What does shaking of the head/shaking of the ears mean?

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kirbyultra

kirbyultra

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My Toby seems to do a lot of this head shaking with flopping around of ears motion. He does it when I pet him and sometimes after I touch him. He also does it before he runs away and has had it with whatever it was I was trying to do with him. Sometimes he does it right before I give him his greens, like he is expecting sometimes. Sometimes the shaking the head is accompanied by a full-body shakedown from ear to tail!

I don't know if it is a sign of being glad and joyful, or if he is disapproving of me touching him, of me waiting so long to feed him, etc. What does it all mean?

When he was little he used to just run around and flick his ears. This doesn't look like just a flick. He's actually flinging his ears all about. :?
 
Portia does this the most...when we got her and Tucker they are littermates and twins and we couldn't tell them apart...so we taught them to shake their ears and head when we call their name.

Oliver and I play a game called "Gitchy Bum", I chase him trying to pinch bunny butt and he runs around me shaking his head and kicking up his feet!

It is definately a sign of happy happy bunny!:biggrin2:

Danielle
 
kirbyultra wrote:
My Toby seems to do a lot of this head shaking with flopping around of ears motion. He does it when I pet him and sometimes after I touch him. He also does it before he runs away and has had it with whatever it was I was trying to do with him. Sometimes he does it right before I give him his greens, like he is expecting sometimes. Sometimes the shaking the head is accompanied by a full-body shakedown from ear to tail!

I don't know if it is a sign of being glad and joyful, or if he is disapproving of me touching him, of me waiting so long to feed him, etc. What does it all mean?

When he was little he used to just run around and flick his ears. This doesn't look like just a flick. He's actually flinging his ears all about. :?
Click to expand...
sounds like being a bunny,,but just to be on the safe side-helen,,check for mites or fleas--ears and head,,,i cannot imagine toby or kirby having bugs-though,,sincerely james waller:wave:
 
My Fluffy has recently started doing this. It seems to mean that they are happy or playful. She usually grooms herself, does a few of these head-shakes, a full-body shiver, and then a binky!

This is new behavior for her. We recently put a little rug over near her play area and apparently is gives her enough traction to binky! The head-shaking/full-body shiver came along with the binkies.
 
There's such a thing as a head binky or half binky. It's not the full binky of leaping into the air and twisting in all directions lol but it's still a sign of a happy happy bunny.

It could also be an ear infection or something so best to get a once over from the vet to be sure. You touching his ears could irritate it more and cause him to shake his head.

Personally it sounds like a happy gesture- after I've been stroking my buns, especially Benji, on the head for a few minutes, afterwards he'll shake his head around and then precede to shower me with a reward of licks.

:) Jen
 
Thanks for everyone's replies! No, I don't think Toby has an ear infection. He has always flung his ears around but lately he is doing it more (or I'm paying attention more). He has been to the vet before and his ears are fine. I know it is more of a behavior reaction but was not sure if it was a happy reaction or not. Seems like it is!!
 
I was convinced sheriff was doing this because of his super long ears...lol I guess he is a happy bunny too :)
 
It looks really funny when my other bun Kirby does it. He has longer ears. When Toby does it, he has dwarfy ears so it just looks silly because the ears wiggle a little lol
 
My bunny does it for two different reasons. One, like others mentioned, is that he's playing. It's kind of like a mini-binky when he's too lazy to get his whole body up in the air ;-)

He also does it if he's a little annoyed with me. He's a lop, and sometimes I'll pet him and push his ears back. When I'm done, he'll shake his head like he's annoyed that I was messing with his ears. Or he'll do it if hubby gets down on the floor and tries to snuggle him - Otto will hop just out of his reach and shake his head in annoyance.
 
For me it depends on the bun. Chase shakes her head when she is excited. She will run towards me when I am feeding her shaking her head. She is over weight and I wonder if it is hard for her to binky so she shakes her head. Little Bunny never shakes her head, so if she did, I would worry she had an ear infection or something was wrong. I think it just depends on the rabbit.
 
According to the Language of Lagomorphs site (http://language.rabbitspeak.com/rabbittalk.html), rabbits will shake theirhead/earsto say,"No, I don't think so." Gus does this if we try to pick him up and he doesn't want to be or if he's been naughty and maybe chewed on something and we're trying to chase him away or put him back into his cage. :p

Rue
 
Both Billy and Ronnie do this sometimes when I pet them over their ears. It's their way of saying, "Hey, that tickles!" or "Hey, you're making my ears itch!" If I make them really itchy, they will follow up with a short ear scratch before going back to playing.

ETA: Ronnie also does the ear flick when I'm about to give him his food. He's a chubby little guy and gets excited when I say, "Do you want your FOOOOD?" We had three or four ear flicks tonight, as Ronnie's way of binkying in anticipation.
 
Baby Zappa does head-binkies as if to say, "I don't hear you telling me I'm naughty...":lalalala: She is just too cute being so round and fluffy to be mad at... ;)

myheart
 
My Tobi shakes her ears when she's annoyed at me!

(She did have an ear infection last year, and I didn't notice it until she got a watery eye, as I was so used to her shaking her ears at me all the time. Now I get nervous every time she does it.)
 
I do think Toby does it to show he's annoyed.
He slapped me away with his ears today. Yes, slapped.
 
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