Licking, then nipping!

[theevenstarlight]

My rabbit likes to lick my hand a little, and then nips it. Can I get her to stop nipping and just lick my hand?

 

[edwinf8936]

She is eather saying enough or wanting you to rub her head. She is telling you something.

Ed

 

[Spring]

Nipping can mean a lot of different things. It'snot always a negative thing, just another way of communicating to you.Sometimes it can be to say "Move over", "Move your hand","That'senough" or it could just be a love nip. Even though to you nipping isbad, to her it could be away ofshowing affection.

 

[kellyjade]

It sounds like she's just grooming you, like howrabbits will kind of chew on their own fur while grooming. Especiallyif she's a baby, baby bunnies go through a stage of "testing" theirteeth. If it hurts though, you can yelp loudly in pain, and she'll getthe idea.

-Kelly

 

[grumpybabies]

It could even be that you have just touchedsomething that tastes nice and it gets confused between what it is thatit is licking (sorry i couldn't remember if its a boy or girl!).

 

[sparklyyy]

Zeke used to nip a lot when he was reallylittle. I think that it was always a very playful thing; heused to love to run around peoples' legs and nip theirthighs! I have many holes near the top of my pantsnow! :? Whenever he would do that, I would let outa shriek to let him know that it hurt, followed by yelling,"no!" Other times I would clap my hands. He knewthat that meant he had done something wrong! He's a verywell-behaved boy and doesn't nip anymore.

Erin

 

[Bunny Lover]

my rabbit also licks and then bites me!! why cant rabbits just lick?

 

[ec]

When rabbits groom each other, they use theirteeth as well as their tongues. That's probably one of the biggestreasons that they give us "friendly" nips - it's hard for them tounderstand that we don't have fur.

And there's a real difference between friendly and other kinds ofnipping, too - you have to look at other things about the nippingbehavior (does your rabbit want you to move? is it scared of beingpicked up/carried?) in order to figure out what's going on.

My girl still nips me sometimes, but it's usually due to her eitherbeing a bit of a roughhouser when she plays (sometimes) and/or she justplain forgot. Bunnies can learn to nip very gently, also to mouth clothand skin, but it can take time for that to happen. In the meantime,love and patience are your best bets.

I can't say that going though Nibbles' hard nipping (teenage,post-spay) phase was easy, but I wouldn't change her personality for amillion bucks. The best advice i got was to wait it out, and everyonewho said that was right. (BTW, she now responds to my squealing/yellingif she nips too hard; also "no" and "gentle," but it took her a whileto connect them with nipping.)

 

[theevenstarlight]

Thanks everyone! The squealing seems to help.