I can dance if I want to!!

[Charity]

Just thought I would share a fun moment and ask a question.

My tiny little 2.5lb mini-rex Orio is one of those buns that will crawl all over you, nose bonk you, lay at the foot of the bed, and Binky like crazy when I get home, but dont he’s also like, ‘dont you dare pet me!’ lol

Last night he put on quite a show! He danced and binkied all over every part of my bed comforter, even going to places he hadnt been a minute before to binky. it was soooo cute and funny.

Then he started digging and biting my comforter, but only the part I was laying under. He would push it with his paws so that he was ‘tucking me in’ and then he would dig it out and bite it.  He had quite a system going until it wasnt the comforter he bit, it was me! lol

My question is, I have no doubt Orio is all about me, but why the biting like that? Is it dominance? He is altered…

 

[Elrohwen]

Hannah does that type of biting too and I’m convinced she’s just trying to nip at my clothes because they’re fabric – she’ll do the same thing to a blanket I’m not under. It definitely hurts when she gets me right in the stomach! I think unless a bunny bites you on the skin, they probably didn’t mean it and were just trying to nibble your clothes or blanket.

[Monkeybun]

Smudge and Moose love the digging and tugging at fabric too. I think the bite on you was an accident

[Charity]

Hehe, I know he didnt mean to bite me then… although sometimes he does! lol… he’ll walk up and look at me.. then open his mouth… and look at me… then ‘nip’ me… then run off. He’s a goober.

I meant the biting only the part i was laying under… ? maybe its nothing, just erratic bunniness.

[Ashley&Bing]

Bing acts just like this! The nose bops are so cute!! But he also bites at my clothes too. He has even managed to pull off a sock at one point. Once I move the fabric away, like my pants, he always goes to licking my leg once I move it. I think he just wanted to groom and my clothes were in the way.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I would urge you to throw the dominace theory out the window-no matter what http://www.avsabonline.org/avsabonline/images/stories/Position_Statements/dominance%20statement.pdf (you can find so much more if you look….)

The MAJOR reason is all other theories of behavior have ways to change behavior (re: learning theory)_ but you can NEVER know exactly the mind state of an animal…while dominance theory says they do know…you can’t possibly so that discredits the theory right there for me….-you can agree-dog peeing on tree-observation…but you will NEVER know exactly what is in his head-why he is doing that. You can guess. You can disprove…you can never prove with scientific validity….

 Dominance theory (while erroneously based on studying non-real wolf packs in zoo’s-wolf packs are mom dad and cubs…in zoos they are whoever…claims to know this…it’s been disregarded and discredited by big name behaviorists…) purports to KNOW what is in their heads. You can’t. That wholly discredits the theory in my world. (Though I was a cesar milan fan.-it makes sense on first glance..on closer study have tossed it. “when the facts change so does my mind”)

 

Anyways-end rant   I would highly suggest you don’t credit any behavior to dominance and instead decide if you want to change it. Learning theory + – punishment/reinforcement can do that!

I had to ‘baahahhahaha’ because that song was in my head not five minutes ago!!! I’d guess biting is excitement but hard to say.

[Michelle&Lolli]

Eddie used to actually come up and bite me. Mostly it was a “move” nip or “hurry up” nip. Lolli digs and bites blankets that I’m not using cause she doesn’t climb on me. On the other hand, Eddie was all over me, all the time. So he always dug on my blankets when I was using them. And he’d bite me by mistake.

[LizzieKnittyBun]

Cause if your friends don’t dance……..

Bunnies totally do “love nips.” They do it to each other, and they do it to their humans (whom they love… not the boring ones).

It’s almost a compliment ; )

[BinkyBunny]

I think the biting the comforter where you were is more of an action of trying to move, change, and/or smooth out the “lump” in the bed. As your bunny’s way to make it easier for him to run about. I know that my bunny Forrest (passed away many many years ago) loved to dig, push, tuck and bite on blankets, and it would get him excited and he’d binky around.

Jack, even though he’s much older now and does less of that, still enjoys playing. I recently discovered, when I accidentally dropped and left a few sheets of papers towels on the floor, that he loves to nibble, pull them up with his teeth, push them, and then binky. So then I got a about 6 connected sheets and set them up (sort of standing up in a way) on the ground, and he just had a good time — sort of like what you are describing with what your bunny does with the comforter.

I think it is a form of play. Animals sort of play by practicing what comes naturally. Like dogs practice their predator instincts by chasing a ball, rabbits can play by practicing their prey instincts — digging, binkying (which can also be an escape and fight tactic in the wild). Also when Jack would be naughty, he would then binky away. I always thought it was part of his prey instincts to “escape” from trouble. He just was having fun doing it as a house rabbit.

Sounds like play!

[Author]

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