Nipping bunny’s face?

[sarahthegemini]

Peanut has been confined to his hutch and pen to recover from his neuter, today we have expanded his area so the bunnies now have half the downstairs each. Whilst we were adjusting the panels, both Peanut and Buttercup could actually touch each other. My boyfriend said Buttercup nipped Peanut’s face, Peanut nipped back and then licked her face.

*The partition is doubled up now, it was only un-doubled for about 5 minutes*
 

A minute or so later Peanut nipped Buttercup’s face again. It made her flinch but she didn’t appear to be in pain, she made no sound and didn’t even move away. The fur on her head got a little messy, no fur pulling actually occurred, I think the nip is what made her look a bit tufty. He then tried digging – I wonder if he was trying to dig through the bars? I can’t imagine he’d be digging at Buttercup. Anyway, I’m not planning on bonding yet as Peanut’s surgery was only a few days ago  so ive got plenty of time but I’m just trying to be prepared. Everything I’ve read about bonding says that nipping is okay but I’m having trouble accepting this – what’s the science behind nipping, what does it actually mean? How do I know when I need to interfere? Do I need to interfere? Help!?

[Mikey]

Nipping is usually “i dont like what youre doing”. It could be that he felt like the entire downstairs shouldve been his, so he nipped her to say “i dont like that youre hear”. Or if the spay or her medication is making her smell different it could be “i dont like your new smell”. Interfere bites or if theres multiple (3+ is when i normally block and pet both) nips in a row. Bites are usually longer and often pull fur, whereas nips are usually quick and fast communications

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Mikey on 12/17/2016 12:23 AM

Nipping is usually “i dont like what youre doing”. It could be that he felt like the entire downstairs shouldve been his, so he nipped her to say “i dont like that youre hear”. Or if the spay or her medication is making her smell different it could be “i dont like your new smell”. Interfere bites or if theres multiple (3+ is when i normally block and pet both) nips in a row. Bites are usually longer and often pull fur, whereas nips are usually quick and fast communications

Thanks Mikey, I was hoping you’d respond! We did stop him after a few nips, and fortunately they never evolved into bites. It’s making me a little nervous though for when we do start bonding. I was so excited before. They often lay near each other on their respective sides of the fencing, not necessarily because they want to be close but I thought they just felt comfortable around each other? 

[Mikey]

Woo! Yea, nipping can be intimidating. My boyfriend always wants to jump in when he sees nips but i always have to stop him. As long as both bunnies are ok and nothing escalates, then its fine. My Blue nips a lot to get his point across. He nips if someone is in his way to wherever he wants to go. He nips if he wants to cuddle and you arnt cuddling him. He nips if you tickle him (very common to accidentally do when hes shedding). My Bombur nips only when he wants to be groomed, which isnt often. My Badger doesnt nip at all. My point being, its not really a big deal at all as long as everybunny is ok with it

Oh, and yes! When they lay near one another on their respective sides of the fence, it signifies that they are comfortable around one another

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Mikey on 12/17/2016 10:59 AM

Woo! Yea, nipping can be intimidating. My boyfriend always wants to jump in when he sees nips but i always have to stop him. As long as both bunnies are ok and nothing escalates, then its fine. My Blue nips a lot to get his point across. He nips if someone is in his way to wherever he wants to go. He nips if he wants to cuddle and you arnt cuddling him. He nips if you tickle him (very common to accidentally do when hes shedding). My Bombur nips only when he wants to be groomed, which isnt often. My Badger doesnt nip at all. My point being, its not really a big deal at all as long as everybunny is ok with it

Oh, and yes! When they lay near one another on their respective sides of the fence, it signifies that they are comfortable around one another

I think having bunnies is so different to say, dogs for example, that it’s difficult to fully understand how they communicate – I am trying though, but that’s why bonding is such a big deal to me. I want to make sure I know what they’re ‘saying’ to one another. And because I can’t speak bunny yet (lol) I want to be sure I know when to get involved and when to leave them be. I’ll definitely keep in mind what you said **when bonding begins, a little nip is okay but stop multiple nips in a row** Phew! 

 Also that last part you wrote is very reassuring! 

[Mikey]

Glad i can help!

I agree bunnies communicate much different do dogs. Dogs nipping is usually a sign of aggression where as buns nipping is just a minor sign of not liking something someone else is doing. To stop repeated nipping, block the bun who is nipping then gently squish them next to one another and give them both pets for a minute or two. This will calm the nipper down and hopefully relax the bun who was nipped so they dont see a need to escalate. Then, of course, let them get back to their normal bonding session

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Mikey on 12/17/2016 1:59 PM

Glad i can help!

I agree bunnies communicate much different do dogs. Dogs nipping is usually a sign of aggression where as buns nipping is just a minor sign of not liking something someone else is doing. To stop repeated nipping, block the bun who is nipping then gently squish them next to one another and give them both pets for a minute or two. This will calm the nipper down and hopefully relax the bun who was nipped so they dont see a need to escalate. Then, of course, let them get back to their normal bonding session

Thanks Mikey, I’ll keep that in mind when I start  

I just knocked into the blooming partition and the two lots of fencing got pushed together. Buttercup stuck her nose through, and Peanut stuck his nose through and he just sniffed her! No nipping! 

I’ve straightened the partition out now so again, they can’t touch eachother but my clumsiness has made me feel more comfortable now because I cn see that he doesn’t nip her whenever he has opportunity too!

[Mikey]

Woohoo! Maybe he nipped her the first time because he was confused about something. Its good theyre willing to get along

[Author]

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