Different-than-usual hormonal behavior?

[bunbunny]

Hi,

I have a question about my 5 month old Netherland Dwarf, Aria.

So being unspayed, I am pretty sure she's hitting bunny puberty. She's developed some of the textbook signs, such as being more territorial of her cage (she growls when we try to clean it now), peeing outside of her cage, etc.

However, she's also developed some other behaviors that I haven't seen described before in descriptions of bunny hormone behavior. anic:

The first is running away when I try to approach her to pet her/pick her up. Before, she was a total cuddle hog. I could pick her up and put her down and will and she loved to be pet, but now, she runs away from me while wagging her tail. If I persist in following her, she growls and finds somewhere to hide. I am not sure how to handle this - do I leave her alone and risk her learning this unsociable behavior, or do I continue to trying to calm her down but risk her becoming more frustrated?

The other is aggressiveness when I'm training her or offering her treats. Before, she was very well trained - she would respond to commands like "Come Here" or "Turn Around" with almost 95% accuracy. Now, half the time she doesn't listen, and the other half of the time (usually when she knows I have a treat), she lunges at the hand holding the treat and growls/boxes to get the treat out.

Is this hormonal behavior? Have others experienced their bunnies doing these things?

I am a bit hesitant to get her spayed because I have had bad luck with bunnies (even when experienced vets are involved), but her personality has changed almost overnight! She seems really moody and unhappy lately, and I don't want her to live like that.

Also, how long did it take for your bunnies to develop hormonal symptoms? Her seemed to occur over the course of 3-4 days.

 

[surf_storm]

Same thing happened with Shida (she is a nethie too) she is desexed now but let me tell you that was three weeks of torture for both if us! She would continually lick and pull at her stitches and she ripped them out one night and we spent the night at the after hours emergency in Sydney then she spent the next 3 day with the vet to make sure there was no infection cause she ripped her tummy open. We then spent 2 weeks with a cone on her head this was cone number one but it was way to big so I made one for her
Now she is still an bit standoffish but getting better everyday

~Shell

 

[bunbunny]

Oh wow, that sound scary! Especially because Aria seems like the kind of bunny that would pick at her stitches too, she picks at pretty much everything else.

Did Shida start avoiding you too prior to her spay?

Before bunny puberty Aria was pretty much a small dog. She would run up to me whenever I was in the vicinity, nudge me, climb on me if I was crouching down, and get all spazzy whenever we came home. Now she sits 3 feet away from me and stares at me, and only lets me pet her 50% of the time.

I'm glad to hear that your bunny is less standoffish after the spay!

 

[surf_storm]

Yeah she was becoming really moody before the spay but she never bit me thank goodness. It was a bit stressful at the time but I know now that if she ever needs surgery again that she is getting a cone on straight away! Lol.