Best way to stop bunny from biting me?

napagirl · Sep 8, 2012

Dimi is a very loving rabbit... she loves to be held, nuzzled. She will lick me, and "trim" my fingernails. If she's scared or startled, she'll run to me and snuggle into my body. She is very affectionate, but she also likes to bite the inside soft part of my arm. She does not do this while I am holding her. She does this when I am lying on the floor or bed, and she is hopping around exploring. She'll come over to me and BITE me. At first they were tiny nips, and I prolly did the wrong thing by petting/cuddling her. It seemed to be what she wanted, and still wants. But the bites are getting harder now that she is older, and I have all these tiny bruises up the inside of my arm!!!

How do I train her not to do this? I have stopped petting/cuddling her when she does this, and I push her away. Any other tips?

gmas rabbit · Sep 8, 2012

you could make a screaming sound like a rabbit in distress, or put your hand on her head, hold her head down and say firmly no!!

missyscove · Sep 8, 2012

Timmy was something of a nipper when we first adopted him. Whenever he would bite, I would make a high pitched squeal to let him know that it hurt.

Imbrium · Sep 8, 2012

gently holding the bunny's head down for a few seconds seems to work wonders - it put a stop to my Nala's bad habit of nibbling at my clothes. it's how a mommy rabbit would discipline a baby that was acting up.

Nancy McClelland · Sep 8, 2012

Both things in conjunction will work with most bunnies, and since you're not bleeding, your actually being nipped. You may have to work at it for awhile as you gave reinforcement to the behavior at first. Fortunately bunnies are smart.

napagirl · Sep 9, 2012

Thank you for the suggestions!

I have read about the "eek" thing, and tried it before and it didn't seem to work on Dimi. But yesterday when she nipped, I took the advice of gently holding her head down and saying "no". I did this a total of three times. After the third, I calmly returned her to her hutch.
Today we played again, and NO NIPPING!!! I think the holding the head down is working.