oh i bet that endeared her to you right away! i’ve never been licked by either of my buns. i am so jealous.

licking is a sign of affection. it’s pretty much grooming your loved one. some buns take it further and will groom objects too. i love this pillow lick lick lick, i love this wall lick lick lick. my girl Meadow will lick the couches until there is a wet spot bigger than her head. but not me…

it might have to do with textures, maybe smells? there’s no way to know for sure. i wouldn’t necessarily discourage it, lickng is much better than biting or chewing…

i have heard that this can be indicative of a fiber-deficiency, or at least over-grooming of mates can be… she gets unlimited timothy hay and daily greens right?

Cotton licks pillows and the couch sometimes.  I thought it was cause he is happy and wanted to share some love.  He has groomed my shirts too but me only once.

my bun licks my face, but has never licked anything else.

I would provide a salt lick too, just in case that’s why? Buns usually don’t need them, but they’ll only use them if they need too so no harm in offering!

My Chuck is a big licker. He loves to kiss me, the couch, his blankies and *especially* his two stuffed animals It’s very cute to watch.

My bunny “grooms” things that smell like us. He especially loves to lick my bed (which I suppose smells more like me than anything else in the house).

And my bun loves my boyfriend, whom he only sees once or twice a week, so if my bf leaves a sweatshirt here, he’ll groom the heck out of it when he’s near it. And if he’s on my bed, he grooms the heck out of my boyfriend’s pillow. I’m actually kind of jealous! Haha.

AWwwww that is so cute!!

Mine licks the oddest things sometimes, but mostly fabrics. More so toward end of adolescence. Good to know about offering salt lick. Always been confused regarding them.

Hammer licks me and my bed too. My face is his favorite thing lol. Sometimes when im petting him he will jump up, so im not petting him anymore, and run straight at my face with kisses. I scared me the first few times since he was coming straight for my face lol. And when i have a freshly washed bed he doesnt ‘groom’ that as much.

Hi Bonita!  A rabbit will lick objects, especially if you are present and it has your scent heavily on it because they like you.   I too am a little jealous, but believe it or not it is a good thing.   I know it seems kind of funny but it sounds like Bons is settling into her new environment, gotten to know you and is now displaying her affection for you.  Too cute!

If you’de like here is a good little write-up on rabbits and licking:

http://language.rabbitspeak.com/rabbittalk.html

My lionhead, Leo, is a major licker!!!!  He licks everything.  Binky told me before NO SALT LICKS, even for lickers.  Leo has several stuffed animals and a fuzzy little toy bunny that is attached to his condo wall.  One thing I’ve noticed is that even “hi stress” situations, he starts licking.  When he goes to the vet, is being examined, nail trims, or vacuuming, he will start to lick immediately.  I don’t know if that is more due to stress than due to love?

I know that some cats can develop “wool sucking”, a behavioral problem likely related to being weened to early &/or a need for increased fiber.  In Chgo we had a wool sucker at the shelter.  If you picked him up he would start licking or sucking on your shirt.  It was kind of cute.  I called him Louis, as in the Anne Rice vampire novels.  Anyway, it was suggested w/ him to provide him a stuffed animal or patch of fabric, to keep it contained.

I LOVE my licker.  He makes me feel very loved!  Though sometiimes, Jessica gets jealous when Leo licks me and not her.

Skunklionshow, I tend to agree with you, salt licks are not necessary.  They are usually licked out of boredom and the addition of toys and other interesting chewing stuff like willow is a bit better for them.   It does increase their intake of water which isn’t a terrible thing as long as they drink and have lots of water available or they can get salt poisoning and I have also heard that it can cause kidney damage if they eat too much.  Rabbits receive all the minerals and salts that they need from their pellets and you are adding to the daily salt intake, which is not good especially if your rabbit has heart disease because it raises their blood pressure.

Mineral blocks are not good either as it ups thier intake of calcium and can cause the urine to come out chalky (bladder sludge) which is most definately not a good thing.

I was not able to find a condensed article on the why’s of not needing a salt lick/mineral for your reference. 

^^^salt licks… that is a bit confusing. i’ve seen articles on reputable sites that mention the use of a salt lick, so i think that in general there are folks on either side of that debate. i have not personally used them…

Yes, I mentioned my confusion on this above. “Dana K says….” (he, he,he!) that they don’t need them and gave warning about risks that Scarlet Rose mentioned. (allexperts.com.) I haven’t been able to find exactly what is in the salt licks i.e. what minerals they are supposed to give. If calcium is one, then I best stay away! I would like to know about sodium. I posted about swiss chard in diet section as I discovered it’s high in sodium and if this is one of beneficial elements of salt licks then I figure I can get it from the chard. Provided she actually eats it!

Fern licks any part of me exposed or my clothes that I am wearing, she has increased her licking over time, it is kind of weird, but I like it. Her favorite thing to lick is my face, she likes to lick my nose and eyes (eyelids) the most on my face, but she licks the rest of my face too. It is very cute, when she licks my nose, I can smell her breath and it always smells like timothy hay. I say to her, “Mmmm hay breath, have you got hay breath?” I wouldn’t worry about the licking, like others say, it is probably a sign of affection.

^^^i know! we need more info on lop ear communication. i have an uppy-eared bun and i just recently adopted a lop and his ears still confuse me… lol!

Whereas I’ve had a lop for 2 years and uppy-eared buns look “nervous” to me now.

Pepper will do the ears-forward thing – like she’s tuning radar dishes – when she’s interested or curious about something.  Holding them up seems to indicate tension/stress.