First bunny. Started biting.

[Hosscat]

Hello. I got my first rabbit last spring. She was only a few months old; a lionhead doe that I adopted from a friend. I’ve been reading up on how to take care of rabbits and been trying to bond with her. But she has never been ‘friendly’ and it seems to be getting worse, in an odd sort of way.

The only time I can pet her is when I pick her up out of her cage to hold her. She sits fine, and lets me gently stroke her. I dont do it very long before I let her run around. Lately she even starts licking me when im petting her. While she’s loose she doesnt want anything to do with me. I can reach my hand down and she runs and thumps. I also try petting her in her cage without picking her up, as I know rabbits dont like being picked up, I try to keep that to minimal. But the last month or so she has started nipping at me. Tonight she bit rather hard, enough to draw a little blood, but she started licking me soon after.

I dont know what to think… I was hoping I could at least get her to let me touch her willingly a little bit. But I honestly cant tell if she likes me at all since im getting mixed signals

Just looking for some advice. Is there anything I can do to help her be better with being handled?

[Suduko]

Hay there Hosscat!

I have a question to ask you. Is your bunneh spayed? Hormones can play a factor into rabbit behavior.

Licking means I love. Nipping can be that your rabbit is grooming you or wants your attention. Thumping can mean she is annoyed or has anxiety when you’re putting your hand out. I had a rabbit thump at me for saying “Its bed time. Go in your home”

Some rabbits when they come out of their homes just hop off. My rabbits would do that and I would call and they would ignore me or think about for about 5 minutes and then come to me.

I had a doe who was the sweetest little thing until she reached 2 1/2 -3 months old. Then she turn into a CRAZY Bunzilla where she was making barking sounds while she was in her cage. When I let her out she would chase me down to attack me. I had to jump up onto chair and she still was trying to attack. It was insane Basically she was being territorial in my home due to hormones.

After I spayed her hormones calm down. She still nipped me while she would groom me. I would let it know that it hurt with a big yelp and she would lick me after that. But my bunny would to let me know who the boss was by nudging , nipping ,digging at me for attention and humping my arm. She had a dominate personality.

I doubt that your rabbit hates you. She is grooming you with kisses, allowing you to hold and pet her. Some rabbits enjoy being picked up and held. Its not written in stone that rabbits do not like being picked up.

With the thumping, when putting your hand out to her, let her come to you. When she comes to you show her your hand on the side of her face not the front of her face. If she smells your hand and sticks her head out letting her know she wants pets say to her “Do you want some pets” and pet her. When you’re holding her and petting her ask her if she wants some pets. I’ve done this with my rabbits and they’ll come to me or they will stick their head out for pets when I ask them the question. They know what is coming when I put my hand towards them.

Another thing you can try to get your bunny to come to you is lay down still on the ground and let her sniff you around. That may help with some anxiety she may have.

Those are a few thing I can think of at the moment. I hope I’ve helped you out a bit.

Sue

[bunnybunnycatcat]

Hey there! Figuring out a bunny is hard for sure… especially your first one.
I volunteer at a rescue sometimes, and the nippiest buns are usually scared, but they still want to be loved, they’re just scared. It sounds like your bun loves you – if she’s grooming you. If I had to guess, I would say her aggression is from her being unsure about her surroundings, and reacting very instinctively to protect herself.
My bunny I adopted from the rescue is the same way – I call it bossy. She was especially aggressive when I first got her, but over time, she got better and felt more safe and less nippy. Now she hardly ever bites, unless she’s digging something and I move too fast towards her – she’ll give me a nip to protect her territory. but I’ll just try again to pet her slowly, and she’ll calm down.

How I got my bunny to stop nipping me: I lay on the ground A LOT with her. Near her, beside her, in front of her – any distance she was comfortable with. Then eventually I would pet her while she’s on the ground, to let her know ‘ground time’ with her mum is a safe happy time. Now she enjoys it when I lay down on my stomach, facing her and pet her. She also is ok with me picking her up if I have to take her somewhere – but not to cuddle. If your bunny is a nippy bun, I would avoid picking her up, because every time you do – she might not like it, and come to associate you with a bad experience.
My bunny prefers to cuddle on the ground so that’s what I do with her. It’s been a couple years now, and when she’s on my bed, shes only now started to let me cuddle her on the bed. You just have to work up to her comfort level slowly. I only pick up my bunny if I need to give her meds or take her to the vet – but even now she won’t struggle. If I started to pick her up all the time though, she probably would.

Something else that worked with my aggressive bun is for me to pet her on the head for a few seconds (while I’m on the ground too), then I would stop, and put my hand closer to me, on the ground to give her a break… then a few seconds later, I would slowly put my hand towards her head again to give more pets – if she lunged, I would stop – so that she can dictate how much she wants to be pet. If she didn’t lunge, I would give her more pets, then a break, and so on and so forth until you don’t need to do that anymore. That gives her a chance to tell you to stop instead of biting you while you’re petting her.

Definitely if she’s not spayed too – her hormones could be what’s causing her to nip you.

Good luck!

[bunnybunnycatcat]

I should clarify – I guess while she’s loose, I would just sit on the ground and not try to touch her. Maybe have a treat ready if she comes up to you (and only give it to her when she comes up to you).

then eventually lay down on the ground while she runs around.

And hopefully she’ll come to view her exploring/running around time as a time that includes you as well.

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