My Holland Lop is still biting me

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bassdawg

bassdawg

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Hi i wrote about this before an i did like i was told .Everytime i go to pick her up she bites me really hard an its not feeling very good . I poked her in the nose not real hard , an i hold her head down an tell her no .She is 11 weeks old an i am getting frustrated an am about at the end of what to do ? What can i do ?
Thanks ,
Bill
 
so give her a light bop on the nose with a plastic dish.

seriously... or give her something else to think about.

To keep her used to being picked up, I'd be inclined to wrap her in a towel when I picked her up. Teaching her that you are not to be feared or having to be protected from.

NOW>> all that said....I want these questions answered.

Is she really liking her own space? What size cage is she in? Could she be space protective? If you let her out to run about, is she aggressive? If you sit on the floor with her, what is her demeanor?
When you go near her area to get her...what is her attitude like? are her ears up? down? turned toward you? turned flatish? what is her body posture...low and forward? head poking forward and up? where are her front feet? what is her back end doing? Does she give you the bunny cold shoulder? (turn her back on you) Be as descriptive as you can.

yes, I know she's a lop which makes reading some body language more difficult...but I find with my loppies, if they don't want me messing with them (Not that I listen it just makes me more aware of what I am doing when I approach them) they get a set look about them, and they sit more alert and tense-like in their body appearance.

If I approach from a low angle....bunny will let me know that this is NOT a good idea. BUT if I say, come on now girlie and come in higher... she's more alert to what I am doing will settle down as she knows that I don't put up with guff. That's also a rabbit behaviour thing..come in high and you look like a bigger rabbit.

This little girlie is doing two things... she saying STOP THAT! I don't like you grabbing me. (and acting like she's in charge) AND she is also saying... my space, give me a safe space, I want this to be MY space...do you have a space we can share perhaps?

You have to help her realize that her behaviour is unacceptable.

That may be a several pronged approach.

1. give her something to do. make her work for her living. aka...you want your food...come on out here and get it.
2. I'm guessing that she's a SMART rabbit. Smart rabbits take a smart owner to manage them. and the first step for an owner of a smart rabbit who is NOT going to breed? GET HER SPAYED. Smart rabbits become troublesome as they mature and since she's already learned to use her teeth...you don't want her reinforcing that behaviour as she matures.
3. tire her out. you know how a good dog is a tired dog? Get her busy, make her tired physically. Let her rip around a big open space.
4. train her. Come here (insert rabbit name). Look... see..I have a treat. good girl. nose rub. get a treat. (bribery often works well with bunnies). make her be polite about getting it. make sure she can't mistake your fingers for food.

Give me more information about what she's doing behaviour and bodywise and I may be able to assist further. :)
 
Please Do Not Hit Your Rabbit... not a bop with your hand, not a bop on her nose with her "food dish" or anything else! Please Never strike your rabbit. Rabbits are prey animals and will exhibit a heightened fear response to aggression... you will Never win your bun over that way and will only succeed in creating more of a separation between the two of you.
Ultimately, your aim is create a bond of trust between you, and that can only be accomplished with consistent effort & patience on your part- it takes time. It could be that your bun has had little socialization before she came into your life, and needs to be trained to trust you so that she no longer reacts to you with fear & aggression. And yes, she could also be testing her limits with you.
Do you find that she tends to nip you when you try to get her from her cage? Or does she nip you when she is out of her cage? If she nips mostly when she is in her cage and you are trying to get her out, then coax her out with a treat and give her affection while she is out of her cage... make no attempts to "hold" her at that point, just try to build trust with her so she begins to understand that you wont hurt her (which, by the way, she will never get to understand if you hit, and thusly, hurt her). Be patient, and build a little trust and love first.
If she nips, respond with an exclamation "Ow!", or clap your hands or even stomp your foot, so she begins to understand that such behavor is not acceptable. Also, strangley enough, rabbits are sensitive to feeling "shame"... if she is out of her cage and nips you, then put her promptly & firmly back in her cage, close the door, and turn your back on her. If she enjoyed her time out of her cage then she will quickly associate her behavior with the abrupt disregard.
Another technique you can use is to place your arm in her cage and love on her while she is in the comfort of her familiar surroundings. Leave your arm in there for a bit so she gets used to you & your scent, and all the while keep petting her.
Also, how are you trying to hold her? upright, or on her back? Most buns will relent a little easier if held on their backs... she may be a little kicky at first as she tests her limits with you, so dont be afraid to be a little firm (but kind)with her if needed in the beginning... it may just be a matter of conditioning her to your touch.
I know you feel a little frustrated right now, but please be patient, and keep trying to win her over.
 
I agree. Punishment simply does not work on rabbits. They don't connect what they did with the punishment. The only thing they learn by it is to be wary of you. If you bop them on the nose for biting the only thing they remember is that sometimes you bop them on the nose. They don't connect the bop with the biting. You have to try to figure out what you are doing that causes them to be aggresive and change YOUR behavior. Dog training methods are of no use with buns. You have to use more cat style techniques and get them to do things because THEY want to, not because you want them to.
That being said, the occasional rabbit is a biter at the smallest provocation. You have to either cull a rabbit like that or learn to put up with it. As you have no doubt found out, a rabbits teeth are a formidable weapon.
Getting raked is a different story. I don't think I've ever been raked when it was the rabbits fault. Usually I did something wrong that caused it.
 
Hi, I really appreciate all the help . She has a really big cage so she can run an jump a lot in it which she does .She seems like she is protecting it when i put my hand in to grab a toy or litter pan to clean it .Out of the cage she runs an jumps an has fun.some times her ears are straight out .Sometimes she sets with her back towards me ,not all the time .She comes to me with her head down in her cage with the door shut an i rub her ears an head all the time.When i open the door she runs to the back .Thanks , I really love her a lot !
Bill
 

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so what she's doing is being space protective.

so you need to get her out of HER area, and into yours. :) you can do that through training and reward behaviours that you like. :)

and discipline through a variety of methods - shunning, food bribery, toys, distraction, and listening to her body behaviour. Does she bite ALL the time when you hold her or only when she wants to be released?
 
Looks like a case of little spoiled princess syndrome! JK...All I have here are breeds known to have a kinder, sweeter nature so I have no experience with biting. However, it seems even with them that they go through a kind of teenage hormonal grouchy stage. She might improve with age and time?
 
I second teenage hormonal grouchy...one reason that you might consider spaying if you are not planning on breeding her.

I would also add that you should handle her with long sleeves and gardening gloves until she settles down if it helps you move more confidently and decisively. Hesitant body language causes/exacerbates biting in many animals.

And treats--really small ones--every time you pass the cage. Something tiny, since she is a tiny breed. Some leaves of a sort she particularly likes, a stale bread cube, a (tiny) sliver of apple--just a bunny mouthful, but let her start to think of you as the neat food guy, instead of the scary hand guy. Just drop it in, don't make her take it or submit to petting or anything. Soon enough she will run to the front of the cage to see what you have. Then you can progress to letting her take it from you, or luring her out of the cage, or getting petted as she eats it.

I would continue to handle her, but getting bit is no fun, wear protective clothing! It is very rare for them not to grow out of this, but it could take months. It is really important that you not become afraid in that time.
 
It could be the cage. I have that exact same cage and I have my black Holland in there. When you open up the door is it difficult and make a loud noise?
Mine does and it freaks him out. We now leave the door slightly open with metal twisty tie so when we don't wan't him out and about. but when we go to get him he no longer get that loud noise from the door being unlatched. We also had to take out the floor grid because when he would run around it would move and startle him, so we just have him in the bottom with a litterbox and a rug now. Plus I need to add that he would grunt after we opened the door and lunge to bite. Till we fixed the problems with his den we had problems when he ran around the house that he would nip at us if we tried to get him to go back in or even to just love on him. because that cage scared him. It's been about 3 months now and he no longer bites and actually wants attention from us.
 
Ok, one more thing--A bunny ready to be petted or picked up will crouch down and put their chin down, a bunny ready to go for your hand will put their head up and watch your hand get closer--it isn't that you should retreat, just that you should not be startled when it happens. Most rabbits don't like being picked up--it is how they would be caught by a predator. Eventually they will like it better, or at least tolerate it, but mine hate being carried and yet will willingly hop into my lap on the floor.

Floor time in a bunny safe room may help you make friends as well. Then at least the gloves can come off and you can touch the soft fluff you bought her to pet! :)
 
OK so i will try a very small piece of apple . Will it be ok every day since she is only 11 weeks old ? I need to know what would be good or not good for her .
Thanks,
Bill
 
should be fine to give her apple. you can also offer... a leaf of dandelion, bread crusts, parsley, romaine lettuce, carrot greens, vary it up a bit for her. :)
 
Should be fine, just don't over do it. Too much fruit will have the same effect for her as it would for you (upset tummy/the squirts). A piece the size of a dice would be a good start...tidbits! Mine also like pumpkin seeds...blackberry leaves. Nasturtium leaves. Dandelion leaves. She might not know what it all is for at first. That's ok, she will catch on fast.
 
Anything from an unknown source (ie. fresh foods from grocery stores, vegetable stands etc.) may have pesticide residue. I would wash such items before giving them to her. A clover flower is a great favourite with some of my rabbits. :)
 
I found that my males would bite me if they had to get back to thier cage to go to the litter box. I didn't figure this out 'till after I had been seriously nibbled a few times. Other times, he was protecting his space.
 
Not giving too much of the treats can be difficult with small rabbits when you're trying to make friends. I've found raisins to be priceless because they are so small, you don't have to chop them, they can be carried in your pocket without making a big mess and rabbits love them. You can give a few raisins one at a time so the rabbit experiences getting treats repeatedly in a short time period instead of one sliver of apple. You get more mileage out of them.
 
Grapes and raisins are controversial for animals these days. There have been too many incidences of sick animals from aflatoxin poisoning and raisins aren't really healthy in the first place because of added sugar and sulfites in dried fruit.

I like drier treats. If you use fruit whether fresh or dried the juice or stickiness is going to get on your fingers and then you will smell like treat. That leads to accidental chomping of fingers. Most vegetables and forages like clover and grass leave less smell along with sunflower seeds, nuts (unsalted), and grains like a bit of whole oats. Seeds, grains, and nuts are fattening even though it's a healthy type of fat and oil so make sure they really are treats unless your rabbit is getting lots of exercise or you'll end up with a chubby bunny.

Spaying is very beneficial for house rabbits for much the same reasons you spay/neuter a house cat or dog. It avoids spraying to mark territory, lessens attitude problems especially in females, stops breeding behaviors like humping you or other objects (females will do this too when hormones are high), and levels out mood. It also means they can have friends and are more likely to get along with them and prevents some forms of cancer. I suggest everyone that gets a pet rabbit from me especially if it will be indoors gets it neutered.
 

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