Rabbit Withdrawn behavior

[Susancpr]

I have a female 8 month old Rex. She has a great life & is allowed to freely roam around my house. She’s eating fine, poop is healthy & shows no signs of poor health..
She used to be very affectionate,loved being petted & followed me all over house curious about whatever I was doing..Wherever I was sitting, she’d hop up on the chair. About 6 weeks ago she started shying away & was a little withdrawn. She had similar behavior another time, but it was due to being in pain from her teeth. I assumed it was a health issue again &took her to vet but health was perfect. She has continued to become more withdrawn & hides in back room alone all day..If I approach her, she runs away where I can’t reach her & seldom allows me to pet her. I have no idea what’s wrong w her! Nothing in her environment has changed..She has not been traumatized, no new pets , I haven’t left her alone & her health is perfect. Honestly my feelings are hurt & conflicted bc I adore my bunny..However I’m thinking about getting rid of her. I can’t justify my expense or amount of time I spend cleaning her litter boxes etc.. for a pet that has nothing to do w me & I’m unable to enjoy. I’m really quite upset as I’ve put so much time into my little girl..Any & all advise is desperately needed PLEASE!

[ThorBunny]

Is she spayed? It sounds like her withdrawal could be hormonal behavior. It’s pretty common for behavior to change in the first year of life due to them reaching maturity! However, the good news is that her hormones should calm down and she will become more sociable after being fixed It’s a good idea to get females fixed anyways since there is a high incidence of uterine cancer in un-spayed females as they get older.

Is your vet experienced in rabbit spays? You would want to make sure that if you get her in for surgery it is done by an experienced rabbit vet.

Don’t give up on your bun, I’m sure she is still a sweetie underneath <3

[Susancpr]

Thanks for reply! Little Nester sees a vet group highly recommended by Georgia Rabbit Society. When I questioned the vet about spaying, he stated spaying wasn’t absolutely necessary unless there were extreme behavior issues or to reduce risk for uterine cancer…She’s had numerous visits &my pocket book only goes so far!
I noticed she’s been scratching her ears& shaking her head. I caught her & looked down in her ears w flashlight. They were clear & no indication of mites. Can they still have an ear infection w/out any visible symptoms?

[Clem&M]

As ThorBunny said this is normal, when I first got Clem she was very sweet, she’d only want to lick me and give me kisses, and then she hit puberty and thought she didn’t need me anymore like every teenager with their parents. She still seems really into me though, she buzzes all around me.
Young rabbits are very affectionate when young, but when they’re hormonal they try to shy away from affection to be dominant I believe.
I’m about to get mine spayed, I heard that it does help and they may become affectionate once again.

The thing is she may still show you signs she loves you, but they’re subtle.

[Author]

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