Forum

OUR FORUM IS UP BUT WE ARE STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF UPDATING AND FIXING THINGS.  SOME THINGS WILL LOOK WEIRD AND/OR NOT BE CORRECT. YOUR PATIENCE IS APPRECIATED.  We are not fully ready to answer questions in a timely manner as we are not officially open, but we will do our best. 

You may have received a 2-factor authentication (2FA) email from us on 4/21/2020. That was from us, but was premature as the login was not working at that time. 

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

What are we about?  Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Deaf bunnies – What works?

Viewing 14 reply threads
  • Author
    Messages

    • LBJ10
      Moderator
      16870 posts Send Private Message

        I know I’m not the only one here with a deaf bunny. I wanted to start a thread to talk about what works and what doesn’t.

        This website was suggested in my other thread: http://www.ohare.org/vol2_1.htm#deaf

        As you know, I have had a terrible problem with Leopold biting. Hard. I really think it is because he can’t hear, probably never could, and he never learned how to communicate properly.

        I was holding Leopold tonight, just to see if this would work. Without hesitation, Leopold tried taking a chunk out of my arm. I was smart though, I was wearing a jacket he couldn’t bite through very easily. Anyway, right as he went in for the bite, I put my mouth on his ear and made a noise so it would vibrate his ear. He stopped. He did it again, I repeated. He stopped again.

        Does this sound like it might work? I waited until he was done trying to bite me to put him down so that way he doesn’t think biting gets him his way. Of course he’s bitten me numerous times where he was the one who got into my lap and was perfectly capable to getting off again. So I don’t know what was up with that.

        Thoughts?

        Feel free to discuss other deaf-bunny related stuff too.


      • bunnyfriend
        Participant
        2368 posts Send Private Message

          I’m at a loss for what to do about nipping too, Wilbur nips me to communicate but I’m not always sure what she means (well I do know what she means when she does it while I’m holding her). I’m going to give your idea a try it see if it works for her, I think your on the right track here.

          Wilbur understands visual clues, I’m almost positive. If I tap my chest she’ll come up into my lap, stand up, and put her paws on me. Or if I put my hand on the tunnel she’ll go through.

          I read on that website a while back about resting your chin on your bunny’s head and trying to simulate tooth purring, I tried this with Wilbur and she responded with tooth purrs! Now I try to do it (when she’s allowing me to touch her) to let her know I’m happy and love her. I really think it helps her relax. Have you tried that with Leopold?

          Also I’ve been thinking about maybe “thumping” when she does something “bad”. But I know they use that in the wild to signify danger and I don’t want her to be confused or scared.

          I don’t know if you feel the same way about your bun or not but I feel like Wilbur and I are disconnected (sorry if that sounds weird). I believe that she could hear when I first adopted her because she tried to chew on something she shouldn’t and when I clapped she would stop and look up. She was so friendly and brave as a baby but now she’s really skittish around me in the sense that she’ll come up to me and nudge me or jump on my back but she really doesn’t want me to touch her, except for once in a while. I think if I could understand a better way of communicating she’d feel more safe with me, she certainly feels safe with Totoro who definitely “speaks her language”.


        • LBJ10
          Moderator
          16870 posts Send Private Message

            I did try the tooth purring thing and got no response. I’m wondering if Leopold even knows what that is since I’ve never heard him do it. I do feel that Leopold and I are disconnected. I can communicate with Wooly, no problem. This doesn’t mean Leopold doesn’t come to me. If I come into their room, he will run over and head bump my leg. He wants a treat, I know that. When Leopold is misbehaving, I will have to physically remove him since yelling “no” doesn’t do any good. Sometimes I will throw a soft toy at him to get his attention too. This works if he’s chewing on the wall. It gets his attention, so he knows I’m there and he already knows that that is a no-no. Other than that though, it seems like he mostly relies on Wooly for visual cues.


          • bunnyfriend
            Participant
            2368 posts Send Private Message

              Hmm I may have to try the soft toy thing for stuff like that.


            • LBJ10
              Moderator
              16870 posts Send Private Message

                I think it’s about the same as making a noise or using a squirt bottle. It interrupts what he’s doing.


              • Elrohwen
                Participant
                7318 posts Send Private Message

                  I think Otto is mostly deaf (though not all – I do think he can hear the clicker because his training improved greatly when I started using the clicker).

                  I don’t really have any issues with him though, so I can’t say I have any advice. He’s spent time as a standoffish bunny but he’s become gradually more friendly over the years and we have a pretty good bond now. He’s never been skittish and his hearing doesn’t seem to have an effect there – he’s pretty much impossible to startle (which is strange for a deaf animal and why I thought for so long that he must be able to hear).

                  For the biting, I think I would move to a spray bottle and see if that will snap him out of it. I would try not to scare him with it, but a light misting might interrupt him. Since he dose it when you hold him, you might have luck just holding him through the bites (while wearing a heavy coat) and he should realize that his biting isn’t getting him anywhere.

                  I’ve found that Otto is pretty visual. I can call him all day and he won’t respond, obviously, but if I use my hand to call him to me and I’m within his line of sight he’ll come running. He just seems to want to communicate visually so he spends a lot of time looking at me now and reading my cues (mostly so he won’t be left out when I have treats :-P)


                • Kokaneeandkahlua
                  Participant
                  12067 posts Send Private Message

                    Sorry-i can’t recall-why do you think he’s deaf-just because of the biting? has he had a recent exam to ensure he’s not in pain? How long has he been nipping?


                  • LBJ10
                    Moderator
                    16870 posts Send Private Message

                      Posted By Kokaneeandkahlua on 01/18/2012 08:32 PM
                      Sorry-i can’t recall-why do you think he’s deaf-just because of the biting? has he had a recent exam to ensure he’s not in pain? How long has he been nipping?

                      No, it isn’t just because of the biting. It is a number of things. I had a thread about it. I was repeatedly traumatizing Wooly. LOL Basically, Leopold has no reaction whatsoever to loud noises. I have done several “experiments” including the treat bag crinkle test and the sneak up on him and make a loud noise test. It is pretty obvious Leopold is not hearing the sounds since I can never get any reaction out of him whatsoever. As for his biting, he has always been a biter. Squealing or saying “ow” doesn’t get any reaction from him and certainly doesn’t deter him. I can say “ow” to Wooly and he will stop and look at me. He also does not respond to me yelling “no” when he’s doing something wrong. Again, Wooly always “listens” when I tell him no. So I’m thinking the biting is the result of Leopold not knowing how to communicate properly and I’m having trouble correcting the behavior because I believe he can’t hear me. I haven’t taken him to the vet yet. We agreed (on BB) that it wasn’t something worth dragging him to the vet over. I will just ask about it the next time we are there.


                    • Kokaneeandkahlua
                      Participant
                      12067 posts Send Private Message

                        Oh gotcha-thank you! I think I remember you talking about thinking he was deaf. If the biting isn’t new I agree…it’s just when something like that starts it could be pain.

                        The only thing I would do with biting is withdraw attention when he bites and try to avoid letting him bite (lol easier said then done right!) but I wouldn’t punish for it-punishment yields unpredictable to no results-so even a yell, clap, spray bottle etc-those don’t yield predictable results. Instead I’d maybe focus on positive reinforcement for proper behavior. Start with the smallest acceptable behaviour that he offers-if he will come up and sniff, treat. And work from there. If something doesn’t work-they stop. And if it works they keep doing it. So I would use the principles of positive reinforcement (treats for what you want) and negative punishment (nothing or nothing good for what you don’t want) to tackle this. I’d recommend reading Karen Pryor or jean Donaldson for some more ideas hope this helps!


                      • LBJ10
                        Moderator
                        16870 posts Send Private Message

                          But wouldn’t putting him down when he bites just reinforce the behavior? There are times when he gets into my lap by himself and then chomps for no reason. There are other times when I have to pick him up though so I can do stuff to him. He bites me then too. So I’m afraid putting him down and turning my back would just tell him that biting gets me to “leave him alone”.


                        • Elrohwen
                          Participant
                          7318 posts Send Private Message

                            If he’s jumping up on your lap himself then he wants to be there so pushing him off of your lap and turning away would be a good strategy. You’re right that you shouldn’t put him down if you’re holding him and he bites, but in this case he’s coming up on his own.


                          • LBJ10
                            Moderator
                            16870 posts Send Private Message

                              LOL, so you’re saying to shove him off if he’s the one getting in my lap and to not let him have his way when I’m the one picking him up and holding him? There have been two occasions where he has gotten into my lap and then bitten my knee. Most of the other times, I had picked him up to groom him or whatever and he bit my arm.


                            • Stickerbunny
                              Participant
                              4128 posts Send Private Message

                                Have you tried thumping the ground? It vibrates the floor as well as making noise, might work for being naughty when you’re not near him. The non-verbal things I do when buns are being nippy is very gently push their heads away from my arm and turn my face away from them (sort of like turning your back, but you don’t have to put them down), after about 10 seconds if they haven’t tried to nip again I pet them. The holding for grooming isn’t a _positive_ attention to them, so I don’t think you need to put him down, just show him disapproval. I never use verbal with Stickers cause honestly she doesn’t respond to noises when I make them (except when she cares to, rarely and only when it’s high pitched and annoying), she’ll totally and utterly ignore me… but I know she can hear cause any noises outside upset her and cause a thump fest, she just chooses not to care. So everything has to be physical. Another thing you could do is lightly rock your knees if he’s on your lap, hold him so he’s secure so he can’t hurt himself, but just kind of moving the surface he’s on so he gets a tiny bit off balance… it’s a trick people use for parrots who bite, because they don’t respond well to noises either.


                              • LBJ10
                                Moderator
                                16870 posts Send Private Message

                                  Thumping doesn’t do much to Leopold and it just upsets Wooly. Leopold never thumps and never responds to Wooly thumping. I wonder if he knows what thumping means. I have tried pushing his head gently and the little brat will actually push back. LOL
                                  I haven’t tried rocking to make him feel insecure before. I worry he would freak out and try to jump or something.


                                • Elrohwen
                                  Participant
                                  7318 posts Send Private Message

                                    Haha, yeah, that’s basically it. Think about what he wants at that moment – what is motivating for him? If he wants to be on your lap, then letting him stay there while he bites is reinforcing his biting. If you’re holding him and he wants to get down, then putting him down would be reinforcing the bite. It’s all about what he wants at that moment and doing the opposite of that if he’s biting.

                                Viewing 14 reply threads
                                • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

                                Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Deaf bunnies – What works?