Bit Me/Digging AGAIN

[Isabelle]

A few weeks/months ago I posted that Dutchess was digging and she bit me enough to draw some blood. She’s done it again! She was digging and digging and digging so I put her back in her habitat for a half hour. I let her out again when she was calm, and she went right back to digging! So I went to grab her and she whirled on me and bit me on the arm and drew blood again! I screamed ouch and she ran off. I followed her with a blanket to catch her (and protect my arms/hands) while she was growling and snarling at me very agressively until I caught her. She didn’t lunge at me again though, just the one time. She kept snarling while I put her back in her habitat again. She’s sitting in there quietly now, and I washed my wound and put some medicine on it with a bandaid. Why is she being so agressive? It’s scary for me and really upsets me. I understood when she did it once, but now a second time? This is really starting to get out of hand, she’s becoming more agressive each time she starts digging up the carpet, which is also becoming more frequent. Her nails are trimmed, her teeth aren’t overgrown, she has cardboard and boxes to rip and chew up, plenty of toys, and lots of freedom. I realize she’s a dominate rabbit, but this kind of behavior I can’t handle, I need help!

[Sarita]

She sounds like a bored rabbit who likes to dig. She needs activities and you won’t let her dig. I don’t think it’s aggression more than it’s an activity she enjoys and she needs to have a project. I think she so focused on the digging when you approach her you startle her and she bites.

[Isabelle]

She had stopped digging and looked at me when I came over, and I reached down to move her from the spot and that’s when she lunged and bit, so I didn’t think I startled her this time, she knew I was there, but she does get pretty intent on digging when she does it. What types of activities and projects do you mean? She has a lot of toys, plenty of boxes and cardboard, two tunnels, she goes to Hoppy Hour twice a month, she’s been to my preschool on field trips to hop around and meet my preschool class. She has the run of 1/3 of the 2000 sq. ft. house, and loves to go up and down the stairs. I signed her up for the next agility class they have at my humane society, and I wanted to start clicker training but BB was sold out of the book last time I checked. What else can I do? There is usually someone on the floor petting and playing with her about every hour, so I don’t think she’s lacking attention.

[Monkeybun]

She needs something she is allowed to dig at by the sounds of it.

[lashkay]

Isabelle, you might want to follow Binkybunny’s tip in Behavior/Does your bunny bite when you change the litterbox? and wear thick gloves Dutchess can bite while you calmly do what you will and she learns that biting doesn’t get her the result she’s after. Then, if she starts to growl and box with her paws you can stop and teach her the nonviolent responses work, the violent biting ones don’t. I don’t know it’s just a thought. Do protect your vulnerable flesh though!

[mplsbunlove]

Just a thought, but maybe a box with a carpet remnant that is ok to dig? Good luck. I know those bun teeth are intimadating.

[Isabelle]

Monkeybun: She has lots of cardboard and boxes she can dig on and chew up. She can and does stand on one end of the cardboard chunk, and rips up the other half in strips, which provides the resistance she wants. She just doesn’t do it that often x.x

lashkay: The gloves would be a good idea, except that she doesn’t bite my hands, she bites my arm, halfway between my elbow and my wrist. Long sleeves would work, but honestly if she’s ripping up carpet I don’t have time to go upstairs and hunt out a long sleeve shirt to change into and come back down. I’ve been grabbing a blanket to put over my hands/forearms, which seems to help, but it makes her angrier/more scared because she can’t see.

mplsbunlove: I thought about getting some carpet squares, but I fear she would just think digging up carpet is okay, and I really didn’t want to teach her that.

After more consideration I’ve noticed that she only really digs in one particular room. She will dig in others, but much more rarely. I think this particular room has longer carpet fibers, which are more fun to dig, so in future houses/rooms she is allowed in I will select more industrialized type of carpet to prevent this. I also think what I might do is flip over her hidey box and fill it with cardboard and some telephone books, etc. and some hay, and that can be her really big ‘dig box’. Perhaps that will help her. I am concered about the paper and ink that telephone books are used on, are they safe to be eaten, since I’m sure she will be eating it? Even the yellow pages?

[Michelle&Lolli]

I could be totally off base, but could it be that Dutchess is biting/growling/fighting in general cause she’s pissed she’s not getting her way? Just a thought.

Eddie used get all pissy with me when he’d be digging the carpet and I’d tell him no, spray with water, put back in pen. Last spring/summer I really started cracking down on him. He was one pure pissed off bunny for like a month because every time he’d do something like that, I’d put him back in his pen. He was used to being able to do whatever he wanted and then all of a sudden, he couldn’t. He got to the point where he started jumping up on me again and digging at my blankets and biting ME when I tried to pet him or put him on the floor. And growling at me. It’s just what happened with Eddie. I don’t know if it’s any way close to what is going with Dutchess though.

[Isabelle]

It’s possible this ‘agression’ is caused by her being angry with me for stopping her. Usually I get down and gently push her away and spray some body splash. It got so that I’d tell her no and when I got down on the floor she’d lunge at me growling before I even got close to her, like she knew I was going to stop her, which I was. Today I let her out and not three minutes have passed and she’s digging around the room like crazy. I clapped loudly and said no very loudly, and she stopped. I did that several times, then started just saying no loudly and firmly which made her stop and look at me. When she kept it up I used my foot and shin to side swipe her gently away from the spot, versus me using my hands and bare arms. She handled it well, and I didn’t hear one growl from her! I wonder if me being louder and staying off of her level prevented it because I was being dominate? Now she’s hopping around, binkying, and settled under her little table with her toys. Definate improvement, I had to put her back last night for digging, although she didn’t growl at me last night either.

–

She started digging again, I got her to stop by the same tactic, no growls either. This is so hard because this behavior is so constant, there is no particular area or time she favors to dig that I can prevent these episodes, and closing off this room to her would be really bad because it’s the largest room she can be in, and she can run full speed and get plenty of exercise.

[Tate]

It sounds like she’s enjoying the texture of this particular carpet. Pretty much all animals have a specific preference for something. You can almost think of it as a teething baby… There are many toys out there to aid in teething, but the kid is probably going to have one toy specifically that he/she likes and it’s probably due to texture or possibly taste. This is very common in dogs as well (giving a dog endless amounts of toys but he STILL goes for the shoes!). I would say there is one way to go about it, save for just keeping her out of the room.
Go to Home Depot or Lowe’s and get a few carpet tiles, as close to the same texture as the carpet in your house. Then, put those in her play area/cage and crush up half of a treat (I like the oxbow veggie treats… not totally “healthy” but seems to be one of the best out there). Sprinkle the crumbs around the carpet. Dutchess will either find this on her own or (what I would do) you can wait for her to go back and dig on the original carpet, pick her up, place her on the new carpet tiles, and viola! Redirecting her attention to something more fun and “valuable” will help. Rather than trying to discourage her from the original carpet, let her know there’s better (and yummier) things to do!

[Tate]

Oh, and as for her nipping, try to ignore it. If she feels like she hurt you, she kinda wins because she knows thats what it takes for you to back off. Be confident around her, it’s your space and not hers. Bunny bites definitely hurt, but you may be better off not even acknowledging it. This will let her know that throwing a tantrum will not help the situation.

[Dee]

I like the substitute carpet squares idea- the treat should really get her interested! Bunbun and Nelli both become obsessed with certain things that they just won’t leave alone- it’s so frustrating. Nelli likes fabric, like the edges of the couch skirt and anything that hangs down within her reach. She will also dig/bite at carpet if it’s too close to a couch or chair- it’s like she wants to “burrow” further under the furniture and doesn;t realize she can’t dig up the floor. BunBun likes woodwork, drywall and carpet. He really prefers carpet with a longer fiber too. That really scares me because carpet is so dangerous to eat.
When we had the old couch, BunBun literally tore it apart. It was nearly impossible to stop him, especially since our bunnies don’t have a cage. And he would nip me when I tried to block him or pull him away from his couch attack- it was the only time he’s ever been aggressive. And he’s had us give him butt baths and sub Q fluids, neither of which is much fun for him. I guess that beng denied access to their project of the moment really pisses our bunnies off :p . My solution is always just replace whatever he’s destroying- but I can’t get anything expensive!

[Author]

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