LOVING BUNNY WHO BITES RANDOMLY

[Ziggy14]

Hi, I am hoping someone here can help me as I am at a complete loss. I have been reading so much about biting bunnies that I’m going cross eyed and still getting no answers!  My husband and I agreed to watch a friends bunny while she went away to take care of a family emergency. Ziggy has been with us for a little over a month and is just an absolute love…we have become so attached to him that our friend who was never really able to give him the attention he deserves has asked us to keep him.  We agreed as we now cannot imagine our lives without him. My daughter and husband have both formed a bond with Ziggy which is great.  Ziggy and I however are almost beyond bonded we are pretty close to inseperable, to say I love this rabbit is an understatement.  Anyway,  Ziggy is roughly 2 1/2 and he is a lionhead…he lives cage free and has full run of the house.  He is incredibly well behaved and very friendly.  About two weeks after having him come to stay with us he would start getting very wild and acting nutty when I would get ready for work.  As soon as I began to get dressed and put my shoes and coat on he would start lunging at me and biting my ankles HARD! It took some time but we were able to  figure out that he knew this meant I was leaving and was showing his displeasure by biting.  I started waiting until the last minute to put my shoes and coat on and do so out of his sight, since then we have not had anymore problems with biting.  Until today that is…I was up quite a bit last night unable to sleep and hung out for a long time on the floor giving Ziggy mounds of attention (nothing new) Even after I got up and layed on the couch I continued to pet him since he jumps up and lays with me.  I got up to go the bathroom and the next thing I know he is sinking his teeth into the back of my foot.  I firmly told him no and sat back down.  About an hour later I went upstairs to get something and when I came down he did it again.  He has never bitten me in this context before and I can’t figure out what I did to set him off.  He was not nuetered by his previous owner and this is something we plan to do asap.  He show s no other signs of aggressive behavior and does not bite anyone but me.  I am at a loss as to what is causing him to act this way and hope someone can give me some insight as to why he only does it to me.  He never bit his previous owner so it is a new behavior. I want to stress that he is an extremely happy bunny and not a day goes by where he is not binkying or bunny flopping. I am so sorry to be so long winded but I wanted to make sure to cover all the bases…the only other thing I should mention is that after being here about a week he did try to court me–he was stamping his feet and making honking noises, I had been sitting on the floor with him and when i got up he ran circles around my feet and you guessed it gave me a nasty bite on the top of my foot.  Any input anyone has would be so appreciated–just trying to hang on until he’s nuetered and hoping that nips this nonsense in the bud but until then I need some relief–I never know what will provoke an attack anymore!! Thank you again!!

Amy and Ziggy

[Tessie]

Hi Amy, welcome to the forum!
So pleased to hear you and your family have found love with Ziggy!

I’m not sure if I really know the answer to your problem so hopefully someone else will, but I’ll have a think.

He’s obviously very attached to you… I wonder if it was because you stopped giving him attention? I know lots of buns nip if you stop petting them before they’re ready, haha. Maybe this is the same thing.
Or maybe he just didn’t want you to leave, the same as when you went to work.

Is this definitely a proper bite, and not a nip?

It’s good to hear you plan to have him neutered soon, as this will stop hormonal driven behaviours, but I don’t know if the biting is a hormonal behaviour or not to be honest. :/

Hopefully someone with a better idea can help you!

[Ziggy14]

Hi,

Thank you so much for responding–any insight is welcome at this point! Ziggy’s bites are definetly the aggressive kind, I would welcome a nip He bites so hard that he draws blood and leaves bruises and teeth marks.  My husband thinks as you do that he is just angry that I have stopped giving him attention and is showing his displeasure.  I also am leaning in this direction as it seems the most logical but really wanted to get the advice of some more expierienced bun lovers. Again, thank you so much for your input–it makes me think we are  on the right track and just have an attention hound on our hands! Poor guy went so long spending so much time alone that I think no matter how much love I give him it’s never enough

[Tessie]

Ooh, those bites sound nasty, poor you!

You’re very nice, glad to hear I was somewhat helpful!
I’m sure someone else will be able to help better, I don’t actually have any experience with biting rabbits. (Lucky me!)

It must be lovely to know you’ve given him a new lease of life with such a great home.

[Bam]

I’ve two bunnies. Yohio has bitten and drawn blood for attention/treats. I wrote the forums about it – he ran after me into the bathroom and sunk his teeth into my calf, then looked surprised as I pushed him away and immediately returned to periscope for a treat. Yohio can also nip. Bam nips my mother if she stops petting him sooner than he’d like, and the nips hurt, they’re not like little friendly nips. My mother is Bam’s favourite person.

Yohio gets upset if I don’t pet him long enough in the evenings. He comes up to my hand and bores his little head into it and if I don’t pet him, he may growl and box me. It doesn’t appear nice one bit but I’ve concluded it is, in a way. Because if I pet his head like a good bunny-mommy, he’s so pleased and just lies there, his chin to the ground. This typically happen days when I’ve not been at home to give him a lot of attention.

It’s rather chocking though if you’re used to f ex dogs.

[Beka27]

Welcome to BB!

I hope everything is okay with your friend and her family. That was very kind of you to take him in…

Do you know how old he is, is he still young? If so, that may be why your friend never experienced these behaviors. He may be just reaching sexual maturity. Getting him neutered should help with these behaviors.

[Ziggy14]

Bam–

I think you guys have nailed it, the more I go over it in my head it seems to make the most sense that it is attention related.  Poor Ziggy doesn’t understand that I can’t spend my whole day on the floor playing with him Biting while negative attention is still attention right? I don’t ever get angry with him because I know he is not doing it to be mean, he’s obviously trying to tell me something–it’s just been fustrating trying guess what that is….thanks for helping me try to figure it out and for letting me know I’m not alone! so much appreciated!

[Ziggy14]

He is such a love it was a pleasure to take him, it worked out for the best because she just was not able to give him the attention he needed–I think he was very lonely…it was an amazing gift for her to realize this and give him to us…we love him so! I believe he is around 2.5 years but I have to ask her to be sure.  We are without a doubt going to get him neutered, I think he will be a happier bunny in the long run without all those hormones making him crazy! I am keeping my fingers crossed that this makes him less aggressive towards me puts an end to the biting altogether.  Thank you so much for taking the time to help me figure this out, it’s nice to get feedback from people who are willing to share their bunny experiences

[Beka27]

When he does bite, even just lightly, try letting out a short, high squeal. That will sometimes discourage them from doing that.

Please keep us posted on how he does. If you want, you can also start an introduction thread in the intro section!

[Tessie]

Yes, yes, we love seeing pictures of new members’ bunnies!

[Ziggy14]

Thank you all for being so helpful and welcoming–so far today no bites! I will continue to keep you posted!

[LBJ10]

Is that him in your avatar? OMG, he reminds me of my little Wooly. =D

It does sound like it is attention-seeking behavior. Neutering him might help with that. Like Beka said though, he needs to understand that he is hurting you. Squealing like a bunny that is in pain tells him that his biting is hurting you. If you can get him right as he’s going in for the bite, then that is really good.

My Wooly only nips when he is annoyed or wants my hand out of the way. When he does though, it is a soft nip. So you want to try to get your bunny to the point where he controls how hard he is biting down. I don’t think you will be able to make him stop completely. If it is a soft “putting his teeth on you” sort of nip though, it isn’t so bad.

[JPetrucci84]

I’ve even turned my back on Cinder when she bit me a couple of times. This REALLY got her attention, since it’s a way of showing bunny annoyance.

[Ziggy14]

I’ve read that squealing works and I keep meaning to try it but when he bites me I’m so taken aback I usually just yell a very loud OUCH!! Going to have to try harder to remember to do that and see it if helps No bites for two days which makes me very happy!

[Ziggy14]

Yep that is Ziggy in my avatar–Such a handsome boy–I’ll have to get some more pictures up soon!

[Author]

Messages