Rabbit Bit Me : (

3LO seems to be a very relaxed and gently bunny, but today he snapped for no apparent reason which has worried me.

My partner was stroking him which he was really enjoying, but as I moved my face close to his to kiss him, he jumped at me and bit my noise quite aggressively (bleeding). He usually has no problem with me kissing him and this is very normal for me to do so.

The only thing I can think of that is different to usual, it that I had moisturiser on my face (Bio Oil). Has anyone had any strange behaviour reactions between rabbits and this?

The oil may have made you smell different or you may have startled him, particularly if he has pink, red or blue eyes, as they often have bad eyesight. Depending on how low your head was and the actions you made, you could also have been seen to be requesting him to groom you, which can also be a display of dominance. In rabbit language, this can cause offence if the other rabbit does not want to accept this dominance and sometimes the offended rabbit can nip the other one.

Also, is he neutered? If he is not, aggression is a normal part of rabbits reaching sexual maturity and neutering may help.

For rabbits, nipping is a normal part of their language and isn't necessarily done with the intent of hurting the other, especially as rabbits' fur protects them, so please don't think he meant it maliciously - although of course that doesn't make it hurt any less!

It could well have been the smell, rabbits have a blind spot in front of their nose because their eyes are on the side of their head so he may have just been relying on scent to ID what/who was getting so close and a stranger doing that would have been very rude and deserved a nip!