Hi! I'm new to the community - I am a co-owner of two pretty babies - Gus, a white/black spotted mini-rex, and Bunny Page, a grey cutie about the same size (3.5lb-ish?). . .we adopted them this summer. 
I promise, the Halloween costumes were on-and-off within 10 seconds - enough for a raisin-snack and a disapproving glance.
Background - they're our first bunnies, and we feed them a small handful of oxbow each a day, tons of timothy, a bunch of greens, and a little treat (raisin or apple-bits). They have a pen in half our kitchen, and run the living room when we're home and watching.
Anyway. Here's my scenario. So, last night, something very out-of-the-ordinary happened. Gus, who is very rambunctious by nature, was sniffing at me - and nibbling/nosing my bathrobe as I knelt on the ground by him (he doesn't seem to like folds in fabric - has to smooth them out?) . . But this time, he lunged up and bit my lip hard enough to draw blood and give me a lovely "split-lip" today. I was startled, but calm enough to just shuttle him over to the pen for bed-time. Now, I figured it was due to him being fed-up with my "corrective measures" - redirecting his attention elsewhere and telling him "no" for eating my bathrobe. . . but tonight, I tried an experiment.
In the past, he's been bitey-lickey at my knees when I've worn a specific herbal muscle-rub. Last night, I was wearing burt's bees "lifeguard" lip balm - it has a strong mint smell. I think I may have put the two together. . .so, I slathered a piece of paper with the lip balm today, and offered it to him.
Well! He ripped the paper out of my hands, and immediately went to eating it. . .and growled at Bunny when she tried to sniff at it - he growled again at me when I took it away. I then put them to "bed" again.
So, a few questions. First - do other bunnies have some sort of ravenous blind love for peppermint-scented body products? Second - do you have a curfew for your bunnies? We're late people, and the bunnies usually get "penned" around midnight. . .I naively thought that they'd just go to sleep when they needed. . .but Gus won't sit still when he has the option of running around, and gets really crabby 'round midnight. Third - what's with the fabric-freaking? He's neutered (she's spayed). . .but he has that weird habit of kneading folds in fabric (and trying to eat the one velour blanket. . .which he has to tunnel under covers to find!). Are mini-rexes all psycho like Gus?
When we got them, Gus had caught our eye at the humane society. . .and Bunny happened to be stuck in his cage with him, and they weren't fighting. We got her because she is a shy, shy little girl and I couldn't bear to think of her in a house with kids who are noisy and want to pick her up all the time - but with his fearless example, she binkies about the house just as often as he. They have tons of toys they ignore, and seem to love tissue paper and trying to get where the cords are (normal, I understand?). What else can we do to make/keep our bunnies happy?
So many questions from a neurotic newer bunny owner!
I promise, the Halloween costumes were on-and-off within 10 seconds - enough for a raisin-snack and a disapproving glance.
Background - they're our first bunnies, and we feed them a small handful of oxbow each a day, tons of timothy, a bunch of greens, and a little treat (raisin or apple-bits). They have a pen in half our kitchen, and run the living room when we're home and watching.
Anyway. Here's my scenario. So, last night, something very out-of-the-ordinary happened. Gus, who is very rambunctious by nature, was sniffing at me - and nibbling/nosing my bathrobe as I knelt on the ground by him (he doesn't seem to like folds in fabric - has to smooth them out?) . . But this time, he lunged up and bit my lip hard enough to draw blood and give me a lovely "split-lip" today. I was startled, but calm enough to just shuttle him over to the pen for bed-time. Now, I figured it was due to him being fed-up with my "corrective measures" - redirecting his attention elsewhere and telling him "no" for eating my bathrobe. . . but tonight, I tried an experiment.
In the past, he's been bitey-lickey at my knees when I've worn a specific herbal muscle-rub. Last night, I was wearing burt's bees "lifeguard" lip balm - it has a strong mint smell. I think I may have put the two together. . .so, I slathered a piece of paper with the lip balm today, and offered it to him.
Well! He ripped the paper out of my hands, and immediately went to eating it. . .and growled at Bunny when she tried to sniff at it - he growled again at me when I took it away. I then put them to "bed" again.
So, a few questions. First - do other bunnies have some sort of ravenous blind love for peppermint-scented body products? Second - do you have a curfew for your bunnies? We're late people, and the bunnies usually get "penned" around midnight. . .I naively thought that they'd just go to sleep when they needed. . .but Gus won't sit still when he has the option of running around, and gets really crabby 'round midnight. Third - what's with the fabric-freaking? He's neutered (she's spayed). . .but he has that weird habit of kneading folds in fabric (and trying to eat the one velour blanket. . .which he has to tunnel under covers to find!). Are mini-rexes all psycho like Gus?
When we got them, Gus had caught our eye at the humane society. . .and Bunny happened to be stuck in his cage with him, and they weren't fighting. We got her because she is a shy, shy little girl and I couldn't bear to think of her in a house with kids who are noisy and want to pick her up all the time - but with his fearless example, she binkies about the house just as often as he. They have tons of toys they ignore, and seem to love tissue paper and trying to get where the cords are (normal, I understand?). What else can we do to make/keep our bunnies happy?
So many questions from a neurotic newer bunny owner!