Grumpy bun

[kaligr]

Hello!

I’ve had my bun (Booker) for about 7 months now. He’s a rescue boy and just turned 1. He was already neutered when I got him and weighs about 7 pounds. I’m not sure what breed he is but I’m hoping when he goes in for his first real checkup (he’s only been in for nail trims so far with me) to get a better idea.

Here’s the problem: he hates everything. He charges any and everyone who gets near him, he bites me every day, and he grunts at me CONSTANTLY. I’m concerned that he really, truly, hates me. Even when he’s out of his cage and on my bed with me, he’ll just run up to me and bite me. He takes food from me, binkies, and willingly walks up to me, but then does these things! I just want my bun to love me! Any advice?

 

[JBun]

It sounds to me like he is happy but thinks he is the boss of you and is putting you in your place, and/or he's learned that biting is an acceptable behavior to communicate or get what he wants. So you are probably going to have to do some retraining of him so he understands that biting is not acceptable.

You can try letting out an 'eep' or squeal when he bites to see if that deters the behavior, thump your foot at him and turn your back to him(shows severe disapproval to him), or you may need to do the gentle head press to simulate a dominant/mother rabbit disciplining a subordinate/baby rabbit. It might also be a motion thing and that's what sets him off, and if so you will need to work on changing his reaction to motion. Here is a link with some ideas that might work, including some video links.
http://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Aggressive_rabbits

Also might help to read up on rabbit body language.
http://language.rabbitspeak.com/

 

[kaligr]

It sounds to me like he is happy but thinks he is the boss of you and is putting you in your place, and/or he's learned that biting is an acceptable behavior to communicate or get what he wants. So you are probably going to have to do some retraining of him so he understands that biting is not acceptable.

You can try letting out an 'eep' or squeal when he bites to see if that deters the behavior, thump your foot at him and turn your back to him(shows severe disapproval to him), or you may need to do the gentle head press to simulate a dominant/mother rabbit disciplining a subordinate/baby rabbit. It might also be a motion thing and that's what sets him off, and if so you will need to work on changing his reaction to motion. Here is a link with some ideas that might work, including some video links.
http://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Aggressive_rabbits

Also might help to read up on rabbit body language.
http://language.rabbitspeak.com/

Thank you so much!!!
Those are very helpful. I’m going to change my current approach from previous research (obviously not working lol) and see how it goes!