Normal Teenage Bunny Behavior?

Oakley is about to be five months old, and BOY is she getting into everything! She's my little female polish dwarf that I got a few months ago, and she is SO curious and SO hyper! I moved back in with my parents for the summer, to take some summer classes in my home town, and I was afraid she'd be a little stressed out, like she was when I brought her home to visit with me for Easter weekend. Instead, she's literally bounding around our (bunny proofed) spare bedroom.

However, as happy as she seems right now with this new room all to herself (I have two male chinchillas that she treats like they're sooo below her) she's even acting a little different with me lately. For a while there, I could get her out of her cage and she would sit with me on my bed, happy as a lark while I watched TV or did my homework. She'd sit on my lap and let me stroke the top of her head for hours if I wanted to. But now, she will sit on my lap for about 15 minutes tops before she wants to start digging on me! She starts digging, and trying to pull at my clothes with her teeth. Which, when I'm wearing sleeping pants and a tshirt, her little teeth can PINCH. Is this a normal behavior?

Also, she thumps ALL THE TIME. Even when she seems perfectly happy! She'll thump, then run around and "happy dance" all over the place right after.

She also head butts. A lot. Haha. This is more funny than anything else to me, just because usually she's head butting my phone out of my hands when she wants my attention. Or will head butt my legs to get my attention.

Are these normal? Or is it something I should be looking out for?

Head butting is a normal 'good' way a rabbit uses to get your attention. Much better that then resulting to nipping. It could mean she wants pets, or wants you to move something(like a part of your body) out of the way.

Thumping is used to express strong emotion with rabbits. Whether it's fear, a warning, hurry up with the food cause they're hungry, or when they are happily playing. Some rabbits will do it more than others.

Some of the hyperactivity, digging, and pulling at your clothes could easily have to do with hormones. Spaying often really helps with these behaviors. I just got a little buck neutered. Before he was super hyper and just hardly ever held still, even for petting. It's only been a few weeks, but I can already tell a difference. He holds still longer now for head rubs, he doesn't chew on the bars of his cage as much, and doesn't rattle his toys as much. He's calmer and less *busy*. He's still more active than some of my other rabbits, but it's not near as bad as it used to be.

So if you aren't liking the new behavior, then a spay is your best chance of changing it. There are never any guarantees that the spay will fix everything or there won't be any problems, but it's really the only way of changing these things without having to find a way to train her not to do unwanted behaviors. And with rabbits we all know how hard that can be to do most the time. Plus it's better for female rabbits not used for breeding, to get spayed. Better for their health.

Hi there! My big boy Rocky did the same thing when I first got him. He was totally calm cool and relaxed and i could pet him for hours, then he got a bit more hyper as he got older. Getting him neutered made a world of different and now he is a big floppy couch potato.

My other boy Gidget is psycho, however, and even though he was neutered a couple of months ago he is still hyper and doesnt stop for pets all that much. Unless he is on the couch and can lay on your chest lol

I would suggest getting her spayed, I haven't owned a female bunny but I hear they can be a lot more hormonal than boys in the sense that they are more cage defensive, and get annoyed with their owners a bit more. This might be why she is head butting and digging you and stuff, she is hormonal lol

It is all normal though this usually happens with young buns in one way or another over their first few months to a year, they can change personality quite a lot. Having her spayed will settle her down. If you are worried though you can speak to your vet for some peace of mind

Neutering helps with most teenage behaviors, but not with all bunnies. Believe it or not, some are still little brats--good thing they're so cute!