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Bunny Behaviors and Habits
* See also Tips N Tricks
and Bonding with Bunny *
Common Bunnyisms
Grinding Teeth
While this may seem like some sort of defiant act of oral
display, usually when a bunny grinds his teeth, it means
happiness. Much like a cat's purr,
a soft grinding of the teeth means "Keep petting my head,
that's nice",
or "Gee that carrot was awfully good".
So, a bunny going gnashy-gnashy
with his teeth is usually a positive sign.
 
Oinking
This hilariously cute sound is usually nothing more than
a hyperactive bunny.
You might notice that when your happy little
ball of fur is hopping and
jumping, or even just exploring and sniffing around,
he will make a sort of
baby piggy noise. My sweet Phili even does it when
I come in the room, like it's
his way of saying "I'm so glad to see your
lovely feet, now give me a carrot".
 
Hopping in and Out of Your Feet, Occasionally Nipping
Uh oh. You've hit the motherload on this one. This simply
means "Yum, sexy feet, I must
have them". In other words, you're bunny is courting,
getting his groove thang on,
getting jiggy with it, working his mojo. You may notice
(especially in males),
that he may actually attempt to mount your feet,
or occasionally "spray"
(pee) on or at them. I know, as big of a compliment
as this might seem,
some bunnies might not grow out of it, though it usually
subsides with time
or an *gasp* operation (yes, the big neutor/spay dealie).
 
Excessive Thumping
This is especially cute to watch if your bunny is all
poised and ready for action.
This is a bunny's Dirty Harry impression.
It can mean "That thunder is interrupting
my nap", "Grrrr, you took my carrot and I wasn't done,
" Come here
and pet me now", or, as one other site
so lucidly put it, "Danger, the furniture has
been moved". This is simply a bunny
version of an exclamation, he's making a
point. Walk over to bunny, pet him, reassure him
all is well and that you
promise not to move anything around again
without his permission.
 
Pulling out it's Own Fur
Aaaahh, this mostly applies to your pretty female bunnies.
This is her way of
saying "Lookie, I'm gonna have some baby bunnies".
Pulling out her fur
is an act of nesting, where she'll tear clumps
of it out and stash it away.
My huggable Phili does his own version of this,
where he'll take the
fur that he's shed, and make little piles, adding some
cardboard or whatever else
the little rascal has managed to chew up.
Even though he is 'fixed', and currently
is not dating any does, he still instinctively builds
a little nesting area (wishful
thinking I'm sure). Regardless, if your bunny is
ripping out tufts of fur,
especially if it's female, it would be wise
to take it to a veterinarian.
Flopping on it's Side, Ears Just A-flying to it's Sides
This is immensely fun to watch. When bunny
saunters over to the wall and
proceeds to flop over, sometimes rolling on it's
back, it's a sign of complete
happiness, he is content. It's his way of physically
expressing "My,
this carpet is comfy, I think I'll just lay down
for forty winks... hold my
calls". Let him have his nap, he's probably
had a hard day
of hopping about and looking cute.
Chinning
Chinning is when bunny runs up to something (or things)
and rubs his chin on it.
This is bunny for "mine!! mine!! mine!!" Rabbits
have scent glands
located underneath their chins, so this is another,
less messy, version
of spraying. Bunny will do it to furniture, your groceries, you...
Screaming
This is NEVER good!!!!! I've heard my bunny scream once,
it was one of the most terrifying things I've ever
heard. Bunnies are relatively
quiet creatures, so it's shocking when you
hear this extremely loud,
shrill, high pitched noise coming from bunny.
Phili was in my parents room
while I was sick, so he was in an unfamiliar
place, in his cage, in the
dark, so, he probably did it from fear, LUCKILY
he didn't go into
shock (bunnies have low tolerances for fear and
shock can kill sweet bunny).
Bunnies will do this when they are scared, in pain...
basically for the natural
reasons that we also do it. When you hear this,
IMMEDIATELY drop what you are doing to check on him.
If he calms right down, stay with him for a bit.
If he's still wiggy,
it's best to go directly to a veternarian to get it checked out.
                    
 
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