Bunny smacks my hand sometimes

[royalbun]

I’ve had my bonded pair of buns for almost a month now and sometimes one of them (Persephone) lets me pet her, but other times she’ll grunt and smack my hand with her paws. I think it’s her way of telling me “no pets right now” but it’s startling to me and I’m very rejection sensitive. So should I just accept this behavior or is it something I should try to stop? Usually I turn my back to her if she upset me, to communicate she did. Is there other ways to express to my bunnies that I care about them other than pets and food?

Additionally: I usually let her sniff my hand and see it before I pet her. Is she maybe mad that I’m not offering food? I was able to pet her when I instead just went for it (still let her see hand but no sniff pause).

Also, my other rabbit (Ophelia) is very scared of me after I had to take her out of the pen for grooming. It took hours and she didn’t get hurt but was very very stressed. She’s never been socialized. How can I build trust with her?

[LBJ10]

Did she ask you to pet her? Some bunnies do not like to be touched unless it is on their terms. Or should I say, some are less accepting of touching that isn’t on their terms. For example, one bunny may be OK with human-initiated contact, while another bunny may not be OK with it. However, the bunny that is not OK with it may still enjoy being pet, but only if they are doing the initiating. Does that make sense?

If I remember correctly, you adopted this pair not too long ago. They are tightly bonded and somewhat shy toward humans. From what you’re describing, Persephone is telling you she doesn’t want to be touched right now. Boxing usually doesn’t cause harm, it’s just a bunny’s way of telling someone to back off. What you can do instead is sit quietly on the floor and ignore her. Let her come to you. Put your hand on the floor, palm down. If she approaches her hand and puts her head down, that means she want you to “groom” her. You can start by petting her head and cheeks, most bunnies like that. They may or may not like their entire body stroked.

Same process with Ophelia… it just may take more time. You have to show her that you’re not going to grab her every time you come near her. Try hand feeding her pellets, etc.

[royalbun]

Thank you!

[DanaNM]

Agree with LBJ10 on everything, just a few more tidbits to add. Shy bunnies (and even some outgoing ones) often much prefer to be petted outside of their cage/main home area. So wait to pet until they are out in the open and relaxed. Then I usually sit down near them for a few minutes and don’t try to pet. Then I will “ask” them if they want pets, I will come slightly from the side, leading with the back of my hand, and place the pinky side of my hand on the ground in front of them (so basically the back of my hand is facing them). This is the equivalent of how bunnies greet each other. If she puts her head down, she is saying “yes please pet me”. If she backs up or flinches, I don’t pet.

The hand sniffing might be misinterpreted by the bun depending on the placement. Coming under a buns nose can be seen as aggressive, as in bunny dominance the dominant bun with shove it’s head under the other bun. Buns also have a blind spot in front of them, so it could be she just can’t see what’s going on.

 

. . . 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.  

[royalbun]

Oh that’s really good points, thanks!

[royalbun]

Just an update to this post for anyone who has similar issue: it turned out I was just putting my hand too low for Persephone, so she thought I was demanding to be groomed and was telling me “how dare you! no!”. Be careful not to put your hand under a bun’s chin unless you know they’ll be okay with it (such as them being a sub/serf bun). Ophelia took awhile longer than Persephone to not be scared of me, but that’s okay too! It kinda seems like the shyer your bun is at first, the more they open up once they trust you. Ophelia has started grooming me, and it makes me really happy that she’s showing me this much trust after being terrified of me.

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