Sherman's Nipping Me!

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BunnyMommy

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, Georgia, USA
Hi, guys. I don't know what'sgoing on. For a while now Sherman wouldnudge myankle(s)with his nose to get my attention. He wouldusually want to be petted or want a treat. Sometimes he wouldwant me to brush him.

Now he's developed the nasty little habit of nipping me without warningon the ankle(s). Sometimes he's trying to pull mysocks. Sometimes he's really trying to nip me. Nowin the past he would nip me if I didn't respond to his nudges ... butnow he'll just walk up to me and nip me!

I have no idea what this means! I'll scream to make him knowthat it hurts and tell him "no", but he doesn't even seem to care thatit hurts! In fact, sometimes he'll do it AGAIN after Iscream! :( He just nipped me again a few minutes ago and whenI was trying to get away from him he started nipping the other ankle.

What I do know:

  • He's not mad when he nips.
  • He doesn't nudge me first, then nip; he just nips!
  • I was fixing his breakfast yesterday and he was nipping me the whole time that I was fixing it!
  • He doesn't seem to want anything in particular when he nips.
Anyone have any insight into this behavior. Myankles would be eternallygrateful.

 
Could be a funny, bunny way of saying, "I loveyou.", if you've eliminated the other possibilities. They donip their partners at times.

Missy used to nip me, hurt, and even drawn blood, and I know she lovesme and it wasn't done in anger. She's gradually grown out ofit, and by and large just gives me kisses now. I played the"ouch" game with her, and told her to refrain in a manner our Carolynwould approve of. It has, apparently,worked.

Buck
 

Hi BunnyMommy,

What a little stinker! Could be that he's:

-asserting his dominance
-giving you love bites
-looking for attention
-feeling aggressive

It hurts when they nip. Those teeth aren't soft. Yell out "Ouch!" whenhe does it. Rabbits usually associate a loud screech/scream as pain andmany will stop after that's done a few times.

Is it happening when you're near his food dish? Are you noticing thathe's doing this while you do certain things or is it a random act? Hecould be protecting his turf, or in quiet times, just giving you a nipto get your attention and because he loves you.

Keep us posted.

-Carolyn
 
Buck,have mercy! Who says lovedoesn'thurt!!! LOL!

Carolyn, it's just random nipping. The other morning hedid keep nipping me while I was fixing his breakfast, but itwasn't because I was bothering his bowl. He's more than happyto see me when I'm bringing food! LOL! I can besitting or standing. The screaming out, yelling "ouch", andsaying "no" have no effect. If I don't start running, he justkeeps nipping. :( I think it may be time to bringout the spray bottle. ;) He's definitely not angryand is not being aggressive at all. I guess he is justtrying to show me that he loves me ... but good gravy, just a nosenudge would do! LOL!
 
Aww! Sorry to hear Sherman is nipping youBunnymommy! Maybe he felt that just being nudged with his nose wasn'tenough to show you how much he really loves you so he took it uponhimself to turn it up a notch lol:D

~pam


maybe he found out about the pictures you took of him getting caughtwith his head in the rasin box & thought his reputation wasbeing tarnished :shock:LOL!!
 


Yup, BunnyMommy! Sounds like you have this one figured out from theattention seeking down to the 'hurry up mom, don't play with my foodbowl, fill it and give it to me!' attitude.

This calls for drastic measures! The Ouch tactic AND the water gun.

Oh that Sherman! As if he doesn't get enough of attention. He's acharacter. I love that little guy! He sure thinks he's entitled toeverything just by showing up.

Give him a big kiss for me.

* * * * * * * * *

*laughs* at Pamela227's comments!

* * * * * * * * *

Buck's right, you may want to have a little chat with that the MonsterBoy. He may play like he can't hear you, but you tell him that this isjust not going to get him what he wants and he's got to stop it!

They call me crazy, but I firmly believe they understand what we'resaying. You can tell by their behavior. I've seen it evidenced byTucker and others.

-Carolyn
 
Sorry he's biting you bunnymommy, I know exactlyhow it is! Mocha is a terrible biter. I don't really know what to doabout it, except raise my voice to him or clap my hands together, thisstops him on occasion.
 
I'lltell you what, Pam. If he doesn't get his life in order he'sgoing to be in the mother of all time outs! lol!:?

Carolyn, he went after meagain!!! I was just struggling to getout of his way,but he was like a tenacious bulldog.He was DETERMINED to nip me! You should have seenit!!! I finally got tired of saying "no!"and"ouch!", so I reached for that spray bottle and squirtedhim good. He took off! Then he had the nerve tosulk at me for a while before he came back and laid down next tome. I'll tell you ... this little hoodlum! I've gotto restore some law and order, my sweet baby or not!

M&Smom, hecankeep nipping meif he wants! If hedoesn't get it together he'll be making aVERY closeacquaintance with that spraybottle! lol!
 
:shock:i'm worried now that my bunnydoesn't nip me! it is if he is less confident;fearfull. i recently hadto board him with what was supposed to be an excellent 'rescue shelter'when i came to get him the owners 'little dog' was right outsidespankys cage hassling spanky! he was all arched up,eyes bulgedout!....now he doesn't nip me anymore! just as we would not expect ourfriends to have perfect 'habits' all of the time..why do people thinkis fine to enforce behavior in/on animals? they all have thier ownpersonalities,i LIKE to see thier OWN innate feelings/behaviors comeout. being a boy bun he was pushey! letting me know what it is!bunnystyle mon....spankysmom
 
The book I'm reading tells me that when the rabbitdoes anything wrong, scoop him up, repeat "no" over and over and puthim in his hutch and shut the door, then ignore him for awhile. They then learn that if they do this thing that it'lllead to the punishment of being put back in the hutch and noattention/petting.

We're trying this with Henry, but still he chews on the fridgewire! We've only had him a week, but he seems to beunderstanding what's right and wrong, he always looks to us forconfirmation when he's about to chew something. If we say noand put our hand between him and the non-chewable thing, he hops off tofind some other mischeif. It's starting to work now that justsaying "No, Henry" will stop him... depending on what it is.He's a determined wee thing when it comes to black bin bags!
 
"just as we would not expect our friends to haveperfect 'habits' all of the time..why do people think is fine toenforce behavior in/on animals?"

SpankysMom,

You might not mind being bitten by your rabbit, but that's your deal.

No one here is looking for the perfect habits all the time.We've found effective ways to stop bad behavior by following simpletechniques that are not harmful to our rabbits. I hope yourrabbit goes back to biting you since you seem to miss it. Notall of us find this trait endearing, but painful and unnecessary andone that can be corrected.

The people on this board give their rabbits a very full, luxurious,loving life; and BunnyMommy is certainly an Ideal BunnyMommy.Her rabbit, Sherman,gets to express himself the 'BunnyStyleMon' way every day, hundreds of times. She's gone ahundred-extra-miles for her rabbit by first saving it's life byrescuing it, and then spendinga lot of money to cure it ofsickness. Please refrain from cutting on people's way ofhandling their rabbits; especially when you don't know them or theirhistory with their rabbit. A little OUCH here and a littlesquirt there is not going to jeopardize her rabbit's personality orhealth.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Dear BunnyMommy,

You're absolutely correct to try to break Sherman of this newhabit. Keep up correcting him and use the waterbottle if youhave to. They do have a sense of guilt and that's why he gaveyou the brush-off and tried to make up with you later. He's asmart little guy, he'll learn. He does want to pleaseyou. As Delphinum said, they do have a sense of what's rightand wrong. It may take a little while, but be consistent andpatient; you might not win the battle, but you'll win the war.

-Carolyn

 
Thank you so much, Carolyn. I truly wasconfused by SpankysMom's reply, and that's why I hadn't responded toit. You answered it, though, more succinctly and with moredignity and finesse than I ever could have managed.

Thank you so much.
 
SpankysMom doesn't have a clue as to yoursituation. Perhaps she doesn't know how to stop the nipping or didn'tknow it was possible to.

Don't let it bother you. I'd trust you with Tucker anyday. You're an excellent caretaker of Sherman.

You just keep up the good work you're doing. Let us know howit goes and don't wear something that isn't even fitting orknowledgeable to your situation.

-Carolyn


 
Everybody, I'm so excited! I don't knowwhether it was a guilty conscience, the fact that he's now an Internetsuperstar, or the HUGE bag of toys that I bought him when I was outtoday, but Sherman NOT ONLY LET ME PICK HIM UP, HE LET ME HOLD HIM FORA WHOLE MINUTE OR SO!!!

I just can't believe it! This is a real breakthrough!!!

I've been on the phone calling everybody and telling them.(They think I'm crazy... ...but I don't care!!! lol! )
 


WOW!!! :dude: That Is Huge Progress. That's AWESOME! I'm so happy for you!!

Congratulations! You ARE WORTHY!!

-Carolyn
 
You're not nuts! Congradulations on your breakthrough! lol, it only takes time. That's how I was acting the firsttime Spice let me pet his belly. My parents told me I needed a life.:Dlmao.

Laura
 
LOL Sherman heard you mention 'time out' andthought he better stop before he gets himself in more trouble:DCongrats on being able to hold him!

I think the nipping bug is going around all bunnies now heh I gave Oreoa new toy last night & went to pet her & she nipped mebut I think she did it cause she thought I'd take it away from her orgive her medicine.. :?

~pam
 
Spankysmom,

One of the problems in printed forums, like this, is it is easy to getmisunderstood because we all are relying on the printed word to conveyour meanings, without any non-verbal looks, tones, eye to eye contact,shrugs, etc. Emoticons can help a little, but it is not thesame as actually speaking to someone.

Anyway, don't take all the posts to heart. No body is mad atyou. It's just a little difficult to understand your wordingat times, so things can get a little confused.;)

Don't get your feelings hurt and leave us, just yet. We canall stand to learn different viewpoints from one another, and there isroom here in this forum to do that. :D

Buck
 

Hi Spankysmom,

No, you didn't know, but now you do.

You're most welcome here.

BunnyMommy has a lot to teach in how to administer medicine in arabbit, how to gain its trust; she's very proficient at technology, andshe's brought Sherman back from an illness that most rabbits die from.She's spent many a sleepless nights, and dollars on bringing him backto life. If anyone has rabbit ears on their heart, it's BunnyMommy.

Like you, we love and want our rabbits the happiest and healthiest they can be.

-Carolyn

Again, you obviously have a big heart for rabbits and we're happy to have you with us. It's okay. :)
 

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