Bossy Little Miss

[LemongrassMichelle]

So... Cocoa is my 2nd bun. Our first, Pepe, was less affectionate, and didn't engage with us as much as Cocoa does. I learned his cues and we got along swimmingly.

Cocoa is just different. She's flat out bossy. I love that in her; she cracks me up! Thumping can happen for any reason (startled, the closet door is closed, the cat came in the room, YOU are in the room and didn't announce your presence, you moved her step toy and didn't move it back, etc). Pepe only thumped at me once (when I changed his litter material on him and didn't ask what he preferred).

When Pepe did the digging thing on me, I knew he wanted to be pet. Cocoa is another story. I have no idea what she wants. At first I though she wanted to be pet (no), then I thought she wanted me to move (also no... she just keeps digging wherever I place myself) and the dig is often followed by a nip. I think I need to train her out of it BUT if it's she's trying to tell me something, I want to know what that is.

By the way, she's VERY friendly. She adores pets and being brushed, and loves when I stack all her toys up so she can tear them all down. She likes to chase the cats and even flops by one of them. She has tons of space and does zoomies and binkies every single evening when we're all hanging out together. I love how interactive she is, I just want to be able to understand her better.

Thanks for your input!

 

[BunnySis]

Maybe she wants a treat. But otherwise have you gotten her nails trimmed recently?

 

[Catlyn]

Maybe your clothes smell of something she does/n't like, or perhaps you smell of something yummy and she can't locate it? Maybe she wants to dig at something and your lap seems like the best bet? It's also possible she's just trying to be bossy.
Just a few days ago i was laying on the floor petting Iris when Storm came and attacked my butt-he thought that it was worth digging and nipping at even after i moved. I hadn't given him treats nor ignored him otherwise, but apparently i had blocked his way to a treat and maybe he thought that more would appear by digging me? I also have no idea. My nicer rabbits would've just bonked me to move and snuggled into me for pets.
Bunnies are a mystery.

 

[LemongrassMichelle]

Maybe she wants a treat. But otherwise have you gotten her nails trimmed recently?

Her nails have indeed been trimmed! Thanks for the pointer though.

 

[LemongrassMichelle]

Thanks for the thoughts! On a whim, I decided that when she started digging on me that I would play with her - or at least try to. We have a game where I hide a few chunks of haystick under her toys in the morning and she has to find them all. Sometimes she gets all of them in minutes. Other times the game could last hours. She LOVES it! So, since she likes to knock things over to find her treats, I decided to react to digs with piling up her toys, moving them around the room, etc. It appears to be working! she'll run around, knocking over any pile I make, taking all her toys and moving them or chewing on them anew. I just keep piling when she knocks things over. I thought it might annoy her, but she loves it... knocks them over again, does some zoomies and binkies and comes back for more! Once she's all worn out she's ready to get some pets.

Attention seems to be what she's after; it's just a different kind of attention than Pepe liked when he did it.