Is your Rabbit Trying To Tell You Something?

Rabbits are social and they will “claim you” in other words “chose you” as theirs by rubbing their scent glands from under their checks on you! If you come into the home after a long day and stick your finger into the cage and he or she comes running, yes like a doggie they missed you. Rabbits go more on scent than visual clues so smelling you near is a great indicator you were missed! When you pick them up they may purr like a cat (listen closely), or click their teeth, or even lick you (rabbits do not lick us for salt). Licking is an indication of affection.

Wanting Playtime

Rabbits are such interesting animals. As pets they have certain hopes for the relationship just as we do. Understanding when they are looking at us seeking attention whether it be affection, reassurance of boundaries, expressing a need with warnings, or a desire to playfully interact requires us to look at how our buns are wired to interact socially.

Your rabbit has many fun and frankly adorable behaviors specific to bunnies. “Binkies” and “zoomies” and just popping up onto you as you sit on the couch from out of nowhere are obvious signs your bun wants to play. Binkies are that cute jump and twist that bunnies will do. Your bun is expressing joyful energy! Zoomies are when a bun races around in short bursts. If you see your bun do these and then just stop and stare at you, maybe even sniffing the air for emotional clues from you; they may be asking or trying to figure out if you would like to play or engage in their playfulness with them. 

Often a rabbit will even circle you if they are wanting to play, or make restless commotion to get your attention and let you know they would like to be out and about.

Having a toy that makes a noise that when a rabbit engages signals you to let them out as long as you are consistent as much as you can be with your schedule is a great way for interspecies communication.

Head bumps on your leg, or simply staring at you, or jumping straight onto your lap are all ways they communicate they are craving your attention. Every bunny is different just like you and I so over time you will learn to pick up on unique subtle signals as you bond and form your own shared language.

In summary, these interesting creatures can communicate very well! The more time I spend with Loki, the more I learn to appreciate who he is, what he likes, and what he needs from me. You will in time and with trust, form a relationship language unique to you and your bun. You will be able to form an appreciation by being able to recognize when they are specifically trying to communicate their affection, a caring curiosity, give a warning, or simply joyfully ask to share some playtime with you.

How Rabbits Show Affection

Like many animals affection is often shown through grooming. Nibbling, licking your hands, or nudging their head under your hand are signs your rabbit is displaying grooming behavior with you. Although they love the salt on our skin when combined with these other behaviors you can tell when a bun is telling you I like how you pet me let me groom you too, or in the case of nudging under your hand is requesting you groom them. 

With new rabbits, letting them just hop around near you without touching them or grabbing them lets them know they can trust you. Once your bond becomes stronger don’t be surprised if your bun jumps up onto you, eats from your hand, licks, nudges, or even feels comfortable sleeping next to you. If your bun rubs their head on you it is their way of “claiming” you as theirs. Yes, that’s right you may think your bun is your pet but they see us if they approve of us as then a relationship they want to “claim” for themselves by rubbing say your leg with the scent glands under their chins. Being “claimed” by your bun is the equivalent of someone telling you they approve of you, and want you as their friend.

Rabbits purr! Yes, rabbits purr when very appreciative of our petting or lightly rubbing the many nerves in their ears will often hunker down into our arms and if you listen very carefully you may hear them either click their teeth, or actually purr. In their language, this is them telling us thank you for the affection we are giving them. 

The Nose Knows

Have you seen your rabbit stand up on their hind legs sniffing the air? Maybe your rabbit has displayed behavior (we will get to this), telling you they want to play with you, or maybe your bun has done something you disapprove of when you want to play such as lunging or a stern light nib on the finger and you see them shortly after sniffing about. In the wild buns use scent so much! They use it to know where their young are, detect a lurking predator, and to bond socially. When they raise up to sniff they are trying to discover scent clues. They are telling you I am not sure what is going on right now but I am trying to figure that out for us. Is this telling us they want our attention? In a way yes, as if we recognize this behavior we know they are paying attention to us by trying to figure us out by scent in that moment. 

Signs Your Rabbit Doesn’t Wish To Play

Some signs (not necessarily of a lack of affection but just disapproval of our behavior toward them), like lunging or grunting (say if we reach into their cage and move their food bowl) are warnings for us. Understanding this helps as I Learned quickly Loki liked his food bowl in a certain place he kept moving it to… rather than where I kept placing it down when I fed him! 

In the wild when danger approaches rabbits will thump their feet on the ground. This is because they can communicate with each other undetected by other animals with a secret code of vibrations through the ground. Do you remember Thumper from Bambi?

This is where spending time together comes in as the more time we spend with our buns the more that language of understanding between us strengthens and with that trust as well.