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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BEHAVIOR continuously nipping! Plz help!

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    • lovely lionheads
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        Hi, we just adopted a bonded pair of girl lionhead 6 month old rabbits from a rescue 3 days ago. They have been doing perfectly, and just got an A+ from the rabbit-savvy vet today. But, a troubling behavior is starting to occur. When we take out one of the rabbits (Fosbury) he starts nipping at our clothes. Not hard, just small little tugs. At first i thought it was just checking us out, but it goes on for some time until we put him down. I read that if you squeal like a rabbit would when they do it, they will stop (don’t know if that is true) but it doesn’t help. She is NOT spayed, but we will be doing it after we get to know her a bit more and she is secure in her new home. I also thought that it could be separation from the other rabbit? We give them lots of hay, toys, and sea grass twists that they ADORE so it is not just boredom. Please help, i have googled the issue multiple times but nothing seems to be the behavior we see in him. thank you even if you can give even a little advise, anything is good for we are new to rabbit ownership and are learning as we go.


      • Hazel
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        2587 posts Send Private Message

          Most rabbits hate being picked up and held, so my guess would be that this is her way of showing her displeasure.


        • Sarita
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            No the squealing won’t stop them – it will just annoy them and probably frighten them – it’s negative. Your rabbit does not want to be held and he’s letting you know – you just gotta respect his wishes and put him down.


          • LBJ10
            Moderator
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              Yep, this is exactly what Leopold does when he’s had enough (typically when he is in my lap being groomed). He tugs at your clothes and he nips. It’s his way of saying “let me down, I don’t want to be in your lap anymore”.


            • lovely lionheads
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                I get that they don’t like to be held and i respect that but they are young so we want them to get used to being picked up for going to the vet etc. We only pick them up once a day for grooming because they are lionheads.


              • Hazel
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                  I totally get that. Usually I would agree that to get a pet used to something they don’t particularly like, it should be done repeatedly. But, unfortunately, rabbits are different. They are prey animals, which causes them to react quite negatively to things that don’t come naturally to them. Out in the wild they have to fight a lot harder to stay alive than a predator does. Being picked up and carried is the one thing that they hate the most, nature screams in their ear “Run fool, you’re about to get eaten!” It naturally terrifies them, it’s on a whole different level than having to endure something they dislike a little bit, like a dog having to take a bath for example. They might not like it, but it doesn’t scare the pants off of them.

                  Some people have had some success getting their rabbits used to being held enough that they tolerate it for a little while. But most rabbits will not get used to it. To the contrary, a lot of the time, picking them up repeatedly does nothing but destroy their trust in you, until they run and hide when a person approaches them, and if that’s not an option, they can turn and become aggressive. Sadly this is one of the reasons lots of them end up in shelters. People pick them up not knowing how much they hate it, the rabbit starts to bite, is deemed “mean” and gets dumped.

                  It’s just not something that they get used to easily, as it completely goes against their nature. As far as grooming and vet trips go, I think it would be a better option to teach them to enter their carrier on their own using treats, that way you won’t have to pick them up at all. Grooming could be done while they’re eating, most rabbits are little pigs and don’t care about much else if there’s food in front of them. You just have to learn what works for your rabbits and what doesn’t, they’re all individuals. But generally, I think picking them up should be avoided if possible. We pick ours up to clip his nails because there’s just no other way, but boy does he hate it…


                • LBJ10
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                    I have had a fair amount of success with mine. I would pick them up every once in awhile, hold them for a minute, give them a treat and then promptly return them to the floor. Now if I pick Leopold up, he’s automatically looking for his treat. LOL Wooly does too, but he’s not as demanding about it. So yes, rabbits do not like to be picked up and you cannot make them like being picked up. But being completely hands off isn’t necessarily the way to go either. I worry there would be an emergency and the buns would not allow me to catch them. So I’m not against trying to get them accustomed to being picked up for necessary things. This doesn’t mean I don’t respect their boundaries. If Leopold, for example, has had enough grooming then I will let him down. He tolerates being picked up but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t nip when he wants down! LOL


                  • Eepster
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                      I had a bunny that was a chronic nipper. I never thought it was about showing displeasure it was just a nervous habit with him. Just as humans often bite their nails, he needed to bite something and clothing was handier for him than finger nails.

                      Our current bunny, will nip clothing when he is grooming us. To him clothing seems like we have matted fur and he tries to untangle it the way he would if a fellow bunny had matted fur, by working it loose with his teeth. My son’s solution to this is to strip down to his underwear before playing with Porky. I just try to be aware of him grooming me, and redirect him if he’s spending too much time on a part with clothing.


                    • DaisyMae
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                        Our Bun has been nipping at our clothes more lately since we’ve been getting down on the floor to play with her. She usually does it after a long petting session. She will also ‘dig’ at us if we are laying on the floor. We see it more as an affectionate thing, but who knows. It seems like every week she’s learning a new behavior that we have to try and figure out!

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                    Forum BEHAVIOR continuously nipping! Plz help!