Ayone here a pet expert?

Alright so I have a rabbit that I let run around in the backyard. She usually digs a crapload of holes but I don't mind, I just enclose them after I find them.

However, this morning when I went to check on her, she had dug a hole big enough to fit her whole body in, and was still digging deeper. I didn't mind, but when I went to pet her she got all grouchy and hopped around as if she made to bite me. She would then hop away from the hole (or me) but when I made an act to touch or put my hand near the hole she immediately came back and got defensive. She wouldn't let me pet her either.

So I'm wondering if my rabbit is just going wild out in the backyard or what? Is it ok to close the holes she digs? I did close the hole after and she seemed relatively normal again, but I'm a bit worried about it.

I don't have experience with rabbits but you need to stop destructive behavior.

If it's not friendly you need to socialize with it more.

Pet freak here XD

I don't take care of my pets like a royal canine owner, but I know enough about them for them to have a great life.

Ok, Ernesto my Rabit RIP (he died of old, don't be afraid :P):

It will be perfectly normal for your Rabit to dig holes all around your backyard. She will eventually tunnel around, if you do not close them. But an enclosed area like a bush, a tunnel or some kind of cave, helps them rest and cools them down during the summer and keeps them warm for the winter. This areas also keep them from soaking up water when it rains.

The good side about letting her dig is that she will have plenty of things to do and she will not get fat. The downside is that she will dig far more holes than those you want to see in your backyard. If you want her to dig around, close the holes that look ugly and she will eventyally dig on places you don't mind. If you don't let her dig build some kind of "all day" shadow area with bushes or some kind of dog house away from the sun. (sun will heat up this areas and it will make no sence for her to live in an oven) To prevent her from digging, close the hole with a big rock, some soil, water it out and keep areas were she would like to dig wet (Rabits hate water).

Though you can control her behaviour you can't stop her from eating everything on your backyard, but you can distract her from doing so. At many petstores, they sell some kind of flavored wood for rodents. It will attract them and they will munch on it instead of your outdoor furniture, your walls, the pipes or your decoration

Rabbits like to eat lots of things, don't give her carrots all the time, because she will get fat and ugly (yea that's right don't trust the stupid stereotype) Feed her with green stuff. Seeds and Carrots or any kind of fleshy vegetable should be feed to her only on winter or special ocations.

She is a girl so you need to socialize more with it to keep her calm... yea this is true.

I do all this on an uniterested way ^^ so it sounds better than what it actually looks like when i do it

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just keep closing the holes imo. It's not like rabbits are smart enough to hold a grudge against you.

Btw, I have a female rabbit as well. At first we thought it was a male because she kept trying to hump my gf knee so we bought her some plush toys so she could hump them instead. We were really surprise to learn from the vet that she's a female. Does your rabbit does that too? We're trying to figure out if it's a usual thing even for females.

Actually yes, my female rabbit likes to hump any hand that gets near her (when she was in her cage, before I let her out).

Funny, I always thought it'd be a boy that does that. About the holes, I'm just scared she'll dig a tunnel out of the yard and escape.

And thanks for the informative reply, Blade, how often should I socialize with my rabbit each day?

Socialize doesn't mean you should pet her, hug her and love her forever and ever. Just take her to were you work at home or somewhere you spend time (TV, computer, toilet) and let it be. Just monitor her so she doesn't eat important stuff. The point is to make her so used to humans she will not run when she sees one or someone gets close to her slowly. With around 1 hour a day of her sticking around you this should happen in one or two months.

Lol at the humping, I was to young to understand what it really did, but we bought him a wife. They had like +20 rabbits and my family was tired of them. So it was give her out or him. Guess who stayed.

lol I'm guessing the female stayed.

But yeah, that doesn't seem like an available option to me, to bring the rabbit into my house. She's filthy from digging around outside and she sheds fur like insane, so my parents won't let her into the house.

Not only that, it's a pain to catch her.

On the bright side though, she does come to me every time I go outside to hand her food. But then after she eats it she runs away again.

I say you should kill it. It's obviously gone rabid.

Humping is an act of dominance. When a female dog or rabbit humps, they're trying to gain dominance over the humpee. Its a habit that should be curbed, the rabbit needs to learn who's in charge.

Demo's talking from experience. He'll leave black stains on your pants.
j/k :p

I wouldn't be surprised if she's just enacting instinctive or learned behaviour, when it comes to the holes. The only bit I'd be concerned with is the aggressive displays, ie humping and threat displays. How old is she? I wonder if she might be in heat. Has she been fixed?

My dog (Great Dane) loves rabbits ..well loves hunting them....