Smudge biting me?

[Smudge2000]

 My rabbit is called Smudge, he is a 10 month old dwarf lop eared rabbit. He is male and neutered. 

When I first got him at 2 months and we had a good bond and he licked me and sometimes led down on my knee.

As he got older he started to become more well like a moody teenager sometimes turning his back on me and digging the floor when he was unhappy and things like that.

Now, it seems to be much more often. He never really licks me anymore. When playing with him, he will come over to me and jump onto my knee. Then he starts digging and scratching my clothes and biting them. Also, quite often I try and stroke him (unless he is eating or something) he will turn around and nudge my hand and if I just keep stroking him he will nip me or grab my sleeve and push me away. Whenever he tries to bite me I notice its always just my clothes unless he manages to get my skin through my clothes, for instance if he’s sat on my knee he may go onto his hind legs and sniff my face, but he never bites my bare skin. 

Also, we have another rabbit pixie, his ‘girlfriend’ and he hates it if I stroke her. If he’s sat next to her and I stroke pixie he will bite my sleeve, or scratch me. 

He seems to like being held and if I carry him somewhere he will sit there and wait patiently but then as I put him down he will stomp his back legs and hop away from me. I know stomping is supported to be of fear but he never shows other signs being scared. If it from annoyance? He’s always so good when I hold him. 

I am unsure what to do about his behaviour. Thanks in advance.

[mia]

Thumping is not always because of fear. It can also show displeasure. One of my buns does the same thing, after being held and let back onto the floor, thump!

Some buns like to dig, push, pull, nudge, and nibble clothes/blankets. It doesn’t sound like he’s trying to harm you; maybe doesn’t realize the difference between your clothes and other fabrics. Not much you can do about this; buns don’t understand why you’re wearing clothes =). Have you given him a blanket to play with?

Buns can get jealous. One of my buns initially also got mad when I would try to pet her husbun. For mine, it’s decreased as time goes by. You can discipline (spray water) that scratching you when you pet another bun is unacceptable.

His “moodiness” is probably appearing because he’s becoming more comfortable in your home and now letting his true self show.

[Smudge2000]

Thanks for your help and what does it meant when he bites me when I they and stroke him. Does it mean he doesn’t like me stroking him?

[jackieblue]

My son’s (what was supposed to be a sweet baby of his own anyway) bunny, DigDug/Princess Peach is doing the same kinds of things to us as well. She is approx. 6 months and NOT fixed.
My son would have never mistreated her but gets so discouraged at her behavior of late, says he doesn’t want her anymore, etc. It has got to be hormones because she acts bent for a few days, we leave her be and then she is acting nice again and letting us pick her up and/or pet her as long as we like.

[LBJ10]

It sounds to me like he just doesn’t know he’s hurting you when digging in and biting your clothes. Some buns just want to dig. You could try giving him a fleece blanket to play with.

As for nipping you when you are petting him, he may be telling you he has had enough. Bunnies use their mouths to communicate since they don’t have hands. Like if Wooly wants me to stop doing something, then he will lightly put his teeth on me. He isn’t being mean or aggressive, he’s just saying “I’m done now, please stop”. If your bun has not learned to control the pressure, then you can try squealing when he nips. It tells him that he is hurting you and he will learn to be more gentle.

[Smudge2000]

jackieblue – well smudge is neutered so it can’t be hormone related. He did act a bit like this before, turning his back on me sometimes and things but if anything he seems worse lately. I am actually starting to think it could be related to dominance as he seemed to be much sweeter when he lived with pickles. Be bought his and pickles, his brother together and pickles seemed to be the dominant one. Unfortunately, pickles died young. We thought it was unfair for smudge to be alone so after he was neutered we got him a ‘girlfriend’ called pixie. Pixie is a very shy rabbit and of course was (and still is at the moment) smaller than Smudge. Could this be the reason for him behaving like this, because he is the boss of pixie (don’t get me wrong he still loves her very much – there always licking each other!) he thinks he is the boss of me too?

LBJ10 – that does make sense, he’s always digging and rearranging his bed. Smudge is still a friendly bunny, he likes being around people and will often hop over to me, nudge me, maybe give me a sniff and move along again. I just think its weird, I will go and sit with him (he might of been lying down or eating hay or something before) and he will just hop over to me, just onto my knee and start digging on me. As for the stroking, that seems like the case however it’s normally as soon as I start stroking him. Does this mean he just doesn’t like being stroked? Should I just not stroke him a lot?

[LBJ10]

I think rabbits are a lot like cats when it comes to petting and affection. Sometimes they want to be petted and sometimes they don’t. It depends on their mood at the moment. Perhaps your bun is one that wants to initiate the affection. If he comes to you, then he wants attention. If he doesn’t come to you, then he might not want attention.

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