New rabbit behaviour

[Marjery]

Hi, I have a new rabbit, he’s only been with us for 4 days and I’ve never had one before. Unfortunatelly, I don’t know how old he is since there was no information when I got him, but I don’t think he’s entered puberty yet (no sexual behavior as far as I can tell). He’s an angel and adapted really well and doesn’t seem to be afraid of me at all – he started exploring and let me touch him on day 2 already. I’m sort of unsure about some things he does though and since it’s my first rabbit. So, my questions:

1) When he’s in his run and I enter the room, he runs to me really fast. Next thing, he stands on his hinder legs and looks up to me or touches my legs with his front paws (not like mounting, more like being curious (like when he’s looking over a fence).
I like to think he does that because he likes to see me but wanted to ask if that’s the case or if it’s the opposite since he runs to me VERY fast, basically bolts right to me so maybe he wants to chase me out instead?

2) Every time I try to pet him, he’s licking my hand wherever I put it (or even when I don’t pet him, but place my hands near floor) – he basically follows my hand everywhere, I’m trying to pet him and he’s chasing my hand to lick it all the time, basically making it impossible for me to pet him – he’s literally licking my hand all the time. He’s not biting or being aggressive, but I don’t understand if he likes me petting him or not. Even if I stop, he keeps following my hand trying to lick it or softly nibble (but not biting) all the time, then has a break for a few seconds, hops here and there and then comes back after my hand again.

3) He has learned to use his toilet for pee on day 2 already, but keeps pellets everywhere he goes. Most of them do end up in the litterbox, but about 25% ends up out. I usually pick them up and place them back to his litterbox. I don’t mind picking them up, but wondered if that’s normal or if it gets better eventually.

Thanks for any insights, this whole rabbit business is completely new to me!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Welcome to Binky Bunny.

Your bunny sounds like a real sweetheart.

1) That behavior is definitely not aggression. Sounds like he is just giving you a friendly “Hello” or possibly, asking for treats.

2) Some bunnies are just big kissers. It seems to be a sign of affection. Consider yourself lucky, a lot of bunnies don’t give their humans kisses. My 2 don’t.

3) Territorial poops are normal for every bun. It sounds like your bunny is not neutered so that is very normal. Neutering usually reduces this behavior but a lot of bunnies will always leave some territorial poops.

[Sr. Melangell]

Wow kisses from bunny, mine comes to give me a kiss then runs away, Olly was neutered on 23rd of March, I only got him on Tuesday and he is very territorial, he gets angry if I touch anything in his cage, he bangs his foot, I have contacted a vet and they said he will calm down, I have owned females before which did not have an operation, it seems all new to me as I haven’t had a rabbit for over 15 years, rabbits do learn quickly where to do number ones and twos, Olly does mess up his cage with number twos, I think he will do this until he settles in, I think its like cats and dogs saying “This is my place.”

[Marjery]

Hi guys, thanks for your answers, I feel much better now. Harvey is such a cute little thing, I’m just always worried I might do something wrong. It surprised me how quickly he adapted, which is why I thought maybe I’m misinterpreting him. He’s very curious and enthusiastic every time I come around and he likes my boyfriend too (but he doesn’t lick him). He started hopping to my lap yesterday which is really nice too, but he doesn’t stay long for a cuddle yet. He’s a bit of an explorer and likes to move around.

I got him from a pet store – I was originally looking for guinea pigs but seeing him, it was love at first sight. The only problem is that the people working there didn’t seem to have any information or interest what so ever. I don’t know how old he is, if he’s been vaccinated or not etc. Also, I wanted to get him a toy to play with while I work (I work from home and keep him in my office so that he’s with me most of the day). I come to play with him during the day but I do need to get some work done too so I thought a toy would keep him busy in between our playing sessions. I’ve seen rabbits playing with various objects and a lot of people seem to have toys for them but the people in the store told me rabbits don’t really play with anything and that I should get him a piece of wood to chew on. Pretty useless advice since he’s got a wooden hutch. I went elsewhere and got him a straw “carrot” toy for chewing and tossing around. Anything else he might like?

Also I wanted to ask about taking him to a vet. I plan to go next week, just to make sure everything’s ok (but as far as I can tell, he’s happy and cheerful and his fur, teeth and claws and eyes are perfect). How do you transport a rabbit? He’s quite small but I don’t feel comfortable lifting him up as I worry he might get scared and jump off me and accidentally hurt himself. We’ve been practising (when I pet him, I touch his belly and butt occassionally and I started putting my hand under his belly today so he can get used to the feeling), but I’d much rather have him hop into the transport box willingly. All of the small transport boxes I’ve seen were opening from top which isn’t very useful at all. Should I get a big cat transport box instead? How do you guys do it?

And here’s Harvey munching on something while sitting on toilet  

[Sr. Melangell]

Oh yes a big cat box the plastic ones, because rabbits like to chew, you can clean it when you get back, a cardboard one you can’t, costs more I know but he might chew his way out of a cardboard carrier and get out and if there is a dog there and there could be more vet bills to pay, if he has newspaper in his cage you could if he will let you, take some of his paper and put it in the travel box, he will smell his scent and might go in, I did have a rabbit and she used to get in her box, but if she didn’t and she got angry, I used to put a bit of apple or carrot in the box and when I heard her munching I would close the door, they do scratch the bottom of the box and rattle the door, but they are not in for a long time, one rabbit I had did not have any problems with and we used to go for many miles on a coach to visit my family and I just made sure she had enough water at each stop we got to, LittlePuffyTail or someone else might have a better idea of getting him in a travel box, because I have a male that is neutered when I got him and I don’t know about little boy rabbits behaviour when they are not neutered.

[Author]

Messages