Confusion on Teeth Grinding

[Stella my Bella]

So I have a tiny female dwarf (Stella). She is a little over 3 months old. I know a good deal about zoology and animal behavior but I am having trouble diagnosing our little one because she’s all over the map.

She appears very healthy & happy. She eats and drinks normal amounts and her digestion and litter appears also healthy in its amount, size, and appearance. She has been a new member of our family for just over a few weeks now and I’m just understanding the teeth grind and hearing it for the first time. I’ve done research, but honestly she is showing no real consistency with when she does it. It’s loud and slow, not a chatter. She will do it on her own when roosting in her hutch or flopped happily on the lower level where her playpen is. But she also does it when she’s being petted.

Now here is the confusing part. She isn’t like what I’ve seen most rabbits do. When being picked she will seem a tiny bit stressed (expected no matter how gentle) and once I sit down with her and gently pet her she will do this grinding more frequently. She seems relaxed but her body is in a tight little ball, ears pressed flat, but her eyes seem calm. Once she is bored of it needs the bathroom she will start to look around and start fussing.

But when I get her back into her play area (not putting her directly in a cage) she makes the grinding again, after I setting her down. I literally can’t tell if she’s happy, annoyed, or she’s in pain. At first I gently felt around her and gently moved/ stretched her little legs to see if it was a bone or muscle damaged, but she showed no pain upon inspection, or displayed any signs of physical discomfort. Thoughts?

[Bam]

I’d say this is clearly a case of happy, contented tooth-grinding aka tooth-purring. Esp young bunnies can do it in many situations, not just when they are being pet. Some can do it in their sleep even.

A bunny that grinds is teeth from pain looks very uncomfortable, sits bunched up and is not eating happily etc. A painful tooth-grinding is choppy, more of a chatter. It’s not easily confused with anything but discomfort and esp since you are familiar with animals, I’m sure you will know it if you’ll ever have to experience it.

Bunnies are as a rule not over-joyed at being picked up. baby bunnies tolerate it better than adults, some babies even seem to enjoy it. But since rabbits are like the prey species of prey species, they have deep instincts telling them that being picked up is very risky. Most bunnies love to cuddle and be pet, but on their own terms. It sounds like your bun enjoys being pet a lot, at the same time as her instincts tell her to be a bit wary. She is also about to start puberty.

To me she sounds like a very happy, healthy normal bunny. I bet she’s very pretty too =)

ETA: I don’t think bunnies tooth-purr out of annoyance. But they absolutely can become very annoyed if you stop petting them sooner than they think is appropriate. 

[Author]

Messages