Teen years

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MyBabyBunnies

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Aw, you know, in the year I've had Spice, he onlyever bit me once when I had raspberry juice on my fingers and hemistook them for food. That changed today. I was holding him and hegrabbed hold of my coat and was chewing and pulling and clawing, whichwas okay since it's an old coat anyways. I knew he was in a bad mood bythe way he was vigorously doing it. Then my normally sweet little bunnybit my thumb hard enough to draw blood. I feel so unloved byhim, Iwas hoping he wouldn't go through the teen stage. Now I have to cuddlewith Mocha because my cuddle bug isn't cuddly anymore.
 
No Worries. He'll be back.

He was just in a bad mood. We all have them.

:)

-Carolyn
 
He's probably more mad at me. After he did that Iwas kind of mad and instead of putting him back in his run, I sent himback to his cage. Now when I so much as come near he runs away, and ifI put my hand in, I better be counting my fingers when I pull itbackout.
 
I just posted about this recently. My sweet,gentle little Pauly had become a grumpy, moody, jerky little guy. Buckhad a great suggestion for some bonding: rubbing the inside and outsideof the bun's ears at the same timewith your thumb and indexfinger. It definately inspired Pauly to let me snuggle withhim. Pauly has pretty much snapped out of his mood. It took abit of time and tons of bribary from mein the form of banana,carrots, & oatmeal...I'm such a sucker. So don't worry. It'llpass.
 
The ear thing totally works. I used it on Izzy when she was settling in on her first day here as a 6-wk. old.

Rose
 
Im sorry to hear he bit ya...my bun tries to kickoutta my hands in the am hours yesterday he let out a lil squeek andwent to bite my hand i pulled away....i think he gets so excited in theam he loves to run around i think i p***** him off cause i had to puthim back in my daughters room I alsorub my buns ears he getsso relaxed while im doing it then i stop he looks for my hand andnudges it as to say hey why did yastop???!!
 
Sarah wrote:
Ijust posted about this recently. My sweet, gentle little Pauly hadbecome a grumpy, moody, jerky little guy. Buck had a great suggestionfor some bonding: rubbing the inside and outside of the bun's ears atthe same timewith your thumb and index finger. It definatelyinspired Pauly to let me snuggle with him. Pauly has prettymuch snapped out of his mood. It took a bit of time and tons of bribaryfrom mein the form of banana, carrots, &oatmeal...I'm such a sucker. So don't worry. It'll pass.
Yep, Sarah! I think that this technique reallycontributed to Sherman's newfound affection for me too!:)
 
Spice wont have any of it, and worst of all, myparents are giving him lots of treats today. I'm really hoping he wontthink its rewarding for his bad behaviour. He just thumps at me when Igo near and it's not like I did anything to him. He did, however, forthe briedfest moment, allow me to hold him on his back and then hejumped out of my arms. Mocha's already gone through this and it neverbothered me at all because I expected it, but I just wasn'tprepared for my little sweety to. I'm just ignoring him for now, he'smuch friendlier when he sees me petting Mocha and gets jealous.
 

I definitely agree that Buck Jones's advice about the ear rubbing is a quick way into most bunny's hearts. No doubt about it.

As Buck told me, "If you find that sweet spot on Missy's ears, she'lldrop her head back and start kissing you." Since she's been in my care,I've been trying. Found it last night, and sure enough: She did exactlythat. Those of you that have kept up with the stories of Missy knowthat she's not a 'Softy'. This action melted her immediately, twice.

Keep in mind, there are a few exceptions to the rule. Tucker hates meto rub his ears like that. Shakes me off and hops away, every time.

* * * * * * * * *

Laura,

I know you're not able to get close to Spice to even touch him. I dobelieve this will go in waves as I've experienced it myself. It's theage, just like you originally suspected by naming this post.

My advice to you is to talk to him. Don't even try to pet him. Keep thecage door closed, and just talk to him and tell him how much you lovehim and how difficult he's making it on you.

You'll know whether he's receptive or not by what his ears do. Whenthey fall, and you know he's given in, then open the door and continueto talk to him. Only pet him a few times, and then step off. Close thecage, say a few more words and walk away.

This really helped for me when I was working with what you have on yourhands right now. You don't quickly forget what those nips feel like. Ifelt the same way you do.

-Carolyn
 
Sometimes if they physically don't feel well,they will take it out on things around them, include their bondedpartners, and us, I guess. I have experienced the former, andit put me on to the fact the bun had some form of physicalailment. be sure to inspect Spice very closely with that inmind, or not any other peculiar changes in bshavior.

I've had rabbits who've given me love bites that have brokenthe skin aand I eact to that with the "ouch!" routine. Itseems to occur more with rabbits who haven't had the opportunity togroom many other rabbits durint their lifetime. Experiencedgroomers have probably been already disuaded from the practice bydisgruntled groomee rabbits. Those rabbits I've owned whogave harsh love bites all grew out of it eventually.

I've had rabbits who have bitten me out of annoyance and pique and Iwill ceertainly place them back in their cages immediately, for I willnot reward mean behavior, though some "authorities" suggest killing badbunnies with kindness and love.

I currently own a "biter," Mickie, who has a genuine dislike for me andbitten several times, often while being petted or heldlovingly. It is only me he bites and interestingly enough ournew eighth grader bunny sitter walked right up to him while he was freeranging, picked him up(he runs from us), and began to cuddle him beforewe could warn her of his potential bad behaivor. Gofigure! He sometimes tends to get aggressive toward his bonded partnerwhen a stange bunny appears under their hutch, in a sort of displacemntactivity for his inability to challenge the visitor. Furflies sometimes, but his doe will fight back if she feelsreally put upon, and they soon are mutally grooming one another again.

WhenMickie bites me, and the frequency has diminished of lateI must admit, I use a very aggressive maneuver or hold on himin which I assert my dominance over him in no uncertain termsand I simultaneously speak to him in a very dominatingmanner. It is only when he acknowledges my dominance, that Irelease him from the hold and begin to talk to him again in a lovingmanner. Prior to that, no other avenue of approach to the problemseemed to bring about the desired change in behavior upon hispart. Now, we seem to have reached an uneasy truce.

So, what I'm trying to say so long windedly, some rabbitsbite. They bite for a myriad of reasons. If it isfor any other reason other than meaness and aggressiveness, I will cuta rabbit as much slack as I can. If I suspect the biting isfor purposes of meaness and aggression, I will respondforcefully.There are times when somerabbits must be shown who is in control and that may meanimmediate containment within its cage, or some othermanner,no matter what temper tantrum it may pull.

Buck


 
Thanks Buck. I have checked him over thoroughly,he looks fine. I'm thinking he is just in a bad mood because he hasnever bitten me in his life, and he was clearly annoyed with me. Mochagives my "love nips" all the time. I know the difference. :)Igave him a phone book and he tore it up as fast as can be, and now he'scalmed down. I guess he got rid of that pent up anger. He just had hismoment I believe!
 

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