Why does my bunny bite my husband and not me?

[hummingbird]

Hi,

I have a 6 month old holland lop boy bunny.  He is really sweet and friendly, though he hates to be held.  Though he sometimes bites my husband – not nips, but bites really really hard til he bleeds.  He has nipped me before (but not so much anymore) but never bit me.  It was so strange, because otherwise he seems to like my husband better, like lets him pet him more, and my husband is better with bunnies.  I wondered if it was a male dominance/ competition thing?  We just got him neutered this week, though he just bit my husband again.  This really has to stop, because we are both sort of scared of him now.

[Flopsie]

what is happening before the bite and what do you guys do after?

[hummingbird]

It usually is when he is in his territory – like trying o fix something in his cage. Though before it has been him getting really excited over food he has in his hand. Though I do these same things, and he never bites me.

[litheandgraphic]

Is he neutered? More likely this is territorial behavior, not dominance/competition. Rabbits enjoy the company of multiple entities in the “warren”. More likely, it is because for one reason or another he simply doesn’t trust your husband in his territory as much as he trusts you. I would advise against cleaning or putting your hands inside his enclosure while he’s in there. Many rabbits become aggressively territorial when you do this. Additionally, unless you have to, you should avoid picking him up – most rabbits hate this.

[hummingbird]

Thanks – yes, we understood it better when he wasn’t neutered and it was territorial (though still all his relatives were very sweet bunnies who didn’t bite and weren’t neutered), but we got him neutered this week and were hoping that would change.

[Pipje]

Bunnies can still be territorial even when neutered, and one of mine is food aggressive though he has been neutered. We just have to be careful about not dragging out the time between when he realises it is pellet time and when he gets the pellets, he gets wound up and over excited too much. It’s exactly the same as one of my cats and my horse, they dont mean to bite, but they want the food NOW and sometimes fingers get in the way.

What kind of cage is he in? Does your husband have to lean in through the top of the cage or can he walk into it? Smaller cages, especially the pet store ones that open from the top as well as the front can, can cause aggression because they are small so the rabbit is more defensive over the space. They also have a blind spot which makes hands appearing from above quite scary and therefore he may bite in fear.

I know from experience that when one of mine had to stay in his NIC condo for most of the day rather than the 12hours of free time he was used to he got quite aggressive when I went in there. That reverted as soon as he was back to his normal routine.

How do you pet him? Do you get down on the floor somewhere not in his cage and pet him on his level and he still bites?

[rabbyrabby]

The only time my bun bites me is when he knows I have food in my hand and he gets too excited and starts biting at anything under his nose.  It doesn’t hurt me so I don’t mind.  I also know that he isn’t trying to hurt me, he’s just really excited for food.

Is your rabbit showing other signs of aggression?  Boxing, grunting, or making other noises that would suggest anger, anxiety, or something of the sort?

[hummingbird]

Hi,
Thanks! He is in a huge bunny cage/ house and has his run of the house. He has grunted at my husband once, but that’s the only other sign of aggression he’s showed. Also, when he bit my husband he came at him and bit him – so it wasn’t like my husband startled him.

[anta]

my rabbit is a rescue who i just got i want to keeep her she was going to be killed i am her last stop. m=but my husband will be laying down and out of no where the rabbit just bites jessse really hard…\or jessse will be peettting her and she will jst bite him if he stop making him bleed… i do not want to give her up.. but if i cant get her to stop jesse wants her gone beucase,, she bites him so hard for no reason any advice from anyone

thank yo..

[jerseygirl]

I’m locking this thread now as it is 2 years old and anta has started a new thread in BEHAVIOR now.

[Author]

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