My bunny is suddenly acting strange

[Tashamarie1066]

I have a red mini lop named daisy. She used to be the BIGGEST sweetheart. However, she had a litter of 6 in December (which we were expecting). Everything was fine and her behavior never changed. In January, however, just as she stopped nursing the babies, and they were separated from her, she had a complete surprise litter of another 5 babies! Everything was going fine as the babies were growing up, but recently her behavior started to change. I noticed that now as the babies are older, she’s been acting more aggressive to both them, and me. If I were to stick my hand in the cage, she would bite me and scratch the crap out of me. The younger babies don’t need her anymore, she we separated her from them, thinking that if she had a cage to herself for awhile, she would calm down. This was not the case. She’s still super aggressive and bite and scratches if you put your hand in there. But now she’s also acting like she’s starving all the time! I give her pellets in the morning and pellets with veggies at night, and both times she acts like she hasn’t been fed in DAYS! She bites your hands until you dump the food in her bowl, and once you do, she eats it all in like, record speed.
We take her out of her cage and let her run around the barn for a half an hour or more every other day (because our male gets to come out the days that she doesn’t) hoping that she’ll use up a bunch of energy and be less aggressive, but that doesn’t seem to be working. I’m worried that we won’t be able to get her back to her sweetheart self. Any suggestions??? ((And I know that talking about intentional breeding is banned, but we would like to use her for breeding again in the future. Not anytime soon, but in the future. So spaying is, for now, not an option.)) your help is greatly appreciated. I just want my sweetheart Daisy back.

[Bam]

I PMed you. As I said in my PM, I think she could be aggressive because she’s
a) exhausted after having had two litters in a row
b) pregnant again (buns can mate through cage bars, and buns can get pregnant again immediately after giving birth
c) experiencing some kind of pain/discomfort from some physical ailment.

c) is imo the least likely cause, because she’s devouring her food. Sick buns or buns in pain tend to go off their food. You see a decrease in appetite rather than an increase.

I have heard about girl buns becoming aggressive after having two or even three litters very closely together. Pregnancies take a toll both on the body and the psyche. She could need more protein and calcium than normal, because having babies “costs” protein and calcium. You could supplement her diet with for example alfalfa hay or more pellets. With a really greedy bun it’s recommended you scatter the pellets rather than serving them in a bowl. Greedy buns can accidentally choke on pellets, and the outcome can be tragic. You should also try and give her some more playtime. 30 minutes every other day isn’t enough for a bunny.

Most of us here at Binky Bunny don’t have a lot of experience with breeding, because it is, as you are aware, a prohibited topic on these forums. To come into contact with people with more experience with post-pregnancy does etc, I recommend you go to a forum called Rabbits Online, their section called The Rabbitry and Show Room: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/forums/the-rabbitry-and-show-room.20/

[sarahthegemini]

30 minutes out of her cage every other day isn’t anywhere near adequate. That’s completely unacceptable. Every bun needs AT LEAST 4 to 6 hours out of cage EVERY SINGLE DAY. It’s important for her physical health but also her mental health. Imagine being cooped with only half hour’s release every other day. 

[Harley&Thumper]

I imagine some of the aggression is because she is locked up in her cage all of the time. So if you let her out longer you would see less aggression. I would also setup a ramp so she can leave the cage on her own because right now it sounds like she is defending her territory.

[Cocoa]

Giving her more time out of her cage would probably help. How big of a cage is she in?

[Author]

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