Nipping Issue?

[BunnyLiz]

Hi, I think Hammer may be becoming over confident and comcortable lol. He was a little afraid for the first week or two but now he is a totally different bun. Constantly a blur around my room, ever so often stopping to chew on something he knows is not for him. I sit on the floor with him for playtime and when he pushes his nose at me demanding a nose scratch i do what is demanded. but if i am doing something like reading or email it takes half a second to follow through with his nose pets. I cant pet him fast enough because if he has to wait .5 seconds he nips me! It doesnt hurt but still, I think he should know better then to nip mom!  I guess he just really wants my full attention.  I yell NO and move and turn my back to him.  He quickly follows with licks and is usually forgiven. Anyone know whats going on or what i should be doing? thanks

[Deleted User]

You hit the nail right on the head … he definitely wants your full attention … never mind reading books or your emails  … its their way of telling you no keep going with those head pets and I’ll tell you when I have had enough.  Good idea is to just ignore him if you’ve had enough .

I recall when I was on the floor with Luey petting him and then I turned around to get up and he bit me on the butt … talk about cheeky

[BinkyBunny]

How old is he? In the avatar, he looks rather young, he could be reaching sexual maturity, and this is where many dominant and territorial behaviors may start. If he is reaching 3 months, you may be dealing with hormone overload.

IF that is the case, then some of these behaviors should get better once he’s neutered. But for now, when he nips, do a high pitched squeal right before you turn. It’s great you have the body language down. Keep up with that, and he should get the idea soon. (fingers crossed)

[Erbear]

Radar started doing this about three months ago while I was on the computer. She would start by tuggin on your pants and then move to nipping my ankle or toe etc. I read that if you ignore them, no matter how bad it hurts, until they stop nippnig you and then call them back to you and make them do a trick (hind legs or something, anything) then pet them as a reward it helps. I started doing that, with her on her hind legs. Now all I get when she wants pets while I’m on the computer or reading is a little bunny on her hind legs asking for pets. It’s so much better… my feet don’t get dug on anymore.

It took about a week to stop doing the nipping/digging thing and now she just does it if I ignore her asking to be petted.

[RabbitPam]

I never really thought about this before, but since they all seem to do this it shows how important being petted is to them.

I mean, we’re not grooming them, we’re not feeding them, we’re not even bunnies, but they feel they MUST have us pet them, and frequently.
It’s kind of funny.

[BunnyLiz]

He is about three months old so i guess his hormones are just going crazy. Thats relief! I thought things were going wonderfully, we were bonding and then.. nipping. i was so confused and worried. But i feel much better now that he was somewhat of an excuse. When are they old enough to get neutered?

[Moonlight_Wolf]

I read somewhere that if yuor bunny is nipping you to get attention then you should make a loud high pitched screeech to let you know that they are hurting you. Your rabbit thinks you are a rabbit and thinks he is just biting your fur while he is actually biting your skin. you screech to let him know he hurt you and then he realizes that you don’t like it when he does that , it hurts you. He is not meaning to hurt you, he just wants attention, therefore he will most likely stop. I did this with my bunny who nipped me because she thought my fingers were Food (smelled vaguely of food) She would stop and look at me like “sorry” and she has never nipped me or anyone else since (not including the chewing of clothes, lol).
You should do the screeching techinique, even if it doesn’t hurt, fern’s nips did not hurt either.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I think its also a bunny thing, Rupert will put his nose down for grooming to Kahlua and if she doesn’t do it right away he nips her!!

Both Rupert and Kahlua will nip me if I put my hand under them for ‘grooming’-apparently offensive BAD SLAVE!!

[BinkyBunny]

Male rabbits can be neutered when their testicles drop – around 3 – 4 months.

[BunnyLiz]

Wow thats soon, i thought it was a couple months down the rode. my little guy is all grown up *tear*

[BinkyBunny]

Females are the ones that most vets wait on, usually around 6 months. It’s much more invasive than what males have to go through.

I know it’s still scary though. Do you have a rabbit savvy vet yet?

[Sarita]

homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/Vet_KY.html

http://www.indianahrs.org/links-veterinarians.aspx

Look down at the bottom of the 2nd link for KY vets.

[BunnyLiz]

Well i guess i need to be making an appointment. i thought i had a vet but they arent on the list, its the one i take my rats to. now i feel guilty lol for not checking earlier and being lazy. Ill have to go to Ohio, theirs is closer, but the vet looks really nice. Thanks for the links Sarita. Kinda off the topic of my post but is there anything anyone can recommend to do before the neuter to make it less stressful, run smoother? The only thing i know is about 3 hours of fasting right before.

[PeppersMama]

i have read that you should never fast a bunny, not even before surgery. of course i could be wrong, im sure someone more experienced will come along and deny or confirm me in a second

[Sarita]

3 Hours before the surgery is fine just not the night before. They want to make sure there is nothing in their mouth that they can aspirate on when they put them under anesthesia.

[PeppersMama]

good for me to know too! thanks sarita! there is just soo much conflicting information on the internet concerning rabbits you can never be sure!

[MarkBun]

Buns cannot regurgitate so aspiration isn’t an issue. In fact, that is a good ‘trick question’ to ask a vet to see if they’re rabbit savvy. “Do you need to fast a rabbit before surgery?” If they say ‘yes’, find another doctor. Heck, Dr. Harvey had my bun in a cage with some hay before she went under the knife.

[BinkyBunny]

But there is no need to fast…at all.   They can eat almost right up to surgery.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

That’s actually one of my trick questions I used to weed out vets…Actually since it’s so critical, I emailed back the ones who required fasting that they should know it’s not OK to fast them and unnecessary and that they maybe shouldn’t be treating rabbit’s if they didn’t know that Thats me being a touch rude though

[skunklionshow]

Markus hit the nail on the head.  Bunnies don’t vomit…so no need to worry about vomit aspirating into the lungs….another bonus for rabbits!!!!!!  I HATE cleaning up my cat vomit/ hairballs.  Liz:  Just b/c your vet isn’t on the list doesn’t mean that your vet isn’t a rabbit savy vet.  Definately probe/ investigate this w/ your vet.  My vet practice was not listed on the house rabbit list, but was on another rabbit list.  I forwarded this info on to my practice and was informed that the owners made it a priority to have at least 3 -4 exotic vets out of 6-7 practice vets.  That policy had changed over time, so if they hadn’t forwarded this info to house rabbit, it wouldn’t be listed.  Make sense?  So ask & investigate.  I believe that BB has a what to ask a vet list on the Bunny Info or Links.

[RachelF]

My little girl is just around a year, and she nips when she wants attention, usually pulling my shirt or pantleg. It can get frustrating but I’ve been giving her a timeout each time she does it, trying to be instant with the ‘punishment’.

After 2 minutes, I let her out, and we try again. Sometimes it takes a couple of times.

Don’t give up. They just crave attention!!!

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