Ivy is attacking me ???

I have a very urgent situation so if anyone can help me I'd much aprciate it, I own a lovely 8 month old lionhead bun named Ivy and of course I adore her but out of nowhere when I went to give her, her Timothy hay tonight in her hay rack she got all angry and growly at me and then she lunged at me teeth bared I think I might have bumped her or something, I mean she's never done anything like this before she always sits up on her cage and looks at me and she loves to give me kisses, I don't want to have to rehome her of course im not thinking about it but is there anything you guys could suggest I have to constantly stick my hand in her cage and I don't want a rabbit who try's to bite me and I don't want to be scared of her dose anyone have any suggestions at all:apollo::? I'm honestly so confused and sad and really worried I messed her up for good

You first need to see if this was just a one time thing, or if it starts occurring regularly. Sometimes a rabbit can get frightened or startled by something, and may lash out and bite the first thing they see, which can sometimes be your hand, even though normally they would never bite you.

If this is something that starts occurring more frequently, then if she isn't spayed, that can play into it, as can new changes in her environment(new person or animal in the home, something changed around in her environment, etc), or it could be a behavior that she has learned to get you to leave her or her stuff alone.

I'll keep an eye on her and my friend suggested taking her to the vet so I might do that also I haven't given her floor time in a week because I work two part time jobs do you think that could be it she's feeling neglected cause I have her out 4 hours throughout the day usually

Female bunnies can and often do become cage aggressive. Which means that everything inside their cage belongs to them. They do not appreciate your intrusion. We had this issue with Bun Jovi before she was spayed and became free range. One way I learned to deal with it was to open the door let her come up to the front of the door and then put my hand on her head and hold her head down slightly while I tended to the things I needed to tend to. I never did anything that took very long in this manner. Try to only clean the cage when she is out of it. You may have to block her away from the cage in order to do this.

If she is being confined to her cage for days on end, then you might want to consider getting an x-pen so that you can create a bunny-safe area around her cage. That way she can still get her exercise even if you aren't there to supervise.

Our old girl, Thumper was horribly cage aggressive. She'd lung and grump/growl at anyone who put their hand her cage, even tipping over the food dish if you were putting food in there. I learned to just hold her down while I put her food in. However, when we took her out of her cage, she was an angel. She loved snuggly time, and enjoyed having her head petted.

She was never spayed. By the time I learned that spaying would chill her out, she was too old for surgery.

From my experience with quiet a few "mean queens", the more room she has, the less aggressive she'll act towards you. If she's in a cage all the time, she has nothing else to do but be aggressive towards anyone invading her little caged world. If you possibly could, give her the run of one room all the time. Although I know someone who did that with her most territorial big girl bunny, and the bunny would chase any stranger who entered the room out! :nasty:

This only just started yesterday so I think I might have upset her in some way so now I'm wondering if she will ever be my sweet Ivy again?

I kind of skimmed over your post, so if I missed something I'm sorry. I'm at work and the guy behind me won't shut up LOL. I used to have a rabbit who would hang out of the cage door during dinner time, but when I went to put the hay in there, she would growl and smack at me. You have to understand that they have very poor vision, so for all she knew, something was coming towards her. I would definitely get her spayed if she isn't already because as was stated, females are notorious for being territorial with their cages.

Hey, the "mean queens" are fun! I miss not having one any longer. They are highly intelligent rabbits. They are also extremely entertaining and resourceful when they are not caged.

A friend of ours had a little female Crabbit ( crabby rabbit). I told him she was coming along just fine training him. You have to make sure you're the alpha and that your bunny knows it or you will have no end of trouble. He was amazed that I could pick her up and hold her without getting nipped as the only way he could hold her was facing outward. Read up on behavior and don't let her get away with attacking unless you know how to teleport in clean bedding and hay--they have to learn that you will be reaching in and doing things. Neutering is also a help.

Yea I dunno she's still doing it I think she's just cage territorial after Christmas im going to get her spayed

LOL Crabbit! Love it.