lick la lick lick lick

[babybunsmum]

pinky licks a lot.  i mean… she licks me as a thanks after i pet her and the dog some times, which i assume is grooming.  but she also licks the floor, her cage pad and mats and such.  i often find large wet patches on her faux sheepskin and i’ve seen her licking the hardwood floor.  whats up with that?  anyone have any ideas?

[Miyuki]

My rabbit has taken up licking the bottom of a chair and some glass doors recently. I honestly don’t know why she would be doing that. It can’t be that tasty…

I don’t think it is abnormal that she licks thing but I don’t have any idea why. Sorry I wasn’t of any help… just wanted to say that my rabbit will lick weird things too!

[hooty22]

I have this weird textured pillow and a fuzzy blanket. Felony will these for hours. It’s really funny when I’m using the blanket because its like I’m a giant purple bunny and Felony will groom me for ages. The only time he grooms the blanket is when I’m using it though. It’s entertaining.

[Sarita]

I’d be interested to know too – maybe she’s just an overly affectionate rabbit or it could be anxiety too (not that you personally are doing anything to make her anxious) but I think sometimes these behaviors are somehow stress or anxiety related.

[babybunsmum]

hmm… yes… i thought that too sarita. i wonder if she’s bored? when i first got her she was sooo thumpy. any time she was ticked off or scared she’d thump and grunt but she rarely ever does that now. makes me think she’s not stressed as in freaked out.

[RabbitPam]

It could be a way to calm and comfort themselves. They would be licking another bunny if there was one around, wouldn’t they?

I also think some things are salty, like my arms.

[3crazybuns]

hummm… this is really interesting! I’ll have to watch and see if Oreo starts licking weird things! LOL

[sgregory]

well is she a baby? when i first got my bunny she was 7-8 weeks, and she licked EVERYTHING. i had to watch her all the time because i was scared she’d lick something poisonous. i think its a baby bunny thing, because she doesn’t really do it anymore. she’s almost 3 months now. i thought it was salt too, but i got a salt and mineral rock for her, but she didn’t use it.

how old is pinky?

[MimzMum]

Fiver licks EVERYTHING…except me.
I just got my first grooming licks from Mimzy in this last week or so of antibiotic treatment. It felt so nice to be appreciated! ^_^

Pip only bites my arms or hands. There’s no love lost between us at all. >.<

Pam, I keep thinking of how you told about Spockie licking your feet. That has to be the funniest, and yet sweetest, thing I’ve ever heard of a bunny doing. ^_^

[RabbitPam]

Yes, I loved that. He didn’t outgrow it either. Though he did LOVE salt licks in his house.
I think it is much more than a swipe for salt as well. I think it has some instinctual basis that we just don’t understand yet. He used to lick pillows like crazy as well. And the same ones, not every pillow. Maybe once they lick something, like marking, it takes on their familiar smell, and then it’s like licking another bunny thing. I just don’t know, but he was a very frequent licker.

I do think, when it’s us, it’s a loving, grooming thing. Maybe I’m just more disheveled so I need more grooming? I do know that living in the South now makes me sweat regularly, so I may just be a giant, tasty pretzel!

[babybunsmum]

lol… pam.

pinky is 2yrs old so its def not a baby thing anymore. but i do think that licking to mark scent makes a lot of sense actually… that jibes with doing it for comfort like sarita mentions. and it makes sense why she licks the floor in her enclosure and the floor in her room. maybe its for adding her scent AND that shes grooming it because she loves her place so much? i *hope* its for a reason like that!

[RabbitPam]

Well, I got curious so I consulted the Language of Lagamorphes to see if there was any info. there, and this was in a section on licking:

Some rabbits will lick objects around you, rather than your body or the clothes you’re wearing. This is used to indicate that they like you very much even though you’re a subordinate. It will be performed very clearly in your view and while watching you. They seem particularly to choose objects that have your scent, such as places where you sit or clothing you’re removed. I think it’s fair to interpret this as giving you the gift of being groomed, though indirectly.

Face it, guys. We’re still slaves.

[Adalaide]

I hadn’t folded my laundry yet last night when I let Freya out. I had worked all evening and didn’t really think anything of it and figured it’ll hold til morning when I have the energy to care. I turn my back for two minutes and she’s on top of the laundry licking it. Not my dirty smells like me laundry, the clean stuff. Wierd. Maybe it means she likes me?

Haha, slaves. It’s been a week since she came home and I’m a slave, how’d this happen?

[babybunsmum]

ya being a bunny kinda sneaks up on you doesn’t it?

[MooBunnay]

Whenever my bunnies are licking anything I convince myself that it is a compliment probably just to make myself feel better! Amelia likes to lick the bars of her cage, and so I always say to my husband, “see, she is trying to groom me, but she can’t get to me so she is grooming the closest thing.” Juli will lick the floor right next to me so I am pretty sure that she is doing what the Language of the Lagamorphs site says, and trying to groom me with out bringing herself down to my level of slave-dom.

[MimzMum]

Holy cow…if that article Pam posted is correct, Fiver must be completely twitterpated! 0_o
Dawes…*sniffle* He wuvs me! ^_^

[wendyzski]

Pepper never grooms me directly but does a LOT of the “grooming by proxy” thing.  My pillows and blankets especially and sometimes my shoes.

[babybunsmum]

baby bun used to do that too. tho in her last year after surgery she just came over & licked me directly <3

pinky licks the floors when i’m not around so i don’t think thats about me. i wonder tho… do you think she misses baby bun as a neighbor? they never bonded but their enclosures were only an inch apart and they did everything in sync… grooming… eating hay… loafing out on the top level.

[MimzMum]

How long has it been now, BBM? I would think if Pinky is going through any kind of feelings of loss, it would’ve happened by now?
Do you think Pinky wants another friend? (if you don’t mind my asking)

[babybunsmum]

its been since march that baby passed… so a while. i guess i feel guilty for her being alone in the bun room so i’m reading signs into her behaviour. she sure loves attention from the dog so she may be okay without another bun companion. which is good because i really can’t afford the vet bill responsibility of another pet right now… things are tight. ok but tight.

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