Petting question

[Lintini]

My new little one puts his/her head down and ears back when I pet her and stroke head/ears. Since I’m a pretty new Bunny mom in general, I don’t know if this means she /he is scared to death or enjoying it in some passive manner. Bun doesn’t really act this way, so I don’t know if I am approaching the baby in the right way. She kind of just stops doing wahtever and puts her head down. Ugh I feel stupid. I just want to make sure I do everything right and not scaring it senseless since I have no idea what type of horrid conditions she/he shim him it…god I wish I knew its sex…lol. Okay *AHHHH*. Annnnnnnd, I don’t wanna get bit by a rabbit again… *glares at Bun*

[Monkeybun]

MOSt bunnies seem to go flat for pets. Those that like pets anyway…. Monkey runs… lol

[SophieBun]

Sophie does the same thing ^_^ and the babies do it too. And Sophie tooth purrs when she’s like that when I’m petting her, so I think your buns likes it

[Lintini]

I haven’t heard a tooth purr yet from anyone. I’ll probably mistake it for Bun acting like the freaking rabbit from Monty Python and run away.

[Adalaide]

I don’t remember where, but some website was selling Monty Python rabbit slippers. I was SO tempted. Anyway, Freya always gets real low when I pet her, which is practically never. Sigh… sometimes I think she hates me.

[jerseygirl]

To me it sounds like she’s enjoying being petted. If she wasn’t she’d just move away. From Language of Lagomorphs:  ”You can offer grooming to your rabbit, even when you haven’t been invited, by offering your hand. You should do so by putting your hand on the ground from six inches to a couple of feet in front of the rabbit. Scratching the ground there a bit can help. If your invitation is accepted, the rabbit will move a bit forward toward your hand, lower its head and front body, and fold its ears back. If the rabbit rears up, or gives you a skeptical turned-sideways pose, your invitation hasn’t been accepted”

You don’t always have to “ask” with all bunnies. Some are ok with you just reaching out and petting them.

[Sage Cat]

I taught my buns the word “snuggle”. I put my hand (slightly cupped with the backs of my fingers towards the bunny) about 6 inches to a foot in-front of my bunny while saying “snuggle”. This means can I pet you? It works really well!

Kay will put her head way down and often has her bum sticking up. Winston just goes into loaf pose. If they don’t want to be pet the either turn away or just run away. That really gets their point across!

As Jeresy mentioned – I don’t always have to ask first. But I usually do.

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