Licking

[Deleted User]

 Hello all,

I have a 17 week old female dutch rabbit and last night she licked me and my husband for a VERY long time. She spent a solid 20 minutes walking between us on the couch and just licking us non stop. She usually licks us a little bit and we pet her then she decides she is done with the licking. I have always read that licking is a way to show affection, although my husband thinks because she did it for such an extended time she may be licking us for salt? I have researched a lot about rabbits before I got one but I never came across anything particularly stressing the necessity of salt in a rabbit’s diet. Not sure if this is unusual or if she just really loves us (though I would love to think that she just adores us  I’m not thinking that this is a sign of nutritional deficiency, but I’ll let the experts weigh in because, as my name states, I’m a bit of a noob when it comes to buns!  

[sarahthegemini]

Gosh if my rabbits licked me for 20 minutes I’d be in bunny slave heaven! I wouldn’t have thought she was doing it for salt. I would assume as an affectionate thing. You’re so lucky

[Deleted User]

 I thought it was affection as well, but she did it for SOOOOO long I just didn’t know if it was unusual. Then I tried looking it up and saw salt wheels pop up and I was like ??what??? lol. Can’t believe everything that pops up from a google search so I wanted to make sure she wasn’t lacking anything that made her want to lick salty humans  She must have felt particularly lovey last night!!

[sarahthegemini]

I think with bunny behaviours, it’s all about context. There are so many behaviors that can have multiple meanings and it’s up to us to evaluate other aspects of their behaviour to try and draw a conclusion. That can be hard though! Teeth grinding is a prime example – my bunnies grind their teeth when relaxing really loudly at times. A Google search tells me that tooth grinding is a sign of pain and discomfort and often shows itself along with other symptoms such as lethargy and no appetite. However, when mine teeth grind they do so whilst bunny loafed, still come running enthusiastically for treats, move as normal and eat and poop so it’s completely different.

Bit of a tangent there!

[Deleted User]

Yes, very true! She may have been thanking me for the stuffy I bought her and the toys that are coming from amazon tomorrow  

It can get confusing for someone who is new to buns to tell the difference between behaviors such as teeth clicking and teeth grinding. Clicking is when happy and grinding is definitely not happy, but it seems that those could kind of sound similar. (unless in the case of extreme discomfort I supposed you would easily tell the difference!)

[Muj Mom N Bun]

Hi think that she is just adoring you both to pieces…! Kisses for 20 mins is definitely a delight! I’m envious rt now bcz for some reason my gal has stopped giving me kisses the last few weeks… but she has definitely spent so much time licking… and not just me, she has licked my chair until it was soaked, pillows… sofa, etc. this shows (at least maybe in my weird brain) that it really isn’t due to salt cravings. Plus, I recently read that salt wheels as a “nutrient supplement” for rabbits aren’t even really a needed thing as a well bunny with a balanced diet should have all their minerals like sodium easily consumed in their daily intake of greens, hay and pellets, at least this is what I have come to understand.

[Muj Mom N Bun]

And Sarathegemini, my BunBun also lays around loafing her pretty little tail off, grinding her teeth, as happy as can be! Thank You for helping me to know I’m not the only one seeing this… at first I was always worried that she was in some sort of pain according to Dr Google…

[Bladesmith]

Clover loves to lick me. When I pick her up in the mornings (She stands on her hind feet and demands it), she licks and licks my arm while I pet her head and tell her good morning, and in the evenings, watching tv, I lie on the floor and she scootches up next to me full length, rests her chin on my arm and we alternate her licking me and me stroking her head for an hour or so. And she gets cranky if I don’t do it! She’ll come over and tug on my socks and honk at me until I get on the floor so she can get started.

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