Questions about a female rabbit

I have a Holland lop who is about 6 months old. I got her from a breeder when she was 5 weeks, which is a bit younger than I would have preferred her be weaned but.. anyway she and I have been very bonded. She lives in a 5x7 walk-in cage, and had free range of the living room everyday when I'm home. I'm retired so I'm home everyday. She's always enjoyed sitting on the couch with me and she loved to snuggle and be petted. When she turned 5 months she suddenly began to bite my ankles every time I walked into her cage to clean her litter box or to feed and water her. She growls and nips and has gotten my fingers a couple of times really hard. I know that in a perfect world she should be spayed but I have called every vet in the surrounding area and no one will see a rabbit. We live out in the country. So spaying is not an option. Can anyone tell me if she will calm down over time? It's gotten to the point where I can't let her out anymore. She does love for me to pet her if I reach into the cage but if I walk into the cage I will get bit. Which I have to do every day to feed and water her. So I have resorted to tall bedroom shoes to save my ankles. I do love my rabbit and she's happy. She runs and plays and does all of her regular rabbit things but I just can't snuggle with her anymore. Is there any hope for the future?

I don't spay my rabbits and all of the girls I own that have been hormonal for a time have calmed down, so there is definitely hope. In my experience if they get that hormonal they are only a jerk for about a month or less, but my sister had one girl that was that way for a few months. Thankfully she's nice now.

Ruth said:

I don't spay my rabbits and all of the girls I own that have been hormonal for a time have calmed down, so there is definitely hope. In my experience if they get that hormonal they are only a jerk for about a month or less, but my sister had one girl that was that way for a few months. Thankfully she's nice now.

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Thank you so much! I'm glad to know that there's a good chance she might calm down. I've been really worried because I couldn't find anything online that had to do with not spaying a female.

Jamie411 said:

Thank you so much! I'm glad to know that there's a good chance she might calm down. I've been really worried because I couldn't find anything online that had to do with not spaying a female.

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Yeah there's not really much on it, so when I stopped neutering/spaying my animals, about 10 years ago, it was definitely an experiment. I have heard there can be cases where they remain jerks, but out of the 7 girls I have had that hasn't been the case, especially if they were a sweet baby. I hope she calms down for you and goes back to being cuddly soon!

Also 5 weeks old. I'm surprised they sold her that young!

Ruth said:

Yeah there's not really much on it, so when I stopped neutering/spaying my animals, about 10 years ago, it was definitely an experiment. I have heard there can be cases where they remain jerks, but out of the 7 girls I have had that hasn't been the case, especially if they were a sweet baby. I hope she calms down for you and goes back to being cuddly soon!

Also 5 weeks old. I'm surprised they sold her that young!

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That's one of the downfalls of being in the deep country. I've seen it with all sorts of livestock as well as dogs and cats. Life on the farm runs a little faster. What an animal eats and drinks it's weaned.

Huh... I would think they would at least wait till the babies were producing their own cecotropes which I read was around 8 weeks. I'm sure some start producing them earlier but still.
I know in most states it is illegal to sell them before 8 weeks old and I always thought that was the reason.