Rabbit chewing and scratching my shirt?

[beaumont]

I give my bunny so many different things to chew and dig on, but for some reason, he will obsessively dig and gnaw on my shirt (and sometimes my skin.) It will usually be accompanied with lots of licking. Would normally ignore behaviors like this but I’ve drawn blood several times now and he doesn’t seem to respond to anything to stop him. Should I stop getting to ground level with him altogether? Getting rather aggravating.

[Love4Bunny]

Perhaps it’s hormones, Beaumont? Your little one is coming up on 9 weeks, correct? Not really heaps you can do if it’s that. Not until you fix him. Maybe try distracting him with a chew toy or food if you wanna be on the floor with him.

Do you mean you’ve drawn your rabbit’s blood in an attempt to stop him? Or do you mean your rabbit has bitten you and drawn your blood, and won’t respond to your attempts?

[Bam]

I think you just have to remove him as soon as he starts. Remove, and remove again until he gets the message. They can nip really hard as you have noticed, so they need to learn that it’s a behavior that wont be rewarded. What he wants is probably just to chew and scratch and see what happens, it’s common that young buns do that, but it’s not acceptable.

[beaumont]

Love4Bunny, yep, he is 9 weeks! I am flattered you remembered that If you think it is a hormore thing, that is pretty refreshing…I can take another month or two of scratching over a lifetime of it! And he has drawn blood from me, not vice versa, though it never seemed like it was out of anger or meanness. 

Bam, thanks a ton for that advice! By remove, what do you mean? If he is on my chest, I will take him off. But if he is on my side, do I just get up and leave? Do I put him back in his pen? Do I turn my back? Just want to make sure the message gets through!

[Wick & Fable]

Approaching his neuter date, I had to wear high socks around Wick because his grooming nips were getting pretty aggressive. I just gently shove him away, or legitimately get away from him. Another method was picking him up and plopping him somewhere else, as well as grooming him excessively with pets to distract him wanting to groom me.

It’s a week post neuter now and his nips are back to being gentle.

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.

[Bam]

I’d just take him and put him down a foot or two distance away. And if he comes back and starts over, take him and put him down again. I don’t think he needs a big time out in the cage, that takes too long to implement.

He won’t be doing this all his life though, that’d be exceptional. Most buns try this for a while and then it gets old, like. It’s like a puppy or kitten, they experiment with the world to see what works and what doesn’t.

[ThorBunny]

Thor is a notorious clothes digger/nipper. To break her of this habit, I’ve been doing what Bam advised and re-directing her as soon as it starts.

For me, this means that when she comes up to me I let her sniff and explore all she wants, but as soon as she goes to dig or nip I will gently pick up her front legs and turn her 180 degrees away from me. I don’t pick her up all the way (that would be too stressful), and I don’t move her away from me since I want her to know it is safe to be near me and cuddle. The turn seems to confuse her enough that she almost always stops. If she tries again, I turn her again, repeat…

It’s been working very well so far

[Love4Bunny]

Posted By beaumont on 7/05/2017 12:17 PM

Love4Bunny, yep, he is 9 weeks! I am flattered you remembered that If you think it is a hormore thing, that is pretty refreshing…I can take another month or two of scratching over a lifetime of it! And he has drawn blood from me, not vice versa, though it never seemed like it was out of anger or meanness. 

Bam, thanks a ton for that advice! By remove, what do you mean? If he is on my chest, I will take him off. But if he is on my side, do I just get up and leave? Do I put him back in his pen? Do I turn my back? Just want to make sure the message gets through!

You’re welcome Yeah, I don’t think rabbits go after people unless they have a good reason, like fear (I have see one Youtube video of an irate rabbit intentionally chasing a human). Thor was annoying when he was unneutered. I used to gently move him away like Bam/ Thorbunny said, or I’d move myself to the couch if he was too much for me (he’d still try to hump my leg). Nowadays, I use a water bottle spray every now and then. Or like was mentioned, you could try grooming him a lot to distract him. Control, baby, hahaha

[beaumont]

Bam, thanks for the great advice! Every time I post, I can always rely on you to give a super helpful answer Thor, that’s a great strategy. He hates being picked up but doesn’t really mind a spin, so I will probably go with that. He hasn’t gotten ‘frisky’ yet (hes barely two months,) but hopefully it doesn’t get crazy over the next month. Though I am a bit worried the neuter will take away his personality! Oh well…a bit of a personality change is worth it for a healthy rabbit

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