Is he grooming me?

[Tgbarber]

My bun loves to “dig” on me. I guess you’d call it digging.

He digs on my arm for instance then pulls on my shirt with his teeth

It’s really cute except for when the teeth hit my skin and then i usually yelp.

If i would let him, he would do this a lot. But due to fear of bites i don’t let him.

Is he grooming me or is it a dominance thing?

[bonilla&BUB]

This is very interesting because my one bun, Bonilla, does this to me. We are bonded and she loves to sit on me if im laying down. She also digs on me, and nips. I don’t think she is trying to bite skin, but more so to build a nest out of my clothing. I have read that buns do this when they are happy and trying to build a nest for you two. I usually push her nose gently when she goes to bite at my clothes because I have a few holey shirts from this.

I think this is the buns way of acting dominant. A bun grooming will be licking your hand (for example) with some very soft/gentle nibbles. I have experienced this too and it is much nicer. Haha!

I hope someone else can provide some more insight !

[Bam]

I’m not really sure if it’s a dominance thing – rabbits are rather dominant as a species, that’s why the expression “bunny-slave” seems much more descriptive of the human-rabbit relationship than “bunny-owner” =) But it is something they tend to do when they like someone a lot. My Bam does it with my mother’s clothes, so she always has to have an old fleece blanket on her when Bam jumps up into her lap. He doesn’t always do it, often he just lies down and dozes off and let himself be pet. I don’t know what triggers the digging.

You can gently show your bun that’s it’s not acceptable by putting him back on the floor when he does it. It can hurt and you get lots of holes in your clothes.

Rabbits are dominant/submissive in their relationships with other bunnies, but they don’t really regard us humans as bunnies.

[Tgbarber]

Thank you for the info! Very helpful.

[Titanus]

To be honest, I’m not sure that your bun is showing love by doing that. It seems to me that something is bothering him, he is nervous, or that he is trying to tell you something. Just try figuring out in which situations he doea that, so you learn what he wants to tell you. For example, when ever my bun shows that nervous sort of behaviour, I know that he has a gas problem, so I rub his stomach, and you can just see the releaf. They are so easy to read,and the longer you keep them it gets easier. Good luck

[Cheesecake]

Earl does it when he wants attention – like if I’m doing work or on binkybunny he immediately starts digging a hole in me

[Author]

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