New owner – questions on behavior

[Jen P]

Hi everyone. About a week ago my husband and I got a 4.5-5 year old, unspayed female Netherland Dwarf from a co-worker. She is very tame and has been around young children. She came with a cage that has the littler box underneath, and it unfortunately opens from the top. I’ve been researching bunny behaviors, but different sites seem to have slightly differing opinions. (I tried searching through the forum, but the search bar isn’t working for me.) The first few days she was out, she explored, used a litter box (bedding and hay in a litter box) outside of her cage, and would come up and nudge my husband and I for pets. She’ll also put her nose to yours. The last few days, she has started leaving little pellets here and there, which I believe is her marking her territory? She is also circling around me, will come up to me and start licking all over my arms. Last night, it seemed to escalate in speed almost to a frantic level and she started rearing up on her hind legs and digging at my sleeves. When I put her back in her cage, she immediately went for her food bowl. Tonight when she was out, she started nipping with the licking in between runs up and down the hall. When the nipping and licking started to escalate, one nip was pretty hard, so I squeaked loudly. She stopped promptly, turned her back on me and peed. I’m not sure if I startled her, offended her, or the reason she was getting agitated was that she was trying to tell me she wanted to go back to her cage to urinate. I promptly put her back into her cage so I could clean up the mess, and she immediately ate a few bites of food, and then stretched out on her stomach. Thoughts on the motivation and message of the behavior? I’ve not been around rabbits for a long time, so I’m a novice at the physical communication.  If she is asking to go back to her cage, how do I differentiate between her coming up for pets and the request? I don’t want to discourage her from seeking out pets.  One of our priorities is getting a cage that opens from the side so she can come and go as she pleases. Any feedback/suggestions would be much appreciated.

[Sarita]

I think she’s just getting used to her new environment and it is stress related and probably hormonal as well since she is not spayed. It will take a bit longer for her to feel more comfortable in her new surroundings.

[Hazel]

I agree with Sarita, it sounds like hormonal behavior, in addition to being in a new environment.

Are you planning to have her spayed? Females’ risk of developing reproductive cancer rises to above 85% by the age of three, at five years of age she’s been in the danger zone for WAY too long. Before you worry about anything else, you should get her spayed, as soon as you can possible manage.

[Sindri]

I agree with Sarita and Hazel on all accounts. Spaying will definitely help her behavior once the hormones settle back down. It will take some time for her to get settled into her new home.

[emm_renn]

I was playing with this one rabbit at a local pet store and from her cage, she was attentive and alert and wanted pets. When I got her out, she circled me, digging at me and nipping me. I’m pretty sure she was approaching sexual maturity and had hormonal frustrations. It seems as though your rabbit exhibits the same behavior. I would look into spaying.

[Author]

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