Biting me when feeding time

[Floyd2019]

My bunny gets overly excited about food other than hay. Today when i brought out some dried dandelion i was trying to place some in his pen and he jumped up and bit my pinky finger. Not only bit but latched on as if my finger was food. Of course he ripped through the skin so it was bleeding quite a bit (blood makes me super light headed). I am a little p-o'd not going to lie. I just want to feed him without being attacked or bitten. I've tried bowls and dropping it but he gets too excited and bites anyways.
I don't know how to stop it. Also my bite shouldn't get infected if I rinsed it and bandaged it right??.

 

[Blue eyes]

Is he neutered? This type of aggression is more common with intact rabbits.
Some rabbits can get that way-- especially while in their cage.
I would be sure he's distracted when placing yummies in. Either that or have some sort of barricade (a cookie sheet?) to block him when you place something down.

 

[Floyd2019]

Is he neutered? This type of aggression is more common with intact rabbits.
Some rabbits can get that way-- especially while in their cage.
I would be sure he's distracted when placing yummies in. Either that or have some sort of barricade (a cookie sheet?) to block him when you place something down.

No, unfortunately he is not neutered due to health reasons. My vet suggested we wait a little bit until his health is more stable. He is othereise NOT aggressive at all, ever. And he is a free roam bun but has an xpen as his "room". He knows exactly when i am getting the food out and follows me around *facepalm*. He seemed to feel bad after as he followed me to the bathroom and waited for me as i rinsed the bite lol. I might try a barricade tomorrow. I might close his xpen and then open it when the food is placed actually. That is a good idea lol. These little stinkers! It hurts so bad and i can't even be truly mad at him because he is so cute!

 

[Blue eyes]

Yeah. I have a scar on my wrist from when I stupidly tried to use my hand to block two rabbits from fighting. I yanked my hand away and the rabbit was literally hanging from my wrist with her teeth.

 

[Floyd2019]

Yeah. I have a scar on my wrist from when I stupidly tried to use my hand to block two rabbits from fighting. I yanked my hand away and the rabbit was literally hanging from my wrist with her teeth.

Ooof, they are fast and have the sharpest little teeth!

 

[Tangerine]

My mom got bit hand feeding my rabbit a piece of apple. I don’t hand feed the bunny. My bunny also gets super excited when I give her vegetables/herbs or fruit. I wash and then put on a dish and then put the dish down away from her face as best I can. I’m very cautious. I’m sure the bite was completely accidental but something to avoid. If you washed your finger well it should be fine. Just watch for signs of infection and keep it clean while healing.

 

[Preitler]

Sometimes when I forget to feed rabbits like horses, treat on flat hand, I get nipped too when it's something yummy and they are exited - they simply cannot see what is right in front of their noses, there is a cone of nonvision that gets covered by their teeth. Has nothing to do with aggression, they simply have bad aim or can't track it if the fingers move there.

They never broke skin though at those occasions, but my hands are used to quite some abuse (can't wear gloves around the milling machines)

 

[Niomi]

My neutered 1 1/2 year old rabbit has the same problem. He only bites me when it is something he loves. He doesn't bit me if I just hand feed him pellets. I have been hand feeding him several pellets before giving him a treat, and he is slowly getting better.