Biting when I'm done petting him

[kirst3buns]

Basil has a nasty habit of lunging at me when I'm pulling my hand away when I'm done petting him. Today he drew blood again. Any suggestions to stop this behaviour?

A little background: I've had Basil since Sept 30, 2007. He was between 1 and 2 when I got him and I had him neutered in October. He was very cage aggressive when I got him and had come from a home where he had 4 very young kids to defend himself against. My son told me that he had actually seen the 8 year old boy hitting the rabbit before, so I expected some issues. Basil is no longer really cage aggressive but I am still careful when he is inhis cage and I need to reach in. He is actually very friendly and loves attention and will sit for quite a long time and melt into the floor while being petting. It's after these long sessions when I pull my hand away that I often get lunged at and sometimes bit when in the process of pulling my hand away.

 

[Haley]

I was thinking about this when he was here. One thing I did to help stop him from doing that was this: when I was about to stop petting him I held my hand firmy over his nead/neck area. This is sort of a sign of dominance that bunnies do to other bunnies (they put their head over the other). I would hold it there for a while and then pull away and he usually wouldnt bite. If he lunged I would say NO very loud.

I would try that for a while and see if you make any progress. I cant think of much else.

Hes such a stinker!

 

[Flashy]

I was going to suggest what Haley said.

I'm wondering two things, firstly, that maybe he is biting you to try and make you carry on (such as what the dominant bunnymight do), which is where I would think Haley's suggestion would work.

I also wonder if maybe he has some vision problems? When you take your hand away, how do you do it? Slide it downwards? Take it away up in the air? He might not realise it is you and might see it as a threat (any thing up in the air they could see as prey, especially above them), so attacks it to protect himself. In which case I would suggest the last time you stroke him, give him a full body stroke and leave your hand down when you get near his tail so that there are no sudden movements up and away from him, it just ends, if that makes sense.

It's not fun when you have a bun whom you love stroking but who does that when it's over. I hope you can find a way to get it sorted out.

 

[Hazel-Mom]

White Chocolate does that too, mainly when we stop before she's done .
If you can, just pet untill he decides he's had enough himself, and leaves. If not, the technique Haley describes (hand on head/neck) really works. Hold him down firmly, but gently, for a few seconds. I usually hold Chocolate down with my other hand, while removing the hand that was petting her, then talk to her calmly while holding her a few moments, and release.
It's also good to observe closely while petting, and have fast reactions :biggrin2:. Chocolate will sometimes just turn on me and lunge, while I'm still petting her . I've gotten good at removing my hand in a hurry, LOL. We're also working on "asking nicely", instead of biting.
Mostly now when I remind her, she remembers to do that .