Oreo is being way too aggressive

[Oreo and Bugs]

When I first got Oreo, she was never aggressive, but lately she has been lunging at me, trying to bite me, making these weird honking noises, etc. I have been trying to bond with her, but whenever I think that we have bonded atleast a little bit, she does the same exact thing whenever I come to her cage to feed her in the morning and at night. Oreo is not spayed, but she is only about 4 months old, and I just got Bugs neutered yesterday. I also have to pay for the neuter/spay by myself, and for a 13 year old girl, that can be very hard to do. I am planning on spaying her later this year or early next year, since I get about $170 for my birthday and Christmas combined. I should have about as much money as I need for the spay since Bugs’s neuter was only $197 in total with all of the pain medication, etc. I have no idea what to do, I have tried sitting on the ground with Oreo and giving her food whenever she comes near me, but that doesn’t seem to work. I have also just sat on the ground near her, and I would pet her whenever she comes close to me. None of this has worked for me and I really need some help. Thank you.

[Bam]

It sounds like Oreo is going through puberty. Puberty often hits young girl bunnies pretty hard. Aggression and territoriality are typical signs. If she gets playtime outside her cage, you could try feeding her outside the cage or put her food in the cage when she’s not in it, since she appears to be cage aggressive. That’s not abnormal for a girl bun, in nature the female buns are the bosses of the warren, and they tend to defend it from intruders. Cage aggression in buns is generally handled by trying not to interfere with the bun when it’s in its cage.

Spaying her will probably help a lot, but even a de-sexed bun goes through a period of emancipation and learning to be an adult. What you are doing is of course great, she needs to learn that you are on her side and her friend. She will mellow some with time even if you don’t get her spayed until next year, and getting Bugs neutered can help too, once his hormones have died down after his neuter, her hormones won’t be triggered by him smelling like a male – as you know, buns and other animals pick up lots of info from smells, and feromones impact their hormones a lot.

[Oreo and Bugs]

Thank you so much, right now I’m trying a method of bonding, and when I entered Oreos area, she didn’t try to bite me.

[Author]

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