Is there a way to teach a rabbit to groom?

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 3sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 2 months ago by Elrohwen.

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- 09/23/2011 at 4:19 PM
  Stickerbunny
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  4128 posts
  I’ve had Powder about 8 months now and he’s never groomed ANYTHING – I don’t think he was around other rabbits at all before I got him. I have successfully bonded him to Stickers and they live together now, she follows him around the house. But she keeps asking him to groom her and he just looks at her totally oblivious to what she wants. She’ll groom him and he likes it. I was in the kitchen a minute ago and she laid down in the “I want grooming” position and he kind of did a half backwards binky away from her and sat down staring at her. So she crawled forward and asked again, he continued to just stare. lol
  
  So is there any way to teach a rabbit to groom? Or will she just have to accept that he just isn’t going to return the grooming? I feel bad for her, she WANTS to progress their relationship and he’s just a clueless guy about it.
- 09/23/2011 at 4:43 PM
  peppypoo
  Participant
  1945 posts
  You could try the ol’ banana on bunny head trick…smear a bit of banana on Sticker’s head and hopefully Powder will try to lick it off.
- 09/24/2011 at 9:28 AM
  Stickerbunny
  Participant
  4128 posts
  Ok, thanks – will try it, though if he doesn’t groom it off I dunno if she’d appreciate having a sticky head lol
- 09/26/2011 at 7:38 AM
  Elrohwen
  Participant
  7318 posts
  I think it might just take a loooong time. I think I’ve mentioned Hannah’s grooming – she violently grooms Otto’s eyes, and that’s it. Even that took her 6 months to start doing. Haha. She has never groomed anything before or since and this is the only type of grooming Otto gets, so he’s learned to live with it. Some rabbits just don’t understand grooming, but they figure out how to get along.
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