Is it okay to lightly tap a bunny on the head for disciplinary purposes?

[Nesano]

I made a post a while ago about whether or not I should let my bunny hump my arm. Since then, I’ve been lightly tapping her on the head while saying “Bella, no!” Not shouting, just normal talking with higher intensity because I know you’re not supposed to shout or clap. I read somewhere that you’re not supposed to physically discipline a bunny because it just scares them and they resent you for it, but I think I read somewhere that the aforementioned light tapping is okay. I don’t hit her, but I tap her on the head just enough to get her to discontinue the action.

Since I started doing it, she’s started licking my arms instead of humping them – more often than she humps them, actually. Sometimes she’ll even go to do it like she’s giving in to hormonal impulses, but then she — without my intervention — seems to realize “wait, I’m not supposed to do this” and starts licking me instead. She’s still a fuzzy little lick dispenser and always hops to the edge of the rug when she hears my voice, so she doesn’t seem to hold it against me.

Sidenote, she’s not spayed yet and I realize that’ll fix the humping problem. I heard there’s a mortality rate involved with spaying bunnies, so I want to make sure I find a vet that specializes in bunnies.

[Sirius&Luna]

No. You can’t ‘discipline’ a rabbit, they don’t understand. Humping is not a behaviour they think about, its hormonally driven, so they can’t be taught not to do it. Either move away, or gently rotate the rabbit away from you.

[Bunny House]

Hi, like S&L said, you can’t discipline them like a dog. And spaying her will help her not get uterine cancer by the age of 3 I think if not spayed.

Anesthesia is really safe if going to a rabbit savvy vet only. But of course blood work will need to be ran before to make sure everything is working inside right.

[Nesano]

Why have I been making progress then? Also, sources say that you can discipline a bunny with techniques like water mist and imitating a thump. Coulda sworn sources were telling me not to use water mist a while ago though, so I thought I’d come here to help straighten out any conflicting information.

[BinkyBunny]

You say a very light tap — so it might not be even seen as “discipline” by your bunny. Bunnies nose bonk each other to say hello. She may even think you are grooming her which may explain her then “grooming” you back. When bunnies groom each other, they are giving little licks, which also may feel like little taps.
And even if you said No, she may not know what you mean by that if you did that while lightly tapping – she just may now think it’s grooming/bonding time.

So actually inadvertently — you may have just given positive training instead of discipline. Which is the preferred method. Go figure! 

Wanted to add that I agree that “discipline” is not the way to go in the future and it seems your bunny is a quick learner so you might have some great success with clicker training. 

[Bam]

I agree with BB, it seems you have managed to teach your bunny that it’s grooming-time instead if humping time The light tap on her forehead seems to be working like a signal.

Neither buns nor dogs know what no means until you’ve taught them the meaning, but some animals pick up super-quick. In dogs you can expect that from certain breeds, with buns I think it’s more about the individual (since rabbits are not bred to perform certain work like for example herding dogs or sleigh dogs are).

Grooming strengthens the bond between two buns, horses (and donkeys) are the same way. So it’s very, very positive that she grooms you. It’s how buns build good relationships.

As for spaying, its major surgery so a vet should be chosen with care. You can have pre-op blood work done to check liver function. Anaestesia is a lot safer for buns nowadays than it used to be.

[LBJ10]

I think it depends on what you define as “discipline”. I agree with the others, bunnies do not understand or respond to what we would normally consider disciplinary actions. However, bunnies do teach each other that a behavior is undesirable using a language that they understand. So we can “discipline” bunnies in that way by speaking to them in their language. I think BB is right. I think your bunny is interpreting the tapping as something completely differently that what you were intending. Lucky for you, it still had the desired outcome.

A lot of the things we do to teach our bunnies not to do something is based on bunny language. For example, we can let out a high pitched squeal if our bunny bites us too hard.

That being said, bunnies can and do understand what “no” means. They understand that you want them to stop whatever they are doing if you use it enough times. Whether or not they chose to listen to you, it depends on the bunny and their mood. LOL

Wooly will sometimes go to nibble on the baskets that are part of the coffee table. I’ll say “NO” and he will stop and look at me. Sometimes he will test me by slowly moving in to give it a nibble (keep in mind, he is staring at me the entire time), but if I say no again he usually listens and leaves it alone.

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