nipping and digging

Question
QUESTION: My rabbit enjoys being petted; she is quite the lap bunny.  Sometimes, though, she starts nipping and pulling at my clothes and then digging in my lap.  Is this just playful behavior or something else?

ANSWER: Dear Beth,

The behavior's reason depends on context.  If she's being restrained on your lap, then the digging could be her way of saying, "Enough, already!  Let me down!"

If she's not spayed, it could be just rambunctiousness born of sexual frustration, which means it's time for her to be spayed for her health and longevity:

www.rabbit.org/health/spay.html

Or it might just be that you've stopped petting her, and that's her way of protesting that you, her slave, are not doing your job!  :)

There's a fun overview of rabbit language here:

www.cramptonarts.com/rabbits/r_language.html

that you might find useful.


Hope that helps!

Dana

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks so much for the previous answer.  Let me provide more context.  My bunny is very loving (licks everything) and has been spayed for over 2 months.  She digs in my lap while I'm petting her. It's not just the alternating paws rapid digging, either.  Sometimes she uses both paws at the same time to pull whatever she's digging on toward her.  Any ideas?
Thanks again!

Answer
Dear Beth,

Well, it's harder for me to tell without my actually seeing her do this, but I'll give it my best shot.

It sounds as if she's engaging in play and/or displacement behavior, which--as in many animals--is an extension of natural behaviors that are instinctive.  In this case (especially the "double paw dig"), she's mimicking the motions she'd be using to dig a burrow in the wild, and your lap appears to be just the right texture for this type of fun!

It's probably also a bit of displacement:  does she do this more often when you have stopped petting her?  If so, she's telling you she didn't give you *permission* to stop, and you'd better keep doing your job, slave.  If you are petting her when she does this, it may be her way of saying she wants to get down off your lap, and that she's had enough cuddling for the moment.

Does that seem to fit the bill?

Dana