What are you usually doing when he bites you?

I’m sorry to hear about your finger injury! A few things come to mind, that thankfully do not label your rabbit as being a jerk.

1) Hormone Spike – After a neuter, a rabbit will have a hormone spike, which actually intensifies hormonal aggression/behaviors for a period of time. The bite could have been a result of this. Hormonal spikes typically diminish within a month at the most, though some people claim their rabbits are still acting hormonal up to 3 months out (unusual, but there are always exceptions).

2) Pain reaction – When a rabbit feels vulnerable because of discomfort or pain, lashing out by scratching or biting is common. It’s possible that your rabbit is in a lot of pain from the neuter, so his reaction is to defend himself at all costs.

I also want to add that putting a rabbit in a restricted space (kennel) as a “time-out” punishment method is not effective, although we may think it is when we think about raising children or a dog, for example. Rabbits think in a much different way then us and predator pets, like dogs and cats. Putting him in the kennel for such behavior is most likely making him more frustrated/aggravated, that may actually give him more reason to be aggressive to you. So while you don’t perceive doing anything to anger him, he may think otherwise. It’s good to think about it from your point of view, and try to think how a prey animal (your rabbit) would view it.

It’s very easy to get caught up and frustrated when your pet seems to be at odds against you, when you’re trying to do your best. It’s good to step back, take a breather, and try and think very clearly about everything that’s happening. You’ve presented a lot of detailed information, which helps with figuring out some good methods to teach your bunny what you find as an OK method of communication, versus not OK. Rabbits don’t really understand punishment, so see it more as figuring out more effective teaching methods, rather than punishing.

Firstly, it’s good to hear that the finger bite occurred because of a mix-up with a bowl. It’s possible your rabbit would not have been so committed to the bite, knowing it was your finger. But like a toilet flushing, once the intent is there, the action follows through, so if he really wanted the bowl, his teeth and jaws were definitely in it for a very pressurized bite. Again, sorry to hear your finger was on the receiving end.

I noticed you mention he bites you “because he knows it hurts me”. This may be true, but I think lots of times, rabbits nip to get attention or try to communicate something. It can be difficult for rabbits to learn the pain tolerance of a human, since we do not give off the same cues as rabbits do, plus we’re huge. He may be perceiving them as nips, while for you, they’re actually painful bites and scratches. This is why I’m hesitant to say your rabbit is a jerk. I think he’s just bad at communicating with you right now. Wick used to bite my pinky toe, but after some time, he learned it was painful and has now stopped. I used the squeal-and-retract method of feedback very consistently, and eventually it caught on to him. I see you’re squealing, but also be sure to retract the body part and yourself away as well, to mimic an animal retreating due to injury.

Rabbits are extremely food-oriented, so it’s not surprising that you’re describing situations around food. Minimizing the chance of this occurring can generally help, because the less instances he has to try and “bite” for food, the less times both you and him are frustrated by what unfolds. So try eating at a table, or not near him, to the best of your ability when possible. Eventually, a lot of rabbits calm down when it’s time for their pellets and veggies (as compared to when they were young) because they have a sense of food security— they don’t need to try their hardest to get food whenever they smell it or sense it, because they know it will be presented to them. Before feeling food security, a rabbit will always go out of its way to get food, because to the rabbit, it doesn’t know when the next time it can eat as. So your rabbit may not just be begging from selfishness or trying to get attention for a bad reason; he may be driven to do so because it’s his survival instinct! Combine this with the fact that he was just neutered, his instinct to go to food may be amplified. Can you adjust that when you eat, that’s when you present him with his pellets?

I just want to add that a bun often gets “worse” the first 2-4 weeks post neuter. It’s called a post-neuter craze and its due to fluctuating levels of hormones in the blood stream. This is very common. It resolves on its own with time.

As for nipping – I agree with everything Wick says. We also have to take into account that a bun is “pre-programmed” to communicate with other rabbits. Rabbits have thick fur, so they can take rather a good nip without getting hurt. With time most buns learn to adjust their communicative nipping so the human has a chance to understand what they mean.

I’m trying to think if Wick were to do that, what my thoughts would be.

My initial thought is he has identified my hand as being some sort of threat, whether it’s because he doesn’t trust it based on its appearance and movements, or because it’s hindering him from getting his food (survival instinct again). I would want to establish that my hand is a positive thing, not a negative thing to be afraid of. It’s very easy for rabbits to get spooked by hands because they look very bizarre and have no features where they can sense intent (like eyes). As of now, Wick only bites my hand when I’m doing his topical treatment, which is very unpleasant for him since it’s me “attacking” his face with wet and dry q-tips for 15 minutes. If my hand comes at him from his blind spot or surprisingly, he’ll lunge at it out of defensive instinct.

If you hand feed him, does he go at your hand as aggressively? He may go at it generally out of impatience, but I think there’s a difference between a rabbit’s nips of impatience versus a rabbit biting out of aggression. Again, right now may be a bad time to make judgements as the post neuter craze may be in full swing.