Normal for rabbit to lunge at toy?

[mrsmeyers]

In one of those spontaneous purchases at the grocery store today, I bought some cat toys to try out with my 6-month-old Holland Lop ... little balls with beads or bells in them. He was intrigued and lunged at them, then retreated to a corner and seemed wary/disinterested in them. My take is that he doesn't care for them. Do rabbits lunge at toys when they like them or hate them? Should I try again?

Also, do rabbits like it when you wiggle toys in front of them and move them around so they can chase them? Or is that just aggravating/nonsense to them?

 

[2mindless]

hi...your young bun is frightened by the cat toy. I have the same plastic orbs with the bells inside, when my bun was about that age he lunged at EVERYTHING you put in front of him, he'd even attack the stick vac I dust the floor with. It's typical & typically they lunge at it because it's "foreign" to them...rabbits are "prey" animals & they have "knee jerk" reactions to alot of things...they're also very particular about their environment; just as you have to acclimatize a toddler to a new toy, you have to do that with your new bun...they don't always like the toy or the lunging is that they see it as an INVASION of their space...it's this foreign object which is in it's environment. If you find your new bun persistently has this reaction to that toy, then remove it & try something else...he or she doesn't like it. With my bun Bizz, he hates the cat toy...he doesn't like most toys, he's annoyed by anything put in his space...The only way I could play with him is to place various things in front of him [from a toilet paper tube, to a woven straw carrot made from edible grass]...no matter what play toy I taunted him with he'd lunge at it or just nip at it & hurl it [throw it out of the way]. Some rabbits this is play behaviour, others it's aggravation...but I'm confident if the rabbit likes the toy then they'd approach it, but if the toy is in the room & they never bother with it then lunge it, show aggression toward it when it's put near them, then they're totally ANNOYED by it. Hope this helps...

 

[Azerane]

What sort of lunging is it? Bandit does some lunging where he pushes things firmly away with his paws, but it's not because it's frightened, it's usually because he's dis-interested or doesn't want anything to do with that particular item at the time.

I get the feeling that your bun may have been a little spooked by the noise perhaps, that and they will smell new and different. I would put them down in front of him and try offering some sort of food reward or pets as a distraction. I'm sure once he figures out what they are he'll either continue to ignore them or play with them.

 

[mrsmeyers]

Thank you for your responses. He lunged at it, then stood still, ears forward, smelling it. Then he found his corner and sat down. He didn't react this way when I introduced the toilet paper roll with hay stuffed inside, or the toilet paper roll that's empty, but cut with fringes on the ends. He loves those. I've also tried a wiffle ball. No lunging, but not real interested either. I'm guessing (as you guys did) that the sound of the balls caused the lunging. I'll try them again sometime when we're outside in the play yard and see if they get the same reaction.

The other part of my question - do rabbits like it when you wiggle toys in front of them and move them around to get them to go after them? Or is that teasing them?

 

[kagerod]

For the wriggling, I think it depends on the rabbits. When my girls are eyeing up whatever is in my hand - treat or toy - I find that if I wriggle it a bit they're more like to come over and grab it than if I sat perfectly still. I think that might also be because they are sizing me up for whether I am trying to give them something or pick them up (they are timid creatures and really not used to humans).

Watch his body language, I suppose. If he backs away or his ears go back, then he probably dislikes the wriggling. If he perks his ears forward and moves forward, then he probably has his interest peaked by the movement. And, as is said, he is young. He might grow more confident as he gets older.

 

[Sophie's Humble Servant]

Your rabbits reaction sounds very similar to Sophie's reaction when I waved a toy in front of her face! She also lunges at things that move quickly, for instance I was flicking bits of coconut fibre towards her on the floor and she lunged at the fibres like crazy.

I wondered if she was playing or if she was liking what was happening but it was confirmed the next time I did it that she hated it because she grunted! I wouldn't have even heard the grunt except for the fact that I was really close to her when she did it.

I felt really bad that I was egging her on and didn't even know it! So maybe listen for a grunt! I was really surprised how quiet the sound was.