Biting

[auntie]

I have an almost 3 month old Lion Head with Rex mix.

he is a very sweet bunny however he has started to bite my husband and my daughter who is 7.

tonight my daughter sat next to me so I could braid her hair and my bunny was on the couch with me when she sat down and he just went up to her and bit her on the back. Not cool and not okay!

then when he goes on my husband’s lap he will bite him too.

please any suggestions and any ideas as to why this is happening?

what is weird is that he rarely bites me

I can’t have him biting my daughter or my husband.

[LBJ10]

Is he neutered? Neutering would likely help. Nipping is quite common in young, unfixed bunnies.

However, it is important to keep in mind that bunnies will also nip in an attempt to communicate. Nipping can mean “move out of my way” or “I’ve had enough”. They will do this with other bunnies to communicate with them. The problem is that bunnies have thick fur, so nipping usually doesn’t hurt the other bunny. For people… yes, a little nip can definitely hurt! You can talk “bunny” to them to help correct the behavior. When your bunny goes to nip, let out a loud squeal to indicate they are hurting you. Bunnies understand this and learn to adjust their nip so they don’t bite as hard in the future. I had a bunny who would just put his teeth on me to show his displeasure (usually when I was grooming him), but he learned when he was young not to bite down hard.

[auntie]

Great thank you so much! My vet won’t neuter him until he is 6 months.

it really bothered me that he just went up to my daughter and bit her in the back, she was crying. She is kinda scared of him and I don’t want her to be scared.

I will definitely have her and my husband talk bunny to him when he does it.

 

[DanaNM]

This is very likely teenage hormonal bun behavior, and “speaking bunny” should also help. One of my buns was pretty nippy when I got him (he was recently neutered at that point) but doing the loud squeak did help a lot.

What’s your bun’s housing set-up like? Sometimes buns will get territorial over a certain area (such as the couch), so you may need to block access to that area until he’s neutered if you notice that’s the case.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

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