how to make my rabbit stop biting me?

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Alexzendra

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i have a 5 year old dutch rabbit (female or male i'm not sure. the vet says it's female but i think it's male). He's not neutered.. i didn't got him neutered because the vet where i live don't got much experience with neutering a rabbit. they usually neuter dogs and cats. i don't wanna risk my rabbit's life :/

okay so my rabbit nips my arm alot. He'll always try to hump on it but i don't let him too. He also make weird noises while circling me. oink or something..

how can i make him stop biting me? it hurts!
 
All of this is hormonal behaviour, so really the way to stop it is to get him/her neutered. Are there any other vets nearby?
If your rabbit is female then she has a high risk of cancer if she isn't spayed.

The only other thing it would suggest is that you try squeaking/squealing when they bite you, so they know it hurts, as this sometimes helps.
 
Felix used to bite me for attention. :p

He learned to nudge instead. Whenever he nipped, I'd make a squealing noise like Tessie suggested, and gently push his nose to the floor for a few seconds. This is what does do to their kits to teach them to behave, so they understand and learn quickly. It only took a few days and he hasn't bitten for attention since then. :)

The oinking, circling, and humping are all classic indicators of a hormonal bun. It might be worth investigating other vets in your area that are comfortable with rabbits, if you don't feel safe with the one you mentioned. Where do you live, if you don't mind me asking?
 
I know of a site that would tell you to send him to freezer camp.

Personally I wouldn't keep a rabbit that bites :-(

I wouldn't kill him, I just wouldn't keep him.

Maybe let him loose in the hills!
 
Personally I wouldn't keep a rabbit that bites :-(

I wouldn't kill him, I just wouldn't keep him.

Maybe let him loose in the hills!

Sorry, maybe you were joking, but this isn't good advice! :(
Biting is a fixable behaviour issue, nothing to get rid of the bunny over.
Letting a bunny 'loose' in the wild is never an okay thing to do, they will die.
 
Yes I thought someone might take offence to that :)

Mostly my humour in that reply, but out of frustration for the poor girl, what to do!
 
I live rural, so that was my humour!

I hope someone can help her with her biting bunny!
 
If the behaviour has been going on for some time, (years?) than it may be quite ingrained already and desexing, while it may help, may not completely eliminate the behaviours.

Pani has given some good advice, whenever he bites, make a yelping/squealing sound and hold your bunny's head to the ground for a few seconds, this will teach him that the behaviour is unacceptable. It may take some time if he's very used to biting you, but you need to be persistent and patient. The circling and oinking noises are hormonal rabbit behaviours, you could try giving him a stuffed animal toy for him to redirect his affections to. Make sure it's not a beanie toy and doesn't have plastic eyes/nose that can be chewed off and ingested. A lot of rabbits like to groom soft toys and use them as an outlet. When he tries to hump your arm, I would use that time to present the toy and hopefully he'll start to use that, once he has an outlet he might settle down a little bit which may also help reduce the biting.

When is he biting you? When you reach into his cage to get him out? Or when he's out running around does he come up to you and bite?
 
When is he biting you? When you reach into his cage to get him out? Or when he's out running around does he come up to you and bite?

He comes up to me and bites.

He usually bites me when he want me to pet him or when he want to hump my arm lol.

He's the boss in my house :) :angel:
 
it may sound strange but go with what was suggested about making a loud noise and holding their head down but could you also try a squirt bottle to stop the humping behavior if all else fails get him a teddy bear to direct his actions towards instead of your arm
 
He comes up to me and bites.

He usually bites me when he want me to pet him or when he want to hump my arm lol.

He's the boss in my house :) :angel:

Ok, then he's probably just asserting his dominance with it to get you to do what he wants, so you need to take control of that and discipline him so that he learns he's not going to get what he wants by biting.

I think a stuffed animal toy will probably help with the humping too. Sometimes it's hard to prevent unwanted behaviours in rabbits, but they can be redirected.
 

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