Mad baby?!

[Lily the Holland Lop]

Lily is now four months old, and is already unfortunately displaying aggressive behavior the vet Lily and I go to advised to get her spayed at six months, which is what I intended to do in the beginning. It’s just that, sometimes she is so unpleasant to be with! I regularly go into her bunny proofed room (cage open 24/7) and she is now lunging/running angrily at me! Things as simple as replenishing her hay, I am no nervous to do as she is just so unpredictable! No warning signs whatsoever. She has only truly bitten me once 1-2 weeks ago, and that was for a fairly valid reason when I repositioned my arm and accidentally hit her (very lightly, and I had thoroughly checked for injuries, and she was just a little peeved). I still think that was a but over dramatic of her though. This has come as a shock to me, as Lily and I have never encountered any problems ever. She was such a sweet rabbit, she had warmed up to me in a matter of minutes the day I got her. Her aggression is just so unlike her. I want her hormones gone! If she’s already like this at four months, I imagine her to be a nightmare at 6! I will definitely call my vet and consult her about her aggression, but I would really like some your opinions on my little situation. Thanks! (:

[Annabel93]

I don’t have much advice unfortunately since you already know the chances are it’s hormonal behaviour, but it would be worth taking her to the vet for a check up. She could be incredibly grumpy because she’s in pain or discomfort, so it’s worth ruling that out.

[Beka27]

Sadly, this is totally normal… and there isn’t anything you can really do about it until her spay. My girl became AWFUL at 5.5 months, and wasn’t spayed until 7 months. With her, the bad behavior reversed IMMEDIATELY, but sometimes it can take up to a month post-spay for the bunny to settle down. My advice now is to just grit your teeth, remind yourself it is TEMPORARY, and schedule your spay date in advance for the DAY she turns 6 months. (Don’t wait until she is 6 months to make the appointment, because then you might have to wait another few weeks…!)

[Irina]

I know this is somewhat controversial, but there are some vets who recommend spaying as early as 4 months depending on the breed of rabbit you have. I have done extensive reading about this and it seems there are two camps: one who maintains that 6 months is the ideal time as the rabbit has reached maturity and no longer needs estrogen for normal development, the other states that the surgery is easier on the rabbit when performed at a younger age (and some breeds (smaller ones) reach maturity by 4 months) and for these breeds earlier spay is recommended.
I have polish buns, and my vet said I could spay at 4 months, as they are a smaller breed. I have opted to split the difference, and Shadow is being spayed at 5 months.
I don’t know if this is helpful at all, but perhaps food for thought if nothing else. FTI, have not been able to find any data suggesting negative outcomes for rabbits spayed at a younger age.

Good luck!

[Lily the Holland Lop]

Thanks! Really appreciated all of the input! I had actually already brought her to the vet twice (second time quite recently as in a couple days ago) for health checkups as I am easily paranoid. Luckily, she’s one healthy bun! Lily doesn’t seem to be grumpy whatsoever today. Maybe the last couple days she’s been peeved at me because I recently moved her to her new bunny room and she hadn’t adjusted to her surroundings yet. Today she’s was very sweet and playful, the bunny I remembered her to be! Hopefully her good moods will remain stable, but if not which would most likely be the case, I’ll just grit my teeth like you said :p Definitely will be scheduling her spay when I receive the answers to my questions regarding the operation from the vet and am happy with it. Hopefully within the next 2 weeks, as she turns six months on exactly December the 14. I want to have the operation done then and there! Wish her and I luck, hopefully she wont become too much of a sourpuss! P.S. please excuse the spelling/grammar mistakes in my previous post, it was quite late at night and my eyes seemed to be playing tricks on me! Thanks again!

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