Does bunny see me as a parental figure?

[kaitland]

Hi! Just curious, my bunny is 6 months old so he’s started doing hormonal behaviours like circling, honking etc. He will be neutered soon, so no worries there. But he does not circle me at all or does any of those behaviours towards me. I don’t care at all I just wonder why he does it to everyone except me. He does it to my two grandparents I live with haha! Was thinking maybe he doesn’t circle me because I am like a parental figure to him. We share a room and I give him most of his food and affection. What do you guys think?

[Hazel]

Rabbits will mate with their parents if given the opportunity, or any other rabbit for that matter. So no, I wouldn’t think that’s the reason.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

From my experience rabbits see us as group members or bonded mates. That they see us as group members doesn’t have to mean we all have the same status: it may be that you’ve made clear to your bunny that you’re not accepting his circling behaviour.

Our bun wasn’t fixed when I took him in, and he started to hump and spray everything. He didn’t do that towards me either, because I was quite firm with him. After he got neutered he started to treat me like a bonded mate. He even takes care of me when I’m ill: then even my boyfriend has to be inspected before he can give me a kiss when I’m in bed.

I like it that bunnies don’t seem to see us as their master, but like an equal. I just like the dynamics in the group, their huge bunny personalities and all their rabbittude. Bunnies expect us to take part in group etiquette, and we get a firm reprimand if we have been naughty or ignored their social cues.

The first couple of months I wasn’t up to date with rabbit body language, and our bun did angry revenge pees over the sofa and my clothes 😯 Lesson duly learned: hell hath no fury like a bunny accidentally ignored 😈 😆

Here’s more info about rabbit body language btw: language.rabbitspeak.com

 

 

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