fur and try to build a nest. Females also do go through cycles of being more fertile, where you touch their back and they literally put their bums in the air. Unless you see anything like that, I would guess the spay was complete… just very risky, and sad that the shelter does that

Digging, scratching, chewing, marking, and being a sassy brat just sounds like normal diva bunny behavior to me (or maybe Bertha is just a sassy diva). Especially during bonding. I literally thought Bertha would never use her litter box again when we were bonding her, but once bonded she snapped back to normal.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[BunBun260]

Well I have never seen her pluck her fur. I kinda thought she was just a diva. She also had no human interaction before me, so I thought a lot of her behavior was based off that well. I mean the last time I did a bonding session they were both trying to claim dominance, I would imagine an unspayed bunny would be very aggressive during bonding. I have to find out the cost before anything. Cause 400 is insane and I cannot afford that right now. Would she pluck her fur at this age if she wasn’t spayed?

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