My two year old bunny bit me harder than ever

[Gabriela]

Titan is a two year old, half Dutch half dwarf. He was neutered over a year ago. I’ve had him since he was 5 months old. I even took him to America from Korea. He loves me more than anyone and treats me like his mom. When he misbehaves by constantly chewing and eating the carpet he goes back into his cage for a time out. He’s moody sometimes, but Is happy most of the time. I’ve had him nip me before and it’s not really a problem because it’s always barely a pinch. Last night he had one of the rugs all bunched up because he was trying to rip it apart. I gently moved him off the rug to straighten it out and next thing I knew he bit my arm (which was down on his level). I had never been bitten so hard by a rabbit and I’ve had 5 other rabbits. It was bleeding, swelling, and bruising. The pain stung for a couple of hours. After he bit me I put him in his cage. I keep looking online about why he bit me so hard. Most of the cases seem to be if the rabbit is in a new home, not neutered, feeling like they’re in danger, or have been in an abusive home. He is none of those cases. I would like to know why he did it, how to prevent it from happening again, and how to properly deal with him chewing on the carpet. Any help is much appreciated, thank you.

[Mimsy]

I’m sorry you got bit, that certaintly doesn’t sound like a normal, or even hard nip. Sounds like an actual bite and those can be quiet scary. My Blackjack was my first house bunny and he would bite men. But he was an unfixed male, so it made more sense.

Could there be a health issue that is under lying it? maybe something affecting hormones or his teeth causing pain I’d keep an eye out for anything else that could be more obviously health related or if it gets worse.

Other things to consider, how long ago did you move? Thats a huge move and may take him some time to settle in. I’m not sure what to do for the biting if it’s behavior, except doing the high pitch yelp to let him know he hurt you.

As far as saving your carpet, you could put something down to protect it. Such as those heavy plastic runners meant for under desk chairs. For a short term fix cheap fix you could toss down a shower curtain or vinyl table cloth over the area and then set something like heavy tiles on them t o hold it in place. Throw rugs work..basically anything you can toss down for the time being. I will clap to get Willows attention, which is basically just her looking up and hand her something it’s ok to chew. I keep a ton of pear tree blocks and then dried blackberry and rose branches for her. I’ve seen people suggest squirting water too, though I haven’t done that.

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