Help me understand my bunny!

To start off, I've had Luna for a little over a month now. She's a rescued rabbit, a friend found her supposedly abandoned in the street in her cage surrounded by stray cats, and I offered to take her in. I have no idea what breed she is (she is my icon, if anyone could tell me though!), what age, what background, whether she's spayed or not and I'm not even entirely sure of her sex. Despite her situation, she's been outwardly friendly from the get go. Never aggressive, never nudges or bites, just a few thumps and a couple of nips here and there. She's never been afraid of anyone.

Despite being a bit tight on money, I immediately went to the pet store to get everything she might need, mainly a new cage, which admittedly is probably not as big as it could for her, but it's bigger than her awful old one. Bunny-proofing is also a difficult process right now, and since I'm living with family with some that are afraid of physically contacting animals, she's mostly in her cage. The only area I could give her access to outside her cage is my room, which is small and has a lot of things in it that I'd rather she not damage so I try not to let her reach that. There's also my dad's room which is pretty spacious and she likes running around in it, but I don't get a whole lot of opportunities to let her run around there. I'm not in my room the whole time, but I try to let her out 2-4 hours a day, but it's been difficult lately. I'll get to that later.

As for her diet, I didn't do enough research admittedly and just bought whatever seemed appeal enough at first. (Here's a picture of what I got) After a couple of days though I got her hay and relegated that brand food as occasional treats. It lasted about a month, now I give her the occasional fresh veggie or fruit. I'm being sure I'm not overfeeding her on the treats however, and give her unlimited hay.

I think she quickly settled in in her new home. Immediately started binking and flopping, a looot, even in her cage. She also liked pets, and always follows me around, mostly to try to lick and chew on my clothes though. She seemed very content at first. She also knows where to do her business and rarely poops outside her cage. The past week though she seems a bit more...upset? Barely flopping anymore (just loafing instead), barely binking, and the past few days she doesn't seem to like pets anymore. She also always seems to be begging something out of me, even outside her cage, despite giving her food, attention and toys to chew on. One peculiar thing is how she acts when getting food now, especially treats. Like a bit more wild and frantic with how she takes it and eats it. I don't think she's that hungry or anything though, since she does eat her hay, and a lot of it, so I suspect she just wants a lot of treats? And that's what the begging is for? I will also add I noticed this behavior start when I was all out of the brand food from before, so maybe it's got something to do with it?

She's also been drinking a lot more water recently. Before she drank about 200ML a day, now she drinks about 350ML. Her ears usually are very cold now, too. I'm guessing it has to do with the temperature, since I live in the middle east so it's obviously very hot here, especially with summer coming up, but we also always have the AC on, so my concern actually if it's actually too cold for her, than hot. Also I've been finding it difficult to let her run around in my room the past few days, because she's getting past every barrier I think of putting up, which leads to her trying to destroy my stuff, with today being the one day where her outside time was cut very short. I'll have to figure something out, without needing to completely make over my room.

I haven't taken her to a vet yet but I plan to, college has just been keeping me busy. Despite the behavior change however, she still seems healthy, still eating and pooping normally, with mainly the amount of water she's drinking the past few days being a concern. I'm curious if she grew to dislike me, but she still follows me around (though again, to lick and chew my clothes). I'm guessing she's bored, and I'm planning on giving her a potential partner to bond with once I can afford it, in both money and space I can provide them. I'm not looking for her affection, I just want her to be happy.

Sorry if this seems like a lot, I'm just a bit overwhelmed, but I love her and want the best for her. Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

Welcome to RO!

Here's a great site on diet: https://rabbit.org/faq-diet/
And here's one about pellets with a good brand comparison chart that can help you pick out a better brand: http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/rabbit-food-comparison.asp

Museli-style mixes that look "appealing" to the human eye are actually the worst possible pellet choice (*shakes her fist at the pet food industry*) - you want PLAIN pellets; 1/8-1/4 cup (max) per 6 lbs of body weight per day. Non-leafy veggies should be limited to 1 tbsp per 2 lbs body weight per day and fruit to 1 tsp per 2 lbs body weight per day. Avoid store-bought treats (other than wood chews, those are ok) as a large number of them contain unhealthy ingredients or extra sugar that rabbits shouldn't have. Leafy greens are an important part of the diet - I recommend gradually introducing/increasing the amounts of those.

Bunny-proofing help and other great info: https://www.binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/Default.aspx
Another good site with a wide variety of info (belongs to one of our members, Blue eyes): https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/
A couple good sites on housing/habitat: https://myhouserabbit.com/rabbit-care/housing-your-pet-rabbit-indoors/ and https://bunnyapproved.com/indoor-rabbit-housing/ (though the second link isn't loading for me right now for some reason)

I'm not sure about the behavior, it could be about that brand of food... as unhealthy as it is, it is to rabbits what sugar-loaded cereal is to a little kid. They LOVE it and can be pretty demanding about wanting more treats and various foods they shouldn't eat (if you accidentally let one of ours snatch a cracker from you, you really have to chase them to get it back!). Rabbits don't ever just start disliking someone randomly - don't misinterpret fiending for treats or classic rabbit indifference as meaning she doesn't like you . Also, yes, some rabbits like to nibble at clothes!

Rabbits thrive in cool/chilly weather and do very well in cold - heat is the issue for them. Above 80F (26-27C for people who aren't from the backwards US like I am, lol) rabbits are in danger of heat stroke. I'm not sure why she's drinking more but it's probably just the warmer weather. Ears are the ONLY means of heat exchange for rabbits (lots of blood vessels near the surface) - when a rabbit is trying to cool off, their ears get warmer. Cold ears can mean that she's trying to warm up, but if the inside temperature is comfortable for you then that shouldn't be the case. They're probably just chilly from the room temperature.

A vet check-up is never a bad idea, but if she's still eating/pooping normally she's likely fine. What veggies/fruits have you been feeding, by the way? Also, is the hay grass hay (not legume like alfalfa)? I ask because one thing that could cause more water intake is if she's got some issue with her bladder... if you get a good look at her pee, make sure it doesn't seem to have any sludge/chalky white residue to it (color can range from pale yellow or clear to orange or even reddish brown, by the way - that's normal).

Don't worry about her being too cold in air conditioning- rabbits do well in very cold weather, as long as they are dry and out of wind. Its heat that is bad for them. Your rabbit may be acting frantic about her food because you changed the pellets perhaps. And she may be change in her mood as she becomes a teenager and gets all hormonal. I think the hormones make them act more frustrated as well. Spaying should help with that. And if you want to bond with another rabbit you will have to spay her first.

In my experience all of my rabbits have been bratty teenagers and then they become sweeter as they get older.

Yes, if she isn't spayed, expect her to develop cage aggression (territorial behavior) for sure. Honking when excited about stuff is very common as well (like food, attention, etc.). Given her rescue situation, it's very unlikely that she's spayed... if she is, in fact, female then it's extremely important to save up for that - unspayed females have, on average, half the lifespan of spayed females because of their proclivity for cancers of the reproductive tract. If it turns out "she" is actually "he" (rabbits can be pretty hard to sex; even after the testicles descend it's not uncommon for a male to sort of suck 'em back in when you go looking for them) then the only reason to neuter is to curb hormonal behavior (humping and urine spraying primarily - they can spray urine nearly 2 meters in the air and like to aim for eyes!) or to allow bonding with another rabbit.

My buck sometimes grunts at me when taking a treat out of my hand. It's a certain type/brand, and it's his favorite food in the world. He tries to crawl up my leg when I have one, and he'll follow me around the house when he knows it's time to get a treat.

I think his grunting is kind of like a "RAWR MINE GIMMIE!" expression in this case.