It’s really not that weird, most rabbits will eat things that are bad for them – I once had a bunny who was crazy about eating zippers… most specialists say that domestic bunnies don’t have any instinct when it comes to food anymore so rabbits liking dairy products, meat or baked good are pretty common. You generally wouldn’t know it because most owners don’t let their bunny near that kind of goods. It’s like humans who eat fast-food, it’s not good for them but they will eat it if they have the chance and the more they eat it, the less they like healthy food because they become addicted to the salt / sugar / fat combo. After biting into a hamburger, lettuce tastes bland even for a bunny.

What I don’t understand is what is your bunny doing near your plate? Aren’t you eating on a table? Considering that it seems to fuel his wanting to eat human food I would put his own food far from mine and not allow him to come close to the dinner table while people are eating (kinda managing him like he’s a dog). By making him sniff your plate, you act like you’re gonna give him the food and then you take it away as soon as he tries it – in a way you are encouraging his behaviour (you offered it once, why not twice ?).

I can only guess it’s a bit like it is with dogs. If a dog sees another animal or a human eat sth, the dog assumes it must be good. It is a deep instinct and if you have a dog that’s picky and unwilling to eat you can often resolve it by bringing in another dog – picky dog sees other dog eat and starts eating too. My dog will even eat dandelions when she’s able to steal some from the buns.

To Chewie you are the most wonderful being in the world and that must of course mean that everything you eat is really, really good. I doubt letting him smell your food will make him understand that it’s not really appropriate bunny food. You want it, that means it’s good for Chewie too.

When I was young we had a rabbit that loved beef noodles. Being children and not understanding rabbit digestive systems, we thought it hilarious that our rabbit enjoyed eating beef. We never gave him much, but every time we had beef noodles, he would be bouncing about our feet and trying to jump up to get a bite. Looking back, I’m surprised that rabbit thrived and was as healthy as he was, considering all the non-rabbit safe things we let him eat. Rabbits can be hardy little critters.

Maybe this is Chewie’s way of ‘encouraging’ you to replace your cheeseburger and fries with a nice tasty plate full of yummy green salad stuff that you can happily share together!

@Aki – you haven’t yet read the part where Chewie gets to go to the cinema too??!!! LOL

Bindi steals hard cat food every chance he gets. I keep telling him he’s a vegan….