Biters are made, not born

My thoughts on “biting” and “nipping” come from decades of experience with horses and parrots. There are 2 primary causes to the first bite or nip: 

• 1.       Communication –animals communicate with their bodies and some vocalization. The less vocalization; the more the body language. While bunnies do emit quiet little squeaks and grunts, they communicate a lot by body language, including nips.
• 2.       Food – baby animals that are just starting to eat solid food will nibble and nip at anything to see if they can eat it. 

Secondary causes all emanate from how we respond to the initial nip and involve accidental reward/payback for the initial nip. Enough repetition and you've taught the critter that nipping yields rewards!

Teddy is, obviously, well past the “is this food?” stage which happens before the babies are even weaned. That leaves communication.

Remembering back to when I first adopted Snickerdoodles and Oreo, I got several nips back then, in particular by Oreo. I didn’t react to the nips…at all. Instead, I focus attention on what we were doing just prior to the nip, guessed at what “triggered” the behavior and adjusted *my* behavior.  Actually, my very first thought at my first nip was, “That’s the best you’ve got?!?” I felt terribly sorry for how incredibly weak and ineffectual are their defenses against the world. It must be a terribly frightening  place for them.

What I found caused nips

• Impatience; needing to move around a bit and do something else. Oreo likes to explore and wanted to check out his new home, sniff with Snickers in her cage, and just hop around. I couldn’t blame him; his initial cage was too small – this was an emergency adoption so we were “making do” temporarily. I mistakenly restrained him, trying to keep him on my lap for grooming, and got nipped. So I changed my behavior to shorten the plucking sessions and allow him to hop around as soon as he showed signs of restlessness. It took longer to pluck him, but made the sessions much more pleasant and rewarding for him.
• Uncomfortable/hurting: a couple times I’ve been nipped when I picked up a bunny awkwardly or held him or her in a position they found uncomfortable.  Taking more care when handling and finding a position that works best when carrying them – and using that position consistently – and I didn’t get nipped again.
• Needing to pee: Snickerdoodles is so laid back and patient, she can nap for an hour on my lap when I’m grooming. So it was a shock the one time she got restless and I restrained her…and was nipped as my reward. She got free and peed a *lot*.   Since then, I’ve found several of my babies got restless during their first grooming and peed the instant they were back in their hutch. They had been doing their very best to hold their pee for some minutes! Figgy Newton, unfortunately, is freed from this inconvenience as he is happy to let loose wherever he is, lol.

The bottom line is that in every case, it was *my* bad that triggered that initial nip.

How to make nipping a habit

Any response to the nip other than figuring out the trigger and not triggering again can potentially turn nipping into a habit, because any response is potentially a “reward.”

If they nip and you yelp, it becomes a way to exert control. Hah! I made you yell! This is something I learned from birds; no matter what, do NOT let them think they can control you with their biting.

If you “work with them” by handling  them more, you are rewarding nipping with increased attention. And so on.

I shouldn't need to write this, but never, never punish a bunny for nipping. They are tiny, defenseless, powerless and trying to communicate. It's your job to figure out what they're trying to tell you and get smarter in the future so they don't have to resort to nipping.

How to nip the nipping in the bud

Don’t give them *any* payback for their nip. The message you are sending is that “nipping didn’t  send any message.”  If possible, don't even yelp or make a sound. Instead, try to determine the underlying cause – did you startle the bunny, accidentally hurt the bunny, ignore the bunny’s need to move around or find a new position? Respond as best you can to the underlying cause instead.

Timing is everything

If the bunny was restless and I ignored them and then got nipped, I do keep them still a little longer – a couple seconds, not minutes – and then let them go exploring. The key here – and it is tricky – is to not reward the nip with instant release. Instead, request they stay put a little longer. But not so long as to trigger another nip. Instead, reward their 2 seconds of patience with a few minutes of exploring.

You don’t need to be perfect; just good enough

Teddy has always been on the restless side, all my big boys in fact, needing to explore between shorter plucking sessions. I was surprised, then, that he was so still and quiet for the first 20+ minutes of grooming. In hindsight, at least in part it was likely due to Jake plunking himself down in such a way as to trap us in a corner of the bed. And then out of nowhere, instead of getting restless he nipped. By (bad) luck he caught me on the stomach and it was a sharp little nip. I was unprepared and let out a yelp. I adjusted his position and returned to grooming. A couple minutes later a tiny nip, which I ignored for a second, then adjusted our position and returned to grooming. A couple minutes later the 3^rd very tiny nip, really just a scrape of his teeth, which I again ignored for a second, then adjusted our position. And then Teddy got restless and I let him leave my lap for a few seconds. 

In the future I’ll ensure Jake leaves us more space for grooming sessions, I will shorten each grooming to less than 20 minutes at a stretch and intersperse time and space to explore for a few minutes. Any future nips will be treated the same way; no “payback” at all, just ignore for a second and adjust.

I don’t know what caused Teddy’s first nip. Emilee said it happened during grooming; her mom said it happened all the time, that he climbed her leg and bit her and that he bit her while holding him. I wasn’t there so have no idea what transpired. 

If indeed he “climbed her leg,” that suggests she stepped into his pen, which could have panicked him. I thoughtlessly stepped into Snickers pen just a couple weeks ago; she panicked, bolted and tried to climb out of the pen in a panic. If he felt cornered he may have attacked in self-defense. Remember we are 15-20 times the size of an adult bunny, double that for 4 month old babies; we can frighten them easily if we “sneak up on” them!

Anyway, I’m happy that this morning Teddy was ready to climb up and give me a kiss. He didn’t climb all the way up on top of his hayrack, but at least he’s starting to get back to his old self.

Oh, and a year later, Oreo has lost his restlessness while being groomed. His most recent plucking sessions, he just plunked himself down and napped. He hasn’t nipped me since his first month or two here!