Bunny Honking?

[Stormie]

Hey guys!

So I just adopted my shy lop-mix, Stormie, about a week ago. She’s a very happy girl – always binking around my apartment and flopping, but she isn’t overly interested in hanging out with me just yet. I’ve been letting her take the lead on this and just leaving her be, only trying to give her attention when she asks for attention.

Anyway, tonight I was sitting on the couch and she hopped up beside me. She usually does this for a short petting session in the evenings the last few days. I was petting her from nose to ears, just like I’ve read I should. Stormie even started to look sleepy. Then after about 5 minutes, with no warning, she jumped up, made this weird honking sound at me and bit me! The bite wasn’t hard enough to draw blood or anything, but it took me aback, for sure! Not that Stormie seemed to mind! She just moved to a different spot on the blanket and started digging.

I should mention she is fixed so I have no idea what this honking is all about. Did I adopt an aggressive bunny? I really don’t want this biting and honking thing to become the norm for her. Why is she doing this?

[Wick & Fable]

Welcome to BB! It’s great that your female is spayed. It’s very important for health reasons. I’ll provide some information below, based on my experience with Wick.

Wick recently picked up jumping during pets. I thought it was just binkying, but some of it is actually venting frustration from being pet, because he too will just go to a different spot or… Pee on the sofa to be mean.

Try to stop petting her before she needs to stop you. With Wick, he’ll begin grooming me if I stop and he wanted more, but sometimes he’ll just be content with no more petting.

It’s only been a week, so I don’t think she’s necessarily aggressive.

There’s also a chance that you pet something that she perceived as bad and went to communicate that with you with a nip. Some rabbits are very defensive of their back legs, under belly, and butt, so when a hand swipes there, they can really get deterred.

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.

[YandereCapybara]

Are you sure it was an aggressive nip?
One of my bunnies will honk when he’s eating or spending time with the bird.
Both bunnies will give light nips until you pet them.
Those nips don’t hurt, they feel more like someone pulling and lightly pinching your skin.
They also do it if I accidentally poke them in the eye/put my hand over their nose, which they don’t like.
Could it be one of the two options above?

[Author]

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