pinky bit my pinky

[Moonlightbunny66]

Hey guys, I don’t think Pinky likes when I touch his things or put my hand in his cage. A few days ago he was digging in the corner of his pen so I decided to move his hay mat there so he doesn’t make more holes in the blanket and pull it up from the corner. I picked up his house and put the mat there and set the house back. I moved back to close the pen but he was blocking where I wanted to close so I waited a second for him to move so I didn’t squish him. Then he bit my knee… It only bled a little bit but I washed it and stuff. I think he did it because he didn’t want me moving his things or having my hand in there. So I decided not to put my hands in there while he’s in it anymore. But today I thought I could sneak in a piece of cardboard on the floor where he was digging and biting the blanket. I took some pellets and fed him one then tried to lead him to the back of the pen. I fed him some pellets and dropped them on that spot I wanted to be but before I could pull my hand away he bit my pinky. I’m not sure if he thought I was still holding pellets or it just made him mad that I made him follow my hand to eat them. But it bled more this time and still hurts right now (it happened like 10 minutes ago). I’m not going to be touching things while he’s in there anymore or putting my hand in there when he’s in it. It just makes me sad that he bites. It might just be because his hormones are still there since his neuter was last week on Wednesday. I have to put him in the carrier to clean. He even thumped one time when I let him into his pen after I cleaned it. It makes me scared he’s going to bite me now when I try to get him in the carrier. He comes up with his front paws on top of the carrier and sniffs me and looks around before he goes in. Muffin has not bit me yet or even nipped me. He’s very gentle and only licks up the pellets when I hand feed him some. Just makes me sad that Pinky bit me. ): I just wanted to share to see if anyone has been through this too. I don’t want to be scared of Pinky. He’s also only about a year old and came from a petting farm that gave him up to the animal rescue for fighting with other unneutered males. It’s hard to put him in the carrier for any little thing I need to do in his pen. He even just flipped over the cardboard away from the spot I put it. I won’t fix it until the next time I put him in the carrier. If anyone has any advice or wants to share their experience with a bunny like this that would be nice. 🥺

[DanaNM]

Awww, that’s a bummer, but don’t get too discouraged. Keep in mind he just had a big life change, and he is near another rabbit that he is not bonded with. Rabbits will have what’s called “referred aggression”, where they are actually feeling aggressive towards another rabbit, and then they lash out at whoever is closest (be it a human or their bonded mate).

I would first not worry so much about cleaning and organizing his pen if you can. Be OK with a bit more mess for now just to help him get his space sorted out and feel safe. Like I would do boxes every 2 or 3 days, and sweep out the pen once a week (while he isn’t in it). My buns pens are pretty bare bones honestly, but with chew toys they can toss and matts they can destroy. I have tile on the bottom level as well. I will never understand those buns that can have perfectly cute organized spaces because mine love to redecorate on their own… i’m pretty sure those pics are taken just after cleaning LOL.

He was neutered less than 2 weeks ago (by my memory), and is still near another newly neutered bun, so I think referred aggression and hormone fluctuations are at play here. Is he also still on cage rest? that would also probably make him extra antsy.

For hand feeding, stick with longer foods for now (like a leaf of lettuce, kale, etc.). I’ve been nipped before when hand feeding buns that just get too excited. Buns don’t have great vision, so they just see the food and go for it.

The other thing is next time he nips you, make a squeal noise that sounds like a bunny scream (you can look it up on youtube if you’ve never heard it, it’s very sad to hear though 🙁 ). Bunnies nip each other through thick fur, so they don’t always know they hurt us with their nipping. If you make that noise, that tells Pinky that he hurt you.

With really aggressive rabbits, it can also help to wear leather gloves when you need to reach into the cage, and with that the idea is not to pull you hand away when you get bit, you just hold still. But I don’t really think you are at that point yet. To me this reads as a bun that had a pretty stressful time (that is sad about the petting zoo 🙁 ) that is still just getting settled and is having hormone fluctuations.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Moonlightbunny66]

@DanaNM Thank you so much. Okay, I’ll try to clean less. He just poops outside his box a lot, mostly in it though. Mine like to rearrange too. They mostly move around any cardboard. Pinky would flatten the triangle one, then flipped over the box one I gave him instead. But now they have new log hidey houses they can’t move them very much. Pinky also tosses his toys into his litter box, both of them put them in the water bowl sometimes lol.

Okay I’ll only hand feed the lettuces for him for now. He did get too excited one time and nipped me while I was hand feeding but didn’t draw blood. Maybe it is what you’re talking about, the referred aggression. :/

I can try to do the squeal, I thought about it after but it would’ve been a delayed reaction. But I also sing in my room and my vocal warmups go up pretty high so it might confuse them lol.

And yes he was just neutered last week on Wednesday, so his hormones are still pretty crazy probably. He is still on cage rest but I plan on letting them out one at a time on the weekend or next week.

Thanks for the info and being nice to me!

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