Rabbit Behaviour...Lunging, but not attacking?!

Has anyone ever come across this behaviour before?
Bunny is very happy, people-friendly and absolutely LOVES nose rubs. However, when you put your hand in the cage, bunny's first behaviour response is to lunge at you quickly. No bite or boxing behaviour, but a fast lunge....then I give a nose rub, which bunny loves!

I just don't get the lunge?! It's a bit unnerving as you automatically expect a bite! :shock:

I think your bun may not realise the hand belongs to you and so when the hand first appears your bun may be feeling threatened. it may be worth thinking about an alternative approach so that your bunny knows you're there before your hand goes into the cage.
This link may help you understand a little more http://rabbit.org/faq-aggression/ and here's an extract Although rabbits have great long-distance eyesight, their near-distance vision isn’t so great. A human hand in front a rabbit’s face can be very startling, and a rabbit may lunge defensively at the perceived threat.
I think you may have been lucky so far not to have been nipped :shock: good luck with your bun :thumb:

A lunge in my experience is them saying that it's theirs - I presume in this case he's telling you his home is his. I say this because when my bunnies were first bonded Bumble always used to lunge at Butter-Bean when I went to see them to tell him that I'm hers. It was always just a lunge nothing more and I know that's what she was saying

k1984 said:

Has anyone ever come across this behaviour before?
Bunny is very happy, people-friendly and absolutely LOVES nose rubs. However, when you put your hand in the cage, bunny's first behaviour response is to lunge at you quickly. No bite or boxing behaviour, but a fast lunge....then I give a nose rub, which bunny loves!

I just don't get the lunge?! It's a bit unnerving as you automatically expect a bite! :shock:

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My Pie does it :shock: I stand my ground well my hand does :roll: unless she is especially quick and makes me jump :lol:

She loves head rubs too, she sometimes lunge and grunt which makes me jump, I was warned she was a biter when I got her but she isn't really thankfully

I have almost stopped the lunging by making a fist so if she bites skin is tight and she won't be able to grab and it's a graze rather than bite and give her head rubs and then push my hand under her chin and try to make her groom me mostly she then does one of 2 things either I get a nibble and then kisses :thumb: she does this to Rosie too or she moves away then I go back and do it again and generally just get the request for head rubs which she gets but I still ask for hand grooms and usually get them slowly but surly I will break her if the lunging or one day she will take my hand off :lol:

Thanks for your replies. I really appreciate you taking the time to give some suggestions for this behaviour.

It's really give me something to think about. I'm going to keep trying with her, taking a slow and steady approach. Bless her, I think she is just confused lol!

bumblicious said:

A lunge in my experience is them saying that it's theirs - I presume in this case he's telling you his home is his. I say this because when my bunnies were first bonded Bumble always used to lunge at Butter-Bean when I went to see them to tell him that I'm hers. It was always just a lunge nothing more and I know that's what she was saying

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Agree ^^

I have a Doe who does this. Always has done ... I still love her to bits though

Poor vision could be an issue too. My suggestion would be to give an audible cue that you're about the open the door, wait until he comes over and then offer your hand for sniffing. It's more polite than putting your hand straight into his space. It could be the other way around - a hearing issue and you're startling him as he's not noticing you coming up to the cage if he's not facing you. In that case I'd go for a couple of taps to say 'hello' as he should feel the vibrations.