Rabbit suddenly started to bite/nibble me?

[RabbitOwner22]

I know this might be quite common in rabbits, but I'm a bit surprised by this behavior since my rabbit has always been tame and likes to be petted etc. He has a lot of room, like a half of my big room with his pen. I know that rabbits especially in the wild communicate with each other in various ways. Still this seems odd with my rabbit, he gets very frustrated easily, if I clean his litter box... he gets very destructive. If I have offered him treats... he gets frustrated after it most of the time. So what I mean by this frustrated behavior is that he suddenly might slightly bite me or nibble me and it seems very demanding. He is neutered but still acts quite dominant. Over time he has become even more demanding and not really interested giving me any sort of pleasure/love signs. This biting and nibbling issue usually happens if I give him attention a lot or when I give him some free roaming? Which is very weird. Yet he always does everything to get attention but still is frustrated when he gets a lot of it? Maybe this is just hormones? I'm not sure if a bunny friend would help either because he is very demanding and hasn't been around with many bunnies in the past. One time my rabbit ran straight to my feet (from his pen) and nibbled me in demanding way and I was just sitting on my desk chair :,D Idk what to do about this issue other than just not rewarding 'bad' behavior.

 

[Blue eyes]

How old is he? It sounds like he isn't neutered? Hormones can cause a number of 'undesirable' behaviors.

 

[RabbitOwner22]

He just reached 1 year of age. He got neutered few months ago, it seemed like he was more calm before being neutered? We neutered him to help his future coming hormonal behaviors but it seems like it didn't work.

 

[Preitler]

Neutering doesn't change the caracter much, and he's a just grown up youth yet. At least you are not dripping with pee from head to toe since he's neutered , that's the kind of behaviour neutering rids him of.

 

[Blue eyes]

There's a big difference between a bite and a nibble. Bites are intended to harm, nibbles are intended to communicate. What, exactly, they are trying to communicate depends on context. It can be a way to say they want more of something or want you to stop what you're doing or get out of their way. You might want to read up on some bunny body language and start watching closely at his body language and the context in which he is doing these "naughty" behaviors.

As for the neutering not helping, that can be a common misconception. Adult rabbits can be vastly different than babies-- so much so that some have blamed the neutering on the change of behavior. It isn't that at all. The neutering just happens to often coincide, timing wise, with when a rabbit transitions to adulthood. Adults can be demanding, stubborn and bossy.

Another issue is that residual hormones can fluctuate after a neuter. Those fluctuations can occur over a period of up to 6-8 weeks after the surgery. So that can also lead people to believe (falsely) that the neuter made things worse.

Aside from all of that, it could very well be that he would do better with a bondmate. Some of the behaviors you describe are reminiscent of those of one of my females I had. She, I came to believe, was one that really needed that companionship of another rabbit. Ironically enough, she was very difficult to bond. She rejected 2 male rabbits before finally bonding with a 3rd. It makes no difference if your rabbit "hasn't been around with many bunnies in the past." He just needs to meet some other spayed females and choose.

I'm not sure what's available in Finland. Here in the US, rabbit rescues have already-fixed rabbits available for adoption. They allow an owner to bring in a rabbit they have in order to meet some of the other rabbits (one at a time) to prescreen for potential compatibility. If a chosen rabbit goes home but then doesn't bond, they allow an exchange. This way one is ensured to find a compatible match. In the UK, there are places that will bond rabbits for someone. So perhaps you could check to see what's available where you are.

Here's some links for body language and for bonding rabbits.
https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/bonding-with-your-bunny.htmlhttps://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/bonding-bunnies.html

 

[RabbitOwner22]

Thank you for helping me out! I might wait if the behavior would go away with time while he is still growing... Otherwise if I see no changes or anything else that might be bothering him, I'll try to get him a female counterpart. There are fewer rescue rabbits in Finland but mostly they are given out as pairs from previous owners. The rabbit over breeding situation is not as bad here than in the US. If I can't find suitable rabbits from rescues, I'll ask my rabbit's breeder if she has some possible rabbit partners.

 

[Bunnygreen]

Going off of Blue Eyes' comment about biting and nibbling being very different, to what extent are you being bitten/nibbled? It sounds like your bun could be attempting to show affection if this happens after a long petting session. A little nip or pull on clothing can be a sign that they are attempting to groom you to show affection, but some bunnies don't know the line between the two until you tell them. If it's a little "nip" and it hurts give a subtle "shriek" (not a yell) and over time they will become more gentle. I had to do this with my bun who doesn't have a ton of socialization and now he's just a licker for the most part but now occasionally will tug on my clothing. If it's an aggressive bite, normally you would be able to tell by a decent puncture wound, but like I said some bunnies will mistakenly bite if they think you have food or are not realizing how aggressive they are grooming.

 

[RabbitOwner22]

Yeah it might be just trying to show affection or wanting attention... but today he actually got mad and lunged at my hand and he was grunting, just because I held him for a while and gave him treats while holding him so he would get more used to it. He was used to being held when we got him, but for some reason he hates being picked up by me, while he really likes petting and playing with me, he still gets very very pissed off if he needs to be picked up. When he lunged at me, he tried to nibble me but not sure if he would've actually bit me if I didn't lift my arm from him. But for sure he had my finger in his mouth... Idk what to do about this behavior, I've heard that rabbits can really hate being picked up, but I'm surprised why mine does it since he is well socialized and demands attention from humans all the time? Maybe it would be different if I would've gotten him while he was a baby? Also free roaming is horrific with him, he gets very destructive and sometimes mad especially when he is free roaming with me. It makes me sad when he just demands and demands and gets pissed off when I try to give him free roaming or just any kind of benefit for him. It might be hormonal but he is neutered so... maybe just his young age?

 

[Blue eyes]

, I've heard that rabbits can really hate being picked up, but I'm surprised why mine does it since he is well socialized and demands attention from humans all the time? Maybe it would be different if I would've gotten him while he was a baby?

Yes, many rabbits hate being picked up. And yes, even ones that love attention and seek it out still hate being picked up. Baby rabbits will tolerate being picked up. Adult rabbits typically do not. (being 1 year, yours is an adult.) It would not have made a difference if you got him as a baby. It is his innate personality. Here is a quote from a rescue founder:
Founder of Bunny Bunch rescue, Caroline Charland, states, "People often think a rabbit must be held a lot as a baby in order to like being held as an adult.I don't find this true at all. Over the years, the Bunny Bunch rescue I founded has saved many mother and baby rabbits from shelters. All the babies were treated the same. When they became adults their personalities varied-- some liked to be held, some hated to be held and some tolerated being held."

My suggestion would be to stop trying to pick him up. Just don't. Enjoy him as he is and let that bond grow by giving him pettings while he's on the floor. It's great that he seeks you out for attention, so take advantage of that.

In time, you can work on handling him more. Let him trust you over many months before pushing those boundaries.

Also free roaming is horrific with him, he gets very destructive and sometimes mad especially when he is free roaming with me. It makes me sad when he just demands and demands and gets pissed off when I try to give him free roaming or just any kind of benefit for him.

Can you explain what you mean that he gets mad when free roaming with you? What is happening? Do you just sit on the floor and allow him to approach you? Are you interacting in some different way?

 

[RabbitOwner22]

Yes I agree. It's just that maybe he would have bonded with me more if I had gotten him sooner, like in his yearling stage. But yeah It's all about time when bonding so I just gotta be patient. I've had mixed feelings about if I should let him get used to handling or not... because his breeder has dealt with many different rabbits and she explained that her rabbits got used to being held just with socializing and handling regularly. And she explained me her methods when picking my rabbit if I ever needed to do it. My rabbit literally was like a potato in her hands and very chill, meanwhile with me he doesn't even tolerate it sometimes or lunges me after it. I truly understand why this could be the case, maybe he isn't just bonded with me enough... but when he came to us, he was very sweet and loving bunny but it changed over time at least a little. He was straight up bonded to me when I got him for real, he never ran away from me, loved to be petted and be close to me etc. and yes he still likes being petted but now he doesn't like to be close to me as much as he used to. I never did anything bad to him, pretty much always gave him the same amount of attention every day.

So the other thing with his free roaming behavior... This doesn't happen always but very often. He gets very destructive and crazy if he gets free roaming time, he always tries to destroy something or escape in anyway possible. Well I mean it's quite common with rabbits for sure, but still it can be very difficult to free roam him without worrying. What I mean by getting mad is that he sometimes lunges at my feet while I just sit on my chair. Sometimes he becomes so crazy that he lunges my hand but then asks for petting? He becomes like this when something changes in his routine. Normally he is in his large pen all day and I give him pats and petting every now and then, also I sit inside his pen for a while to give him play time/affection/treats and so on. I clean his litter box, change water and fill his hay bag. There are days when he is completely fine with free roaming and comes to me normally to get attention and affection.

Especially after free roaming he goes wild, I get it at some point if I put him back to his pen, he might get frustrated with it. But he almost never gets tired after free roaming, rather he becomes even more destructive. The problem is his overly demanding and dominant behavior even if I do nothing wrong with him... He can become mad over nothing? Yes rabbits are moody, but this seems odd if there is no reason behind this. And the fact that he was fine at the beginning?
At first he liked to lay next to me every time I came to his pen, now he's just like "give me pets right now or I will go away and kick" like it just feels so mixed, sometimes he seems ok but then at the same time he uses dominant behavior to show off 'affection'?