My new bunny hates me. Please help!

[HoneyBunnyMummy]

Yesterday we took in a new bunny named Zoe. Zoe is 5 years old, comes from a home where she did not get to leave her cage very much because an allergic family member. I was also given her cage, which I spacious but wore bottom. I removed the wire bottom to avoid sore jocks esp at her age. I have also switched her pellets to oxbow select (which is what honey eats). Because her old food has lots of little things like Cheerios and carrots and stuff, and alfaalfa was the first ingredient and Timothy hay wasn’t until like 6th. I have also not been giving her carrots (I only give carrots twice a week to avoid too much sweets). And I think she was getting a lot of big carrots.

I have one other bunny, honey, who is a boy. They are kept in separate cages and have separate playtime’s until we can get them neutered/spayed (he is too young right now).

She hops up on my lap when I see her and seems to love being pet. But then she bites my thighs and my arms, and they are not nips. They HURT. And when I cry in pain she looks at me and thumps her feet hard on the ground!!! Also, whenever I get in the pen with her she immediately bites at my ankle and try’s to hump me!!!

What the heck is going on here?! Does she just hate me, or is it the diet/ environment change. And how do I get the biting to stop??

[Bam]

She doesn’t hate you. If she did she’d not let you pet her. The biting your ankles when you go into her pen sounds like “cage aggression”. You’re in her territory. This is not uncommon in female rabbits. It is an instinct. You and she don’t know each other very well yet, so this could get better with time. For now aid try to stay out of her pen until she feels safer in her new environment.

If she bites your arms and thighs when she’s in your lap it could mean she wants to be put down on the floor. If it’s not that, it could be some form of grooming that she isn’t very good at. You will need to communicate to her that the behavior is not acceptable. If she wants to sit in your lap but bites you, I’d put her back on the floor. Maybe with a firm “no”. If she bites you because she wants to be let down on the floor, try to not hold her at all, but let her come and go just as she pleases. If she gets what she wants by biting, she will keep biting. That’s how animals and humans learn things: by trial and success.

She’s all new in your home and getting a new home causes stress -even if she now is in a very much better home. I’d not switch her from one pellet brand to a new one straight up, you should do a gradual switch. She’s used to yummy but not so healthy food, she might refuse the healthier food and the new food can cause tummy upsetness. Different gut bacteria are needed for different types of food. Her tummy needs time to get used to the healthier food.

If she’s used to carrots she could get pieces of carrot as treats. With rabbits you never want to do radical dietary changes. If her droppings look good you don’t want to disturb her gut. Go really slow. Does she eat hay?

[LBJ10]

Hmm, I agree. More information is needed to determine what’s going on in her little bunny mind. There are also some rabbits, particularly hormonal ones, that become a bit forceful with the way they demand pets. Figuring out her motivation for nipping will help you determine an appropriate way to respond.

As for the biting/humping when you enter her enclosure, I agree with Bam.

Zoe is not spayed then? Spaying will probably help some of her behaviors.

[MountainBuns]

I think bam explained it all, you only got her yesterday so try taking it slower, let her come to you rather than you to her

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