Mini Rex bites!

Question
Hi,

I have a 8 week old mini rex who bites constantly.. its not like hard bites, but enough that they hurt! She comes up and is really friendly to you, but sits there and bites, you push her away gently and she comes back to bite some more. She is a really sweet rabbit, i just think that maybe she thinks that the small bites are her way of loving, but it really hurts. Is there anyway we could get her to stop biting? I have a 4mo dwarf who licks us alot, and he never bites... so i really dont know why she bites.


Answer
This sounds like "love nips" lol.  These can be unpleasant but they are not your rabbit being aggressive or mean.  I suggest that you make sure to wash your hands before messing with her, just to make sure that it is not the smell of the other rabbit or food that is tempting her to bite.  You can also try every time she bites you, make a loud squeaky noise. You may feel silly but this is a signal to the rabbit that what she is doing is not acceptable.  If the squeaky noise does not work then you can try spritzing her with a bit of watter each time she bites, not when she is just investigating your fingers but once teeth touch skin small spray on her back end (never the face) this will make her stop what she is doing to groom herself and is a great training tool.  I also suggest stop giving her treats from your hand until she gets over this, if you have gotten her into eating stuff from your hands she may not be able to tell the difference between fingers and treats.


Good luck and have patience
AMy