Bit me!!

[CydYoung]

I was cleaning up my rabbits cage and  feeding her when she just lunged and bit me hard (like, I’m bleeding) I was pretty pissed and I did scream at her so now I feel bad (which is stupid conscidering that she doesn’t seem to feel much of anything about what she did to me) normally she’s very sweet and loving is there any adive as to why she may have done that?

[Sarita]

Rabbits don’t like you messing with their stuff – she wasn’t being mean, she was protecting her stuff.

I would recommend that you let her out to clean her cage and to feed her so she won’t feel threatened.

How old is your rabbit?

[CydYoung]

She should be about 6 monthes old,  but I can’t be exactly sure because adopted her. I feel a little surprised by her reaction though, I’ve never seen her act so territorial.

[Sarita]

Has she been spayed yet?

[RabbitPam]

I’d also keep the feeding separate from the time you let her out to clean. She was making sure you weren’t going to take some of her food, too.
My bunny lunges and growls at me, especially in the morning when I first get up and let her out. She wakes up cranky.
Like this morning.
Then a half hour later I got many, many kisses on my feet. Fickle and moody. Shriek in a high pitched scream when she does this to you, so she’ll think she hurt you. It will help her to learn to pull back and control it more.

[lashkay]

I can tell you the same thing happened to me, I was adjusting the bedspread over Dustor’s hide’n’sleep bed which he uses religiously. I was turning down the cover, when he instatntly came over and lunged toward my hand. I should have known better, that he wanted it left the way it had been before but he’d never bit me before and I hadn’t learned my lesson at that point, continued fussing with the cover. Suddenly he sprang at my hand and bit me between my thumb and index finger. Involuntarily, I failed to shriek in a high pitched scream but cried out ‘OUCH!” and without thinking, slapped him smartly on the rear, whereupon he dashed off to hide in his hidey hut. I felt bad that I had slapped him and made him hide from me. About 30 seconds later, I shook his diced papaya bag near the pen door and he came right over and took a few pieces from my fingers. Guess he was as glad the incident was over as I was. Bunnies forgive and forget quickly, fortunately. I stroked his forehead over and over and apparently all was forgiven.

[lashkay]

Bunnies get confused when they see their owner fussing with their property – including vittles, they get it quickly into their heads that their propery, vittles, etc. is being taken from them and they’re very protective of what’s theirs. In another incident, once I reached into my former rabbit’s cage to replace his pellets. He saw my hand coming at the bowl thinking I was removing the pellets, and I was – to replace them – and bit my knuckle. Goes to show how possessive the little buggers are. The other day, i was nudging Petie out of the way from his bowl so I could put more pellets in. He shoved the cup aside, he wanted his pellets in his regular bowl NOW and didn’t want to wait for more to be refilled. Sheesh! “Excuse me for breathing!”

[MarkBun]

It is possible that if she’s not spayed it is her hormones. But some do become cage protective. And for the record, a loud, short, shrill scream (like shouting “ouch!”) when a rabbit bites you does let them know that they shouldn’t do it. But continuous screaming just makes them think that you’re an idiot.

However, for the record, I’ve done that with some rescue rabbits for months and they still nip so…

[Sarita]

Sometimes the shrill scream irritates them more too.

[CydYoung]

Thanks for the advice, I’ll be keeping feeding and cleaning times separate from now on, and I’m going to let her out to play while I clean her cage.

She hasn’t been spayed yet, but I’m working on it right now. Funds are a bit tight lately.

[Lintini]

My female Velvet just turned around 6-7 months and she lunged at me yesterday and growled. She hasn’t been spayed yet because she has been sick with a URI. It’s very important to save up and spay her so she won’t be aggressive, which would make me scared of getting bit when caring for her and eliminates reproductive cancers as well.

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