bitting baby bunny

[BELLASGRANDMA]

We’ve had our 12 week old Holland lop for 4 weeks now.  Her name is Bella and we love her dearly.  Recently she’s begun biting my daughter., her mom, who’s 14 years old.  They started out  about a week ago as nips, but they’re getting harder and more painful.  She seems to love and trust my daughter.  Whenever she sits on the floor with her, she comes up and hops in her lap and gets petted for a minute then  hops down and plays then comes back over and over.  She’s kept in a large cage, but put in a large exercise pen, or my daughters room floor  1-2 times a day for 1 hr each time.  A week or so ago Bella started nibbling on her shirt or her toe or finger when she would jump in her lap.  She doesn’t do it immediately, just after her pet, she’;ll sit there for a minute, kinda lookin around, maybe stand up and look into her mommy’s face.  She’s not restrained in anyway, she lets Bella come and go on her lap at her pleasure.  My daughter immediately began telling her "NO!" and she  would stop, and hop away, then come back, get a pet and nibble again.  Like I said, her nibbles have turned into bites.  She doesn’t seem scared when she does it, it’s almost like she’s bored or curious and she does stop when my daughter says No, but she is pushing that a little now and making her mommy say it 2 or 3 times before she stops.  We don’t have any other animals, well a leopard gecko, but they don’t see each other. My daughter also started giving her little bites of pure canned pumpkin 2-3 times a week, about 10 days ago from a spoon held in her hand.   She has free choice Oxford pellet food and timothy hay as well as several toys to throw and chew on. My daughter loves her so much but she’s starting to shy away from sitting  with her alittle.  We’re committed to having her for her life so we need to get this un done.  I hate that people just get rid of an animal because it’s misbehaving, so that’s not an option.  Any suggestions.??  She’s scheduled to be spayed in another month when she’s 16 weeks old. Any advice  would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks, Diane – Candice’s mom

[Sarita]

Alot of rabbits nibble at you when they want attention. It sounds like she is just wanting more attention to me.

[wendyzski]

Sounds like she’s curious, and exploring the world with her mouth like any other baby.  Plus grooming is affectionate in bunny-ese.

Google "The Language of Lagomorphs" for some great insight into what bunnies do what they do.

Basically, you need to tell her that this is unacceptable in terms that she will understand.  She needs to learn that humans have thin and tender skin, so you have to be careful around us.  Every time she bites too hard, make a high-pitched and loud shrieking kind of noise.  This is bunny-ese for ow/bad/danger/no.  If she continues, the next step is to place your hand gently on her head and push down gently – this is one way that rabbits show dominance.  You have to do these things right away after the action you want to discourage, or she won’t make the connection.

The ultimate sign of rabbit disapproval is turning your back on them – the dreaded ‘bunny butt’.  You can look over your shoulder to make SURE they noticed that you are ignoring them. 

Pepper was an older bun but was still very nibbly when she came home with me. Using these tools, she got the idea very quickly – within a week.  (A baby might take longer to get the idea).  It’s been more than a year since then, and even when provoked by being cornered for icky medicines or picked up for nail-trimmings, she has occasionally nipped me but not hard enough to break skin or even leave a bruise.  She knows what she can and can’t get away with.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Welcome! Wendyski has given you some great tips for your misbehaving bun. Try the high-pitched eeeee! as maybe she does not know how much she is necessarily hurting your daughter, and also the hand on top of the head is execellent. That is so wonderful you are patient and uderstanding enough to work through this bump in the road rather than give her up. The Langugage of Logomorphs is linked if you click on the “Links” tab above. Please let us know how it goes and if we can be of any further help to you.

[MooBunnay]

Welcome Bellasgrandma!

As the others said, your bunny isn’t trying to be malicious by biting, but is actually trying to show how much she loves your daughter by "grooming" her. The baby bunnies that I was fostering for awhile did exactly the same thing. Since they are just babies they think that is their mom, and they are trying to show affection by giving nips. I have an adult bunny that does this as well, but he only nips after a few nose poke warnings. If I don’t get him a pet or some attention after 2-3 nose pokes, I get a nip! I think this behavior will improve with age, and also with the techniques mentioned. Just make sure to use them cautiously and only when she nips, you don’t want to make your bunny afraid of you since she seems so affectionate right now

[BinkyBunny]

Welcome BellasGrandma!! Well, all I have to say is “ditto”, you’ve gotten some great advice. Let us know how it works.

[wendyzski]

MooBun – Pepper is the same way.  Nips are a stage of "Hey – I’m trying to tell you something!", especially if I’m in her way and she wants me to move.

First I get nose-bonks. 

If I don’t get it, then she will grab my clothing and tug at it.

If I STILL don’t get it, then I get a nip – to make sure I’m paying attention.

[MooBunnay]

Haha wendyski – Its a good thing you get a “second” warning with the clothes grabbing! Martin (the one that does this) really likes feet for some reason, so he’s always nose-bonking at my feet, which are usually bare, and then *NIP* and of course I jump because it hurts, and then he runs away and looks so sad so I go pet him, and of course that just reinforces the cycle. Oh well, teaches me to wear socks!

[(dig)x(me)x(now)]

Posted By wendyzski on 09/21/2007 8:18 AM

First I get nose-bonks. 

If I don’t get it, then she will grab my clothing and tug at it.

If I STILL don’t get it, then I get a nip – to make sure I’m paying attention.

That’s exactly what my bun does to me in the morning if I’m in the kitchen! Obviously, I shouldn’t be standing near the counter unless it’s to give him food! Haha

[osprey]

Personally, I think nose-pokes (as we call them) are one of the cutest things that bunnies do.  Last night I was laying in the bunnies’ play area petting one of them when Curly Sue decided she needed to get by.  She started nose poking my legs, then took my jeans in her mouth like she was going to pick up all 200+ pounds of me and move me out of the way.  Very funny.

 

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