Bunny behaviour - nose to nose & getting to do tricks

[Tweetiepy]

Is the nose-to-nose something that bunnies really, really like or is it something that they just do? I remember reading that bunnies like being nose-to-nose, is this something that comes from the babies being in their nest all snuggled together? Sometimes, if she's in the mood, Peaches will let me get nose-to-nose with her on the ground, I'll rub her under her jaw and she'll close her eyes and grit her teeth. She'll hunker down and put her head down low - she'll get to licking my hand if I stop petting her before she's had enough.

That's another thing, she'll get low to the ground and put her ears back, she'll have me pet her and she'll grind her teeth softly - I thought the layed back ears was a sign of fright?


Is it possible to train a bunny to do tricks without giving treats? I know treats are not to be given often, so how can you train a bunny to do tricks if you can't give her many treats - I mean for something to work, she has to know that if she does it she'll get a treat. How can you do this without giving her lots of treats?

I've tried rubbing her chin and telling her she's a good girl - mainly I'm asking her to get down from the stairs or congratulating her on a good bunny flop but then again, these may be things that she actually wants to do on her own.:rollseyes

But to actually train her to do something that I want her to do, how can you do that without loading up on sweets?

 

[elrohwen]

I think bunnies just like to be nose to nose because it's how they communicate and interact with each other. They often greet a friend by sniffing noses or sitting head to head and grooming each other. Your bunny likes that you're grooming her! They also put their ears back against their head while they're relaxed or being groomed - it's one of those signs that you have to look at in context because it can mean multiple things.

When training animals, you need to figure out some type of reward for training. For some animals, petting and affection is a good reward, while others like toys. The reason treats are used so often is that many many animals will do anything for food, so it's a great reward. Have you tried using her pellets as the "treat"? You can feed many many pellets without even equaling a tablespoon so they're a great treat. You can just take a bit out of her daily ration and use them for training.

 

[jcottonl02]

It really depends with the ear-back thing.
If she is sitting hunched, with her eyes wide open, and her ears flattened against her body, she is scared, nervous etc.

However, if you are petting her, or she's sitting in the sunshine etc., and she has her eyes half closed and is lazily gazing up at you, and her ears are back, she is just very relaxed.

You often have to, when working out what a bun is thinking, think of certain actions/stances in conjunction with the situation, and other parts of their body. The eyes can always give you a clue.

As for rabbit training etc., Laura is your girl

Jen

 

[jcottonl02]

I've moved this to Nutrition, Behaviour and Environment

Jen

 

[tonyshuman]

Scared ears are open to the top, usually, and relaxed ears are just laid down. This is a useful (but long) description of how to read your bunny's behavior:
http://language.rabbitspeak.com/