Jealous bun

[prince dorian the bun]

Miu is finally letting me give her pets, we just have one problem… Dorian. He has decided he should have a monopoly on my attention. He’s not aggressive, but he does butt her out of the way and insist he gets pets instead. I  know we’re pretty bonded, but so are him and Miu and he lets her have treats with out any drama. It’s not causing fights and I try to give her extra attention when he’s in the other room, but curious if anyone else has this. Miu will investigate if I am petting Dorian, but she doesn’t shove herself in between. I would expect behavior like this from cats, but thought buns would be more chill? Anyway mostly just curious.

[Wick & Fable]

Rabbits are pretty simple creatures, so rather than interpreting it as “jealousy”, I have always seen it more as “Oh! I want that too!”, as opposed to “How come they get that but I don’t?”. When a rabbit pet learns human pets are nice, of course they’d want it when they notice it’s available 🙂

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[DanaNM]

Time to perfect your strategies for petting two buns at once, which IMO is one of the best things about having a bonded pair! 😀

But in all seriousness as long as he’s not chasing her off or being aggressive towards her then it’s totally normal.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[LBJ10]

This is very common. Bunny 1 sees that Bunny 2 is getting something that they want. Bunny 1 pushes Bunny 2 out of the way. When it comes to pets, it’s usually just a bunny head getting forced underneath the hand doing the petting. You could try petting them both at once. There is even the “circle” pet, where your hand moves in the circular motion that continuously pets both bunnies. They have to be sitting next to each other, but facing opposite directions.

[prince dorian the bun]

I think it’s more than just he wants what she has, he doesn’t do this if anyone else is petting her. And it’s a bit different from if I have a treat and they both want it. It’s more, that’s my human, it isn’t just putting his head in the way to get pets, sometimes he nudges and gentle nips me. We sometimes try to do a double bun pet, but Miu will generally get up and leave. But yeah he’s a way more snuggly bun than her so maybe that’s all it is.  Little attention hog!

[DanaNM]

Dorian really is a little Prince!

It’s funny I almost have the opposite thing with Bonnie and Cooper. Bonnie usually isn’t very into being petted, but sometimes when I’m petting Cooper she will also accept some pets. I think she comes over and thinks I have treats. Then she will put her head down for Cooper to groom her, but then I pet her instead. If both she and Cooper are getting pets she likes it, but if he leaves she usually doesn’t stick around.

It could be that Miu is just still a little skittish. I’m interested to see how things change with her over time!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

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