Biting problem

[ilovetegocalderon]

My new intact male lop rabbit Tank is a biter!! I know neutering him will help but I really need to understand why he keeps biting me before I make him bunny stew! I let him roam the whole apartment when I'm home and he follows me like a little puppy. Everywhere I go, he goes. I sit on the couch, he sits on the couch. Yesterday he jumped on the couch as usual with me and climbed all over me. I was petting him and talking to him and then......CRUNCH! He bit my freaking face!!! I was bleeding. I'm going to admit, I just had reflex reaction, and flung him off the couch! (he's lucky I didn't kill him). I tended to my wound and then sat back down on the couch. He ignored me for awhile then hopped back up. I tried to forgive and just play with him and then, CRUNCH! He bit me again, only this time, in my foot. At this point, I was so infuriated I locked him up in his cage for the night. Why in the heck is he biting me like this?!

 

[naturestee]

Not another person who wants to eat him!:shock:

Some rabbits nip to get attention, and this sounds like that. He might not be realizing how much he's hurting you, partially because he's expecting you to have a furry barrier between his teeth and your skin.

For now, wear shoes when he's out and don't let him by your face! Keep a close eye on him and whenever he bites you, even your shoe, give a high pitched (but not shouted) ouch! This will help him realize that he's hurting you. You'll have to be patient- it took Sprite a while to learn.

And as you said neutering will most likely help too.

You might find some more help here:
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12319&forum_id=17

 

[chaoticfun]

Ok, I am in no way an expert on bunnies, but I may be able to clear the air for you. Others can feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

My unneutered male began circling my feet non stop. He continued to do this and addedhumming (like a very quiet "uh uh uh") to the process. Next, he was hanging out with me non stop and following me around non stop. This continued for several days before he decided to climb on the top of the couch and tried to mount my head. I was oblivious to what was really happening until he was already mid-hump. I moved and he fell between my back and my head. That didn't matter to him. He just got back up on top of the couch and looked at me as if to say "well, aren't you going to put your head back here again?" For a few weeks, he was only interested in my head/hair. He got frustrated by its lack of availability and moved on to my hands/arms. When he tries to mount my arms, I deter him from doing so. Sometimes he seems to get "frustrated" with this and latches on to my arm and makes small little nibble bites at my arm as if to say "hey, I am trying to accomplish something here and you aren't being very receptive...straighten up!"

Since you posted about him doing circles (in another post) and then this one about the biting....it seems he believes you are his girlfriend. Don't worry, you are not alone. :shock: I am still trying to figure out how to convince Mr Feets to fully move on to the stuffed sock and stuffed animals I have provided in his cage to mate with.

 

[ilovetegocalderon]

naturestee wrote:

Not another person who wants to eat him!:shock:

Hehe, yea, now I see why everyone wants to eat him!! J/K

Thanks to both of you for responding. Now I feel bad for flinging him off my couch and locking him away. He thinks im his girlfriend, that is so cute. He just needs to learn to show his affection in less painful and annoying ways. haha. I'm definitly gonna get him neutered soon though!

 

[hunnybunny63]

one of my bunnies used to bite a lot. she has only bite me enough to bleed twice but afte the first time i didi give up handing her for a while to let her settle down a bit.

im not sure the best way to get them to stop as she bite me the first time about a year before she did it hard again. instead of bitting she tends to grunt and growl at me and somtime when she is feeling threatened she gets on her hind legs and puts her paws up.

it is very funny to watch ehr do this but i does hurt! lol

 

[HoneyPot]

How is Tank with the other bunnies? Has he met them yet? And is he trying to attack them too? He may be smelling your other bunnies and doesn't like it - so he is biting. As soon as Misty smells any other rabbits, she bites too. It's a pain (pun intended!).

___________
Nadia

 

[ilovetegocalderon]

Tank is fine with teh other rabbits. He likes to play with them and try to mate with them...(i only let him play with Rice and Beans who are spayed). However, last night, that !@$(*@#($* bit me twice in my hand and made me bleed both times for NO REASON. I wasn't even NEAR HIM!!! He just ran up and bit me!!! I want to kill him!!!!!!!!!

 

[HoneyPot]

What do you do when he bites you? Besides scream in pain.

Whenever Misty bites me, she gets her head pushed down to the floor (to show her who's boss), she gets a firm NO, BAD MISTY. If she does it again, she gets the same thing and put in her time out carrier for a few minutes, then gets let back out. Misty craves attention, so I take that away from her when she's bad.

Hope you figure out what's causing him to bite you!! How old is he? Is it almost time for his neuter??

__________
Nadia