WHAT NOISE MEANS WHAT

[LokiAndZeus]

My bunny Loki who i owned for 6 weeks so far and was neutured on the 23rd, did a grunt/honk type noise today when i was giving him fuss. He’s never been agressive or been nasty etc and im unsure if he was being agressive( im newish to the rabbit world)

he closed his eyes and when i moved my hand nudged me again and put his head under my hand, but have read this noise can mean aggression. Any tips please

[Wick & Fable]

Shoving his head under your hand means he’s demanding grooming. For a rabbit, a big component of rapport is grooming reciprocity, so the grunt/honk was probably an expression of frustration that you weren’t grooming him back.

I find the longer a rabbit is with you, the more comfortable and secure they feel on expressing themselves. At first, they don’t want to rock the boat with you, a large human who provides all their food. Being with him longer now, he may feel more comfortable communicating disagreement. If he was actually being hostile, he’ll lunge and bite you.

I think it was a brief episode of frustration. “Groom me please!!”

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.

[Wick & Fable]

Also since he was recently neutered, he’s going through a hormonal spike which actually makes those behaviors more amplified for a few more weeks before dissipating. Wick was so sassy after his neuter….

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.

[Rookie]

sprocket does the little grunting and honking noises all the time to express his excitement or demanding attention. Rookie was more of a grumpy bun and as said above he didn’t do the honking but instead would almost growl and lunge at me when he didn’t want to deal with me. Sprocket has a much softer tone to his honking. You can for sure tell. Soft honks are excitement or trying to get your attention…growls and grumpy honking has a more raspy and angry tone like a growl.
Sprocket also demands head rubs with a light honk and some nudging with his head…or the less subtle form of literally burrowing his head in my free hand.

[Rookie]

sprocket does the little grunting and honking noises all the time to express his excitement or demanding attention. Rookie was more of a grumpy bun and as said above he didn’t do the honking but instead would almost growl and lunge at me when he didn’t want to deal with me. Sprocket has a much softer tone to his honking. You can for sure tell. Soft honks are excitement or trying to get your attention…growls and grumpy honking has a more raspy and angry tone like a growl.
Sprocket also demands head rubs with a light honk and some nudging with his head…or the less subtle form of literally burrowing his head in my free hand.

[joea64]

Posted By Wick on 2/04/2018 5:50 PM

Shoving his head under your hand means he’s demanding grooming. For a rabbit, a big component of rapport is grooming reciprocity, so the grunt/honk was probably an expression of frustration that you weren’t grooming him back.

I find the longer a rabbit is with you, the more comfortable and secure they feel on expressing themselves. At first, they don’t want to rock the boat with you, a large human who provides all their food. Being with him longer now, he may feel more comfortable communicating disagreement. If he was actually being hostile, he’ll lunge and bite you.

I think it was a brief episode of frustration. “Groom me please!!”

This is definitely true with Fernando, particularly during the daily floor sessions. He’s very vigorous about communicating with me, whether it’s booping, pawing, or even nipping, and I always try to stay alert for what he “says”. Panda has historically been more reticent but is loosening up a bit at a time – she gave me a couple of definite nose boops/bumps last night to get me to move out of her way, for example.

[Deleted User]

Neither of my buns were very vocal… until recently. For the past month or two, Bombur will get so fussy if you aren’t giving him his pellet breakfast or salad dinner fast enough. The minute he smells it he will look at you all innocently, then thump repeatedly. Sometimes the thumps will be preceded by a little grunt. When he’s out and I bring him his salad, he’ll begin with a buzz and start circling me and thumping. He always quits when I tell him not to be a rude bunny xD

[Rookie]

Sprocket the other day for either bored or impatient cause I happened to be sleeping in when he shoved his nose under mine like he does when he wants to nose snuggle and held it there…except he held it so that he covered my nose completely and I woke up to not being able to breath and him just staring at me a few cm away from my face

[Deleted User]

xD xD xD Asriel will do that to my husband. I stay up an hour later than hubs so that each bun gets equal amount of time out. If Asriel is out when hubs is asleep, he’ll start sniffing all over hubs’ face. He’ll open his eyes and Az is right there with his nose in his face.

[Author]

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