Really bizarre biting incident

[Cassy]

So, I want to first say that I did search (everywhere) before going ahead and posting this, but I could not find any other circumstances exactly like this.

I have a new bun (not first time owner!) named Cocoa Puff, he is a year old, not neutered yet (will be ASAP after this!!) and I just adopted him two weeks ago. He has settled in pretty well, my only issue has been that he poops everywhere but I think this is due to him not being fixed :/ 

So today, we were bonding, having lots of fun. I was hopping around with him, and he was playing with toys, honking happily. He was circling me, and I am assuming what followed is hormonal but it’s still confusing. He hopped up next to me like he usually does to be snuggled, and I was petting him on his head and then SO fast I couldn’t even think, he didn’t just bite me, he latched on to my wrist like a freakin crocodile and starting furiously kicking his legs!!! It took me a good 5 painful seconds of yelping in pain to get him off me without tearing my flesh off.

I resisted the obvious instinct to throw him across the room (more out of terror than anger) and carried him swiftly to his cage. He’s still sitting there right now, looking at me, and I think he is as confused as I am. I had to leave him immediately to tend to the wound – he bit clear through the skin and judging from the pain, into the tendon, so I was gone for at least 10 minutes treating it.

Does anyone have any experience with this particular behavior? I am familiar with nipping but not suddenly chomping like that combined with the frantic kicking, it was like he was fighting me but there was no precursor to it! I always pet his head, so why the sudden spaz attack, and should I worry about this in the future?

And before you say “get him neutered” – understand that I already realize that part of it. I just don’t understand the viciousness from a very sweet bun.

THANKS!!!!!!

[joea64]

Unfortunately, the best I can offer, not being an expert on this sort of thing, is that it probably really was the hormones. Given that he seems to be as confused as you as to what happened, and that he’d never done anything like this before (I assume he’d previously engaged in other, more expected, hormone-related behaviors) I can only guess that they triggered something in an unexpected way, maybe triggering the “I’ve been attacked, I must defend myself” reflex.

[Bam]

This reminds me of an incident with my bun Yohio. He was pretty young at the time. He ran up to me when I was painting my eyelashes and simply sunk his fangs into my calf and drew blood. It wasn’t a wee nip. It was an unprovoked attack. I scooped him away with my foot, pretty gently but still, and he looked so genuinely surprised. It never happened again.

He didn’t kick or anything, but it was a proper bite. I still don’t know why he did it. Way back then he often growled at me, he could even growl and lunge while I was petting him, the next second he’d put his head down again for more pets. I chalked it down to him being a young insecure male. The growling at me went away with time, but he never stopped growling at and attacking the broom. The broom was his sworn enemy and he’d attack it unprovoked, while it was just hanging there in the hall and I was in the next room. I’d hear a growl and then bang! the broom went down, knocked out by the brave Yohio.

[Sr. Melangell]

He might still bite for a while after a neuter, my boy has bitten me a few times, I don’t think they mean it in a bad way, it could be that bunnies want to play, they do nip to communicate, we don’t understand the Bun bun language, only rabbits do, Olly used to bite my bottom when I was cleaning out his cage, I think male rabbits do bite a bit more than females, well I’ve not been bitten by a female, boys are very territorial even after neuter, his cage and pen is His man cave, you’ve only had him 2 weeks, he might be thinking ‘What do I do to tell this human I want to play?’ or ‘Right I want some banana but how do I tell the human?’ boy bunnies do attack owners, they are just like teenagers at a year to 3 years, they can attack out of the blue, just like human teenagers, because teens love to fight, they grow out of it and so do bunnies it takes time, Olly used to snatch food from my hands, throw his litter tray, food bowl and water and growl and throw his bed about, he’s grown up now, in some ways I miss it now, I’m always checking to see if he’s OK if he’s not causing trouble, but we do have some days when he wants to fight with his bed etc, just let off some steam and be a wild rabbit for a while, all bunnies are cute but they do like to play like rabbits in the wild sometimes.

[Cassy]

Thanks to those who replied! I haven’t had another incident like this, I’m pretty sure he got the message.

It was definitely bizarre though, and I still haven’t found anyone who had this same thing happen to them. It’s especially funny because he doesn’t even nip in a playful manner. My foster bunny nips ALL the time, you’d think he’d be the one to have flipped out and bit me!

I have to disagree though about it being “normal” playful bunny-just-being-a-bunny behavior. You don’t need to be a bunny mind reader to tell the difference between aggression and playtime. I realize that neutering isn’t a magic fix that will stop his natural instincts, but nipping doesn’t bother me. 

It’s also worth noting that I made the mistake of trying to introduce him to my foster rabbit, Toby… and despite Toby being twice Cocoa’s size, Cocoa showed his terrifying aggressive side right away, and tore balls of fur right off of Toby in the course of 5 second scuffle. Toby was terrified and hid as soon as I grabbed Cocoa, but Cocoa was struggling to get free with this “lemme at ‘im!” attitude. Needless to say there’s never been a round 2, and I’m still feeling terrible that I ever thought it was okay to introduce them! 

[Cassy]

I have to admit I’m surprised to hear that so many buns growl, none of mine ever have! LOL! I thought it was funny about the broom being “sworn enemy”, because Cocoa Puff and my carpet sweeper are BFFs! Cocoa marks it with his chin at least 5 times a day and loves to chase it around when I’m sweeping up his messes. He also likes to be “chased” by it and will run in front of it and act like it’s after him!

Speaking of which, SO HIGHLY RECOMMEND a Fuller carpet sweeper, best investment I ever have made for my buns! Makes cleaning up poop and hay sooo much easier. I don’t know why everyone doesn’t own one of these things. Less than $30 to never have to use a broom and pan again? Yes please!

[Mikey]

When rabbits breed, the male usually latches onto the fur with a tight grip then humps. Not to be gross, but are you sure he was kicking his legs and not trying to mount you? One of my rabbits had a hump toy for a while, and hes put holes in it from biting so hard while mounting it. Plus, its not uncommon for hormonal rabbits to try and mount their human, especially after doing the mating dance (honking and circling).

Another theory, do you still have Toby? Its very possible he got a whiff of Toby’s scent, thought you were Toby, and latched onto you and tried to box as a way to fight.

[Author]

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