I think my new rabbit is biting us?!?!?

[Laurab]

We recently got a lovely pet shop lionhead rabbit.

He is not neutered, about 5 months old and not at all used to be handled.

He will now tolerate small amounts of stroking and sometimes seems to like it!

We have two issues though.

1. Quite often when we go to give him a treat, talk to him, stroke to him etc he will lunge at our hand then take the treat, allow himself to be petted, smell us etc. he doesn’t seem at all scared, he just pushes forward quite forcefully then he’s fine.

2. When my son (4) runs up and down past him he appears to get very excited and chases him, his ears are forward and he looks like he’s having fun. The problem is my son says he keeps tugging his trousers!! The pair of then move too fast to tell if he’s nipping him or just touching him.

why is he behaving like this?? 

More importantly, can I stop him chasing and nipping my son?

he won’t like him very much if he keeps getting nipped

[Sarita]

I suspect for the treat that if you are holding this in front of his face, that is his blind spot and in conjunction, he’s just excited about the treat. Rabbits aren’t at all like dogs when taking treats – they just behave differently.

I suspect that your son running around excites him – I’ve seen this behavior with many animals – they get excited/fearful and feel the need to “attack” – this is especially prevalent for rabbits since they are prey animals – the running behavior makes them nervous. I would have your son not run back and forth that way – I think for dogs and cats, this is play for rabbits, this is not fun, it’s fear.

Most rabbits only tolerate small amounts of stroking so that is normal.

I would suggest to make an appointment soon to get him neutered too.

[Laurab]

I have been holding my hand directly in front, where should I approach him instead? From the side? Above?

So you think it’s scaring him?

I thought their ears were always pinned back when they were scared or angry?

[Sarita]

Try approaching him from the side is better – he may not take the treat from your hand, some rabbits don’t get the hand feeding stuff, but it’s better than right in front of his face.

I do think it’s scaring and exciting him when your son runs past him which is probably why he chases him and attacks him. It possibly could be play too, but if his way of playing is to attack your son’s trousers and makes your son upset, then maybe playing a different way would be better for both of them.

Maybe have your son sit on the ground and let your rabbit come up to him. Many times it is different when you get down on the rabbit’s level – I’ve tried this before just to see what they see and it gives you a whole different perspective – all they see are running feet and under couches – you kind of get the idea, it’s different down on the ground.

[Elrohwen]

Lunging for treats is common and doesn’t necessarily mean any aggression. Rabbits can’t really see directly in front of them, so if you hold out a treat they just kind of go for it and hope their mouth hits it. lol I’ve had people hold out a treat for my buns and then jump back when the bunnies came in quick, but they’re really just excited and don’t mean anything by it. If your bunny is grunting when you hold out the treat, or boxes with his front paws, he might be acting territorial about it, but it sounds like he’s just excited.

I agree with Sarita that he’s probably nervous about your son running and I like her suggestion of your son sitting on the floor with the bunny and giving him some treats. It’s possible that he likes the game, but bunnies generally don’t play chase games, so I would give him some time to settle in before running around with him like that. There’s also the chance you son could step on him or kick him accidentally while running around (bunnies tend to get underfoot) which could be dangerous.

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