7 week old bunny nipped my daughter's toe

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This topic has 3sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 8 months ago by kirstyol.

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- 09/25/2017 at 9:02 PM
  JumpinJax
  Participant
  17 posts
  Ok so we just brought our baby bunny home and he has been super skittish which I suspect is normal. He is eating really well and he seems to be adjusting well. Tonight my 7 year old and my 4 year old were in the pen and Jax sniffed them quite a bit and even took pellets from my daughters hand a few times. We left him and went to take a bath. We went back in to put him back in his pen and we were just standing around waiting for him to finish grooming. He started sniffing around my daughter’s feet and about 10 seconds later she has this sad look on her face. I asked her what was wrong and she said Jax bit my toe. Mind you she didn’t say ouch or anything but I looked at the toe and I did see some tiny imprints. I’m not sure why he bit her but I’m sad because the kids really love him and I don’t want them to be afraid of him. Any advice or thoughts as to why he may have nipped her toe?
- 09/25/2017 at 11:00 PM
  Mikey
  Participant
  3186 posts
  A few possibilities. One, she was feeding him earlier. He very well couldve thought her toes were snacks she was trying to offer him. Being that hes new and still learning, and also only tried once, this is very likely
  
  Two, rabbits nip to show they dont like something. Youll never train a rabbit out of nipping, as its how they communicate (like dogs wagging their tails to show happiness). If your bunny nips too hard, you can make a high pitched “yip” sound and turn your back to them. This will show them that they nipped too hard, and theyll nip lighter next time. But again, nipping is how rabbits communicate that they dont like what youre doing.
- 10/03/2017 at 10:18 AM
  JumpinJax
  Participant
  17 posts
  We figured out he was just interested in nipping her toe, LOL. He nipped my son’s finger and he nips my clothes so after reading up a bit we determined he is just loving on us. The nips don’t hurt at all. Very gentle but my daughter is 4 so to her it was a huge deal. She still gives him treats from her hand and now I just let her sit in my lap so that she feels safe that he won’t nip. He is a nipper though which I’m taken a little aback by because I don’t know that I read about that part before I decided on getting a bunny, LOL.
- 10/03/2017 at 4:29 PM
  kirstyol
  Participant
  580 posts
  You also have a very young bun, most buns wont leave their mum till 8 weeks. He is probably just trying to figure out what things are – much like human babies they learn using their mouths as much as their other senses. We had Bramble from 6 weeks and he bit both of us once each, and I do mean proper bites but he never bit either of us again. Ron will sometimes nip at our feet when we go in the pen with food though and he was an adult when he came to live with us but that’s more the type you are talking about, the small nips that don’t hurt which is just him letting us know we aren’t being quick enough with the food lol
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