Agressive, Grumpy Bunny

Hi,
My female rabbit, Martha is really grumpy and agressive with me. She has been spayed and I have had her since last August. I spend time with her everyday but she often growls at me and goes for me. She lets me pick her up but then she just starts biting and scratching me as hard as she can. She is an outdoor rabbit but comes in for exercise during the winter.
Does anyone have any suggestions that could make Martha a bit more loving and a bit less like a were-rabbit!
Many thanks.

:wave: I don't know how long since she was spayed but it does take a lot of time to settle down after it, it's a massive operation that they physically externally and internally do recover from quite quickly but hormones can take longer. When your looking at this sort of behaviour you need to take into account a number of things, what breed is she, how big is she, how large is her enclosure, how much exercise time does she get, what toys and mental stimulation / interaction does she have, does she have a routine, how do you react when she is aggressive, just from what you've said I can say that I'd personally stop picking her up, she clearly doesn't like it and forcing things won't work, you need to gain her trust so that she 'wants' to be close to you, it's a game - you need to observe her behaviour and mimick her to a degree so if she comes to you and nudges, stroke her head gently and then walk away from her. Sit down nearby and wait for her to come to you, hand feed her some herbs like dill or flat leaf parsley when doing this so she associates going to you with 'pleasure' and safety. How do you react when she thumps for example, are you reassuring to her/protective? - You need to re-inforce to her that your her protector/carer and it does take time. There are lots of different techniques but more info would be handy :wave:

Thank you for your reply She is a mix breed but she has some belgian hare in her. she was spayed in January I think so it has been quite a while but there has been no change in her behaviour since befor the op. She has quite a large run that she has constant access to and she is let out to run free in the garden for a couple of hours a day. She has many toys in her hutch and run but she doesn't really play with them any more.
When she gets aggressive I normally just leave her alone, i.e. put her down or out her back in her run.
I really want her to love me, so I will definitlely use those techiniques but any further ones would be much appreciated.

Is her eyesight ok?

My Nutmeg is a grumpy aggressive bunny sometimes, she has a slight milky spot in her eye which I think restricts her eyesight slightly and if you go toward her from a certain direction she will lunge at you

Or she could have hearing issues?

i too was going to ask about her hearing and eyesight?

one my buns will lunge and nip someone unfamiliar if they attempt to stroke her without letting her settle first but when she knows you, she's so calm and loving

That's a good point, she normally bites when I move my arm near her face. E.g. if I am reaching around her. I think her hearing is fine but I have wondered about her eyesight before. If I took her to the vets would they be able to determine if her sight is ok or not? Thank you for your reply guys

They would certainly be able to get a good look. What vets do you go to? I see you are in Maidstone, that's where my vets is, they are excellent with rabbits.

I go to Mote Vets in Shepway, they have been very good with her apart from the last vet was saw I didn't like much. OK, I will book her in and ask them to have a look at her eyes and see if they can give me any advice on how to deal with her grumpiness!