Pet rabbit is suddenly biting

[thomasjd424]

We got our mini Rex from a pet store 2 weeks ago. It was said to be about 4 months old and they told us that it was "too young to determine gender." Well, I'm not sure if that's true or not but it was in a cage with 3 other rabbits that were all around the same age. We still don't know if we have a doe or buck but it has been very sweet and easy going up until the last few days. It has started biting us hard enough to break the skin and won't let me hold it. Any ideas what might be wrong? Is this just normal behavior? Could it be a pregnant doe? I'm taking it for a check up on Tuesday with a vet that specializes in rabbit care but I wanted some opinions in the meantime.

 

[sourland]

It might be a bred doe.

 

[HnkyDnkyZZFarm]

My doe gets mean when she's in heat. She's never very friendly to begin with but she gets downright territorial in heat. Messing with a food bowl or a waterer and she'll try to "box" she's not a big biter thank goodness, but she's an easy startle and those back feet kick on and start shredding.

She's like a massive case of PMS and OCD all at once. She has always been very definite though. She compulsively arranges her cage, bowls and the like get moved to very specific locations and god help you if you move them. If she doesn't like a food, she'll dump it in the poo pile and poo on it. She makes it very clear that humans are annoying.

We had hoped to breed, so everyone is intact, but haven't built the facilities yet to do it, so they're on hold till we get that done.

If you're not planning on breeding, neutering might curtail the aggressive behavior.

 

[sourland]

Rabbits do not ovulate on a regular cycle, as a result they do not actually go in heat. They are induced ovulators and the act of breeding causes them to release eggs. That being said there are times when a doe will accept a buck and times when she will not. It may depend upon whether or not she has mature eggs to release.