Okay, so, Lily's either psycho cuz she's hormonal, or just psycho in general.

I don't want to spend the money getting her spayed if she's just psycho and will continue attacking me. If I breed her, and she calms down, would that be proof positive that she's hormonal instead of just aggressive?

She may become calm once she is bred and with babies.
I had a White Satin Doe who was the sweetest Rabbit
you would think could exist, but this was only when
she was with a litter! When the babies were weaned
/taken away she became a MONSTER! She just loved to
be with kits! Needless to say we did our best to
keep her Happy!
Ottersatin.

I've heard of others that were psycho until they had their first litter, then sweetened out permanently. Much more rarely, you hear of those that are sweet until they have their first litter, and then they go psycho.

Sounds like my ex wife.

Gasp! Hoodat! Did you have to keep her "barefoot and pregnant"?

I'm more curious as to if that would prove hormones to be the issue. I don't want to spend upwards of 500$ to still have a psycho bunny, when I can pay 20$ and be done with it. I don't want to sound heartless, but since she's half-bred, I doubt a breeder would want her, and I don't feel it's fair to rehome her if it's just in her nature to be a jerk. If it's attitude issues, then rehoming has the possibility of making things worse, as she may end up in an abusive or neglected home. Also, around here, the tendancy is to think that small rabbits = good pets for kids, so she might end up attacking some little kid.

I want to do right by her, but right now she's not making things easy.

to find out if it's hormones, breed her. turn her kits into food for your table (if you can). If it's hormones she'll settle down. If she's just psycho then she'll stay as she is for the most part.

With some rabbits, it's just a cycle thing. Stratus used to be ornery to the point that I could hardly put water in her crock. Today, she's about a calm as she can be, and a real joy to be around.

Well, if it is hormones, then I'll get her spayed, that's not an issue, but I don't want to put out that kind of money to find out that she's still going to have tantrums. I'm getting better at dealing with it, though, it's not scaring me as much anymore, so I'm not rewarding her by backing away. I don't feel right about putting such a little creature through such an invasive surgery, and would like to avoid it and be able to keep her.

I don't think eating the rabbits would really be an option, as she's a lionhead x netherlands dwarf, and my friend has a small breed buck that I could use to breed her. What would be the protocol for that, anyway? I'd bring her to him, but he's an only rabbit and isn't currently sick... should they be quarantined for a time period, or does the fact that they're both only rabbits make putting them together relatively risk free?

If they are both only rabbits the technically they are already quarantined. Quarantine means keeping them away from all other rabbits long enough to prove no sign of illness. Unless either rabbit was purchased in the last month or 2 they are quarantined from other rabbits.

Small breeds make fine meat rabbits because of their fast growth and light bone structure. Mini rex can even be used for human food and dutch were designed to be a meat rabbit so it depends on the size of the lionhead side. The really small ones that aren't quite worth preparing for the table are best used or sold as pet food. Cats love the front legs off netherland dwarf and mini rex x netherland dwarf because they can't eat the heavier bones of the rest of the rabbit or a larger rabbit. Sometimes they can even eat the hindlegs. So they can still be used even if they don't sell as pets.

Lol, I suppose I should have finished my question to make it easier to understand. I am aware of what quarantining is, but I had seen posts about moving rabbits causing a lowered immune system and it not being a good idea to use/offer outside stud services.

I also should have come right out and said that I wouldn't be able to process any babies. If breeding calms her down, I'll have her spayed after the litter, and either keep or find homes for any kits... little bunnies have little litters, right?

People take rabbits on car rides to shows, sit around all day, and back again without a problem most of the time so take them to a buck for the ~10mins it takes to breed is probably not stressful enough to set anything off unless the rabbit has a very poor immune system and all offspring should be butchered/animal food not sold in that case. They would spread rabbits that could get sick easy. You can find cull buyers who will take care of them for you if you check with the show crowd. All those retired rabbits and ones that don't make the cut have to go somewhere and most can't or don't want to butcher their own and there aren't enough pet homes so most states have a cull buyer. You can often find them at shows or meet them on their way through an area.

Usually first litters are smaller but my overweight mini rex which by itself should mean a small litter had 7 her first litter and my Netherland currently has 5 as her first litter. While those are small in comparison to the meat rabbits of 10 or 13 you could still end up with 6 or 8 rabbits if you keep them all. Pet homes for small breed mutts are so so. I tend to sell them mostly in spring and fall with none over summer or winter and having to butcher them all. You can ask a pet store ahead of time if they'd take your kits when they are ready but we found many have contracts with large breeders that can produce regular amounts of rabbits for them so they won't risk their contract by taking from another breeder. It also increases the risk of a health problem showing up the more breeders they buy from. Otherwise like I said there are cull buyers.

I have two friends who actually asked for a baby if she was bred, and two others whom I could easily tip the fence on. People I know well, who treat their current pets well and have time to care for another. I am also willing to give them to someone else to deal with, I just cannot do it myself. So long as I know they'll do it quick and painlessly.

I hope it does calm her down, as I do care for her... I just don't care for her behaviour right now. I could even handle it if it were a PMS thing, once a month for a couple days, but every time I reach into that cage, I get nervous. She's fine when she's out of the cage, though.