baby bunny keeps biting and just ate a bunch of beads

[5cats1bun]

not only am I worried about her but she’s pissing me off a little with the biting thing, i am doing the loud yelps and she still does it. she keeps escaping from the cage some how and that’s how she got to the beads on my purse. Hopefully she’ll just poo them out but I know bunnies have such a sensitive system. i don’t want to rehome her until she stops this biting though. I’ve got 2 welts on my arm now she also bit one of the other bunnies eye lid, should I cage her by herself? she can be very sweet and has such a funny little personality but I would be worried she would end up with someone that may have an anger prob that I wasn’t aware of and she would get her if she bit. Also seems she has a cold "snotty nose" . She sure has spunk despite everything.

[Beka27]

is she biting for attention?  or just to bite?  does she seem angry when she bites… or curious?

my Meadow will turn around and nip my arm or leg if i stop petting her and she’s not thru yet… it doesn’t hurt… it’s just kinda a small nibble.  that’s my cue she wants more bunny rubs.

[5cats1bun]

to be honest I’m not sure. When she first started it was like she thought my fingers were food and she doesn’t try to bite them anymore. It seems like maybe she gets flustered or  almost over stimulated like a cat or something. it’s usually when I am holding her and she doesn’t seem to mind me holding her, I put her down when she wants to be (when she gets squirmy)

[Spacehopper]

Try and be patient with her biting 🙂 Bettie was a nasty biting ball of fluff when we first got her, and would go for anything, to the point where even i really didn’t like her very much and wondered what the hell we’d done getting this "thing" to befriend "mummy’s special boy". The other half refused to have anything to do with her as he would get bitten daily. Even when i’d rub her head she would suddenly go for my hand from nowhere. And she would HATE it when Brian got attention and she didn’t so she would chomp fingers, Brian, feet, bums, anything. I think she suddenly realised that she got ignored whenever she did this, and she could trust us, and if she behaved then she would get all the lovin’ she wanted. Now, she nose nudges with the occasional soft nip when she wants a fuss, and likes to lay head to head with Brian to get a double nose rub, or will stick her head under Brian’s chin while i rub his head.

I woke up a few weeks ago to see Bettie peering over the duvet right at me, waiting to get in under the cover for a cuddle. When we first got her there was NO WAY we would leave her out at night as we feared for our limbs!!! SO STICK AT IT GIRLY!!! It”ll all be worthwhile!!! 🙂

I can’t say much on the bead eating apart from keep an eye on the poopsies.  Mine have had to have various things removed from their big mouths, so I’m sure they’ve eaten unsuitable items in our absence, the only thing eaten that has caused major panic and worry is their own fur!

[Scarlet_Rose]

I think the ignoring her part is a good idea and try not to put yourself in a situation where she can nip you.  Did she break the skin on the eyelid of the other bun?  If so, I would give that bun a chance for its eye to heal.  As for the beads, how big were they (seed beads or….) What are the beads made of, wood, glass, porcelain…? How many did she get to?

[5cats1bun]

she did break the skin on the other bun eyelid but it’s healing up pretty quickly. the beads were very small not sure what they were made of. ity bitty colorful o’s. It was alot of them. It’s really hard for me to do the ignore thing cuz it is so cnstant that she tried, she hung on to my shirt and wouldn’t let go a few moments ago…..that was a blast….

[Scarlet_Rose]

Oh boy, well you might want to try another tact, like place your hand on top of her head and gently push her down into submission so she knows who’s the boss andhopefully she will get the hint that you will not tolerate being nipped. Be very careful with the injured eyelid, did a vet take a look at it, did she scratch the eyeball at all?

[5cats1bun]

I don’t think she scratched his actual eye.  He’s been fine though. I do that pretty often with her, that patting her head then bringing her into submission, she has gotten her better over the last week but still can be pretty bad, I guess I will just take a lot more time, hopefully not to many bites though.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Hopefully not, keep it up with the hand on top of her head pressing her gently down. She sounds like she has a lot of spunk and is resistant to you being top bunny. Don’t lose persistence with it. I’m glad that the eye seems to be OK, but really the only way to tell is if a vet puts some dye in it and uses a magnifying instrument and light to tell if it is scratched. But it seems how teeth are quite large that it would be obvious if the eye was injured.

[MsBinky]

I thump. I have a pretty good bunny-sounding thump that if I do my buns respond to. You might need to practice it a bit to get it right. Do it with your hand, not your foot.

When the bunnies approach an area or something I don’t want them biting I thump as this is supposedly the warning of danger. So far it has worked really well for me. I don’t know if anyone else has tried it though.

[MooBunnay]

I’ve tried the bunny thump before, however, haven’t been very successful because all that happens is the bunnies look at me strangely

As far as the biting – I know how tough it is to work with a biter. My Grace is a big bunny now and still a pretty tough biter (I’ve got a top teeth and bottom teeth puncture in my hand while writing!) but once I get my hand on top of her head and calm her down, she is really very sweet. I know how easy it is to get frustrated, one thing I do when I get frustrated is rather than try to keep petting Grace, I just sit and watch her, and eventually my frustration is taken over by her cuteness! It might be a good change of pace to try the ignoring, maybe your bunny isn’t associating the loud noise with the bite, and thinks you are just a scary bunny that makes noise?

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Ooooh Ooooh biting advice for me too please???

My baby bunny bites me too…They aren’t loving nips, and they aren’t angry/mad/scared full-on make me bleed nips…

If you put your fingers anywhere near her mouth she grabs my fingers and tries to throw them (You know the what they do when they pick up a toy and toss it…this is what she does to me)

Basically I just make sure I don’t give her my fingers and I warn my guests when they hold her!

It’s  my guess that  she is too young (or umn, too dumb) to realize fingers are a part of me??

Any interpretations or suggestions?

[skunklionshow]

I agree with Scarlet…bunnies bite for a reason, its never random.  No matter how bizzare it seems it has a meaning.  I too have many scars from deep bunny bites.  My mother in law is terrified that my bunnies will bite her b/c she has seen me post bite, bleeding profusely.

Well Jess was a biter.  I found her big thing was if she felt her space or freedom was being violated.  I used the loud noise and hand on head.  I also respected her wishes.  I didn’t put my hand randomly in her cage or force "love" on her.  I let her come to me.  You have to be VERY consistent, following the same routine everytime post bite!  Eventually I got her spayed and that cut the bites turned nips into grunts.

I was being attacked by Trigger at our pet therapy program.  I found that he didn’t like that I smelled like the other boy bunny.  I changed classrooms from a girl bun class to Leo’s classroom.  When that happened, I would just walk into Trigger’s room and he’d run and bite my ankles, through my clothes!

[Scarlet_Rose]

K & K, try making a high-pitched squeal noise so they know it hurts.  If they are doing it out of innocence & naievity then this should help, if not try the hand on top of the head. Bunnies cannot see up close, they are basically blind and she *might* be mistaking your fingers for a treat. Either way, try the squeal.  Usually when a bunny bites, they are trying to communicate something that they do not like or are expressing their displeasure.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Thanks!!! Will defo try the squeal thing and let you know how it goes!

I’m pretty sure she just has no idea they are fingers as she is being happy in every other way (shes usually flopped over and stretched out in my lap when she does it, her ears are facing forward etc.). Usually I can definitely tell when one of my buns is even slightly in a mood, and have experienced the "ughhhh I hate you mommy" bites

 

[Scarlet_Rose]

No problem! Do let me know how it goes!

[5cats1bun]

Hi everyone! Just wanted to Thank You for all the advice, THANK YOU Craisin has been doing much better about about the bitting, I’ve realized most of the time she seemed to have thought my fingers were treats, I haven’t gotten bit in a little while. making sure I rub her head how she likes it when she looks like she is heading in that direction and she does fine.

[MooBunnay]

I’m glad to hear its getting better! Also, I forgot to mention this before, but if you’ve been giving out treats, and then your fingers smell like them (or even if they smell like hay or pellets) that can also cause a bunny to go after your fingers. This still happens to me from time to time when I am giving out small treats, once th bunnies get up close they can’t really discern my fingers from the treats

[5cats1bun]

I think that’s exactly what my prob was, cuz she wouldn’t bite other wise and the boy would do this once in a whilebut didn’t do as agressively.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Oh Amy, I’m so glad it’s gotten better.  It’s not fun to be nipped by a bunny, even mistakenly.

[Gravehearted]

it sounds like she’s gotten you trained, so glad it’s improving, Amy. Some bunnies take treats very gingerly, but others get so excited they nip.

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