bunny likes to bite my work clothes??

[peppep]

my bunny pepper is about 4 months old and we’ve had him for a couple weeks now! he’s the sweetest most social happy and adorable bunny ever and he is neutered. he likes to lick me and lightly nip here and there which I have no problem with because I know he’s just “grooming” me. I recently got a job at a diner and wear the same pair of jeans and shoes every shift and whenever I come home he LOVES to go STRAIGHT for my jeans and shoes and bite away. I’ll try to sit a different way in his pen or move my feet under me but hes just so determined to get them. it’s only when I come home from work though. could he be smelling a slight scent of food from the restaurant on me and think it’s food he can eat? I’m a host so I didn’t think a scent like that could linger on me so I wanted to get others opinions. and how should I go about teaching him to stop going after them? should I try the yelping method whenever he does to show him it hurts to get him to stop or simply not go near him with my work clothes on? afterwards if i change sometimes he’ll nip at me but he never does any other time. only when i’m home just from work. he loves to run up to me and see me and get pats and food in the morning or whenever I come home so should I just Segway for a quick change before doing so? i’ve been trying to replace me and my clothes with his toys which he LOVES but when i’m home just from work he’s only interested in them for a few seconds then me again. thanks in advance!!

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Congrats on the new job! Rabbits are super scent-orientated and can be very particular about getting the right scent on their property. Yes, you are blessed to be property You can try the yelping method if he’s damaging your clothing or hurting you, but it often doesn’t work on bunnies who are showing territorial behaviours. Since he’s so young I assume that he’s only been neutered recently. Rabbits sometimes get a hormone surge after the procedure, so it may be a temporary thing. You may also have a stubborn scent-orientated bunny on your hands.

I hope that the yelp-method works for you, it works best when rabbits are nipping because of grooming behaviour. If it is because they have spotted an interesting scent there may be no other solution than to change your clothes after you come home.

We taught Breintje not to nip at hands with the yelp-method, but it didn’t work in another case. 2 years ago I fed the neighbour’s bunny while she was away, and my slippers became the object of a full-blown territory war. Breintje kept chinning them over and over again. I already had back issues at the time and it hurt badly when Breintje bumped my right foot. So those yelps came pretty naturally, but he kept going. I left him alone with the slippers for half an hour, but he still wasn’t done scent-marking them. In the end I had to go to the neighbour’s house barefoot with my trousers rolled up, washing my hands and feet after each visit

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