My female rabbit biting.

[Miffyrabbit]

Hi all, I have a netherland dwarf doe rabbit she is 8 months old. She is such a freindly rabbit licking you loves cuddles and play time. Recently on getting her out of the cage she grunts and bites me or my other half. Upon research I see she will need to be spayed as it may be a teritoral problem. My question is if I get her spayed will this behaviour stop. Many thanks x

 

[JBun]

It's not really definitive. A spay will sometimes fix the problem, but sometimes it doesn't. I have a rabbit that does the same thing, and her spay didn't change it, but my rabbit does it more because she gets scared/nervous about anyone reaching into her cage, not cause she is feeling territorial about it. So I've had to work on changing the behavior. Wearing a thick glove, I reach in, and when she holds still and doesn't lunge and/or bite, I'll pet her and give her nose rubs, which she loves. I'll move my hand around a little, if she doesn't react to it, I'll pet her again. So it's gotten better. She used to bite right away, and now she almost never bites, and only lunges a little right at first. So you can train your rabbit not to do it if the spay doesn't end up fixing it.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

With ours, neutering solved a host of problems, but each bunny is an individual. I'd say neuter, and in the meantime you should treat that behavior the same way a dominant rabbit would. Pin her if she bites. It worked with most of ours, except for Commander Bun-Bun the Queen of the universe. With her I had to go one step further--I'd roll her on her back and pin her--that cured her "attack rabbit" syndrome, and she was the most ALPHA bunny we ever had--sure do miss my Grumpy Bun.

 

[mimosa]

If she's not spayed I would get that done soon. It should clear up the aggression. Best $300ish I ever spent.

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

When I got Ripley neutered, it made a world of difference. I agree-best money I ever spent! Chances are things will get alot better but that is not a 100% garrantee.

 

[minmelethuireb]

Before I got Lucy spayed, she would sometimes bite when she had false pregnancies. Basically she was hormonal and territorial about her cage because she thought she was having babies in it.

It's likely to help with the biting, but even if it doesn't spaying is still a good idea because female rabbits have a VERY high chance of developing reproductive cancer if they aren't spayed.