Many people have opted to get less traditional pets during the pandemic, one such pet is a pet rabbit. Rabbits are pretty cool in that you can litter box train them and have them run around your home, as long as you rabbit-proof the wires and all the other rabbit dangers in your home.
Pet rabbits can become much like a pet cat when trained properly. Today we’re going to share some of the common pet rabbit behaviors that puzzle humans! We’ve seen an influx in pet rabbit owners and we want to clear the confusion of these behaviors.
Chinning
This is a behavior that’s rather common of pet rabbits when they decide they like something or someone. This is how a rabbit leaves their scent to say that something is “theirs”. This chinning behavior in pet rabbits is more welcomed than other ways pets can mark their territory.
Running Around Crazy
Rabbits are very adamant about their territory. So if you switch up where things are in their cage or their rabbit room, you might find that they run around like crazy. They’ll push things around and try to get the layout back to the way they want it. This is mostly because they’re prey animals so they want to know where they can hide, and run to if trouble arrives.
Grooming Frequently
Much like cats who always groom their bodies, rabbits will do the same thing. Your pet rabbit may sit in a weird position, and start licking as they fling their feet up to start grooming. This may look silly and like something out of a karate film, but rest assured this is typical behavior for rabbits during their grooming process.
Licking You
Since rabbits show love to their fellow rabbits by grooming and licking them, you might find that your rabbit is licking you. This is their way of grooming you and telling you that they’ve accepted you as part of their beloved family.
Grinding Teeth
You might hear some grinding of the teeth when your pet rabbit is happily being pet or hanging out with their fellow rabbit friends. Grinding their teeth is a sign that they’re happy and is similar to a cat’s purr. If you hear clanking or heavy teeth grinding, though, that may mean there’s something wrong with them and perhaps you should bring them to the vet.
Tossing Things
You’d probably never imagine that your pet rabbit would soon act like a dog who wants to play fetch, but it happens! If your rabbit is tossing around toys or other items at you, out of their cage, or around to their rabbit friends, it’s a sign they want to play. You might want to toss it back and enjoy this playtime with them because that shows them you love them!
These behaviors are typical of rabbits, and so we hope you’re not as puzzled by them, now that we explained them.