Rabbits are excellent pets because they are nice, funny, intelligent animals, and of course, very cute. Now, understanding the nature of your rabbit, its way of behaving and communicating, is of vital importance in order to provide it with the best care and to improve coexistence with its family.
To this end, in this article on our site we want to help you understand the behavior of rabbits, so that every time you that you observe your tender friend you can know why he behaves in this way and if he is comfortable with you.
Characteristics of rabbits
Rabbits are small lagomorphic mammals (not rodents, as we often confuse them). This species is herbivorous and in its natural environment acts as prey, being active mainly at twilight hours, that is, at dawn and dusk.
In this case, understanding that your furry is prey is, without a doubt, decisive if we want to understand it, since its behavior is due to its need to run away and hide from predators. Because of this, these animals spend much of their time being alert, perceiving their surroundings through their senses, mainly through their highly developed hearing (provided by their large ears) They also have a large field of vision that allows them to detect predators that come from the air (birds of prey) and a highly developed sense of smell. This allows them to react quickly to any stimulus that seems threatening or unknown to them (attribute known as neophobia), fleeing instantly and hiding in their underground burrows.
However, domestic rabbits are characterized precisely by having lost part of this instinctive behavior, which makes them more trusting of us Even so, part of this fearful character continues to be preserved to a lesser or greater extent depending on factors such as race or how we treat him.
You may also be interested in Breeds of rabbits and their characteristics.
How do rabbits communicate?
If you have a rabbit at home, surely many times you will have been impressed by the number of expressions and forms of communication that it manifests in its day to day life. And it is that, although these sweet animals are rather silent, they have a wide range of gestures, postures, as well as sounds.
Rabbit non-verbal language
Body language in rabbits is mainly intended to express how they feel through the movement of different parts of the body, as well as physiological responses such as breathing or the secretion of odors that can be perceived by other animals with a good sense of smell (therefore, we cannot perceive it). We distinguish the following expressions:
- Fear: when a rabbit is afraid, it usually puts its ears back hooked to the body, lowers its head and hides its legs front ones below this, and it is also observed that their eyes are more bulging. His muscle tone is rather rigid, tensing his entire body, and his breathing quickens.
- Annoyed: When a rabbit doesn't want you to bother him, he will express it appropriately by stamping his paws on the ground to make you move away. Also, if you hold him in your arms and he is not in a very good mood, he may try to bite you.
- Joy: when a rabbit is happy, it has a rather playful character, jumping, running up and down the house, keeping your ears up and a relaxed body posture (as opposed to when you are afraid). He may also approach you because he wants you to be there for him and pamper him.
- Calmness: If you see your rabbit lying down, on its belly or on its side, with its legs stretched out, it is a clear sign of that he is calm and confident. Also, they normally drop their ears and eyelids, since they don't need to stay alert.
Rabbit Verbal Language
Rabbits are rather silent animals. Still, they can make sounds at specific times to express their mood.
- Whining and Growling: When a rabbit feels cornered or uncomfortable, it is common for it to whimper to express its mood. In the same way, if it has no chance to flee, it is very possible that it will end up biting to defend itself. Now, usually before the bite, it usually growls as a warning.
- Screech: Rabbits can scream when they feel very intense fear. They usually emit this heartbreaking sound when they are being chased by a predator or when they have been hunted, with the intention of communicating the danger to other rabbits.
- Clucking: This sound is similar to a very light clucking sound that they make when chewing something very appetizing, food or any object they like gnaw.
- Purr: When a rabbit is happy and calm, for example when you pet it, it is common to hear a sound similar to the purr of a rabbit. cat, which they do by rubbing their teeth gently.
- Whistles: When one rabbit wants to kick another rabbit out, it usually makes a high-pitched whistling sound to expel the rabbit.
- Courtship Sounds: When a male tries to court a female, she often makes a variety of sounds, including buzzing and honking, accompanied by her body language. In this way, the rabbit tries to get the female to notice him.
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Social behavior of rabbits
Rabbits are gregarious animals accustomed to living in colonies within their burrows of between 2 and 9 individuals, because in this way they They feel protected from external threats. These groups usually maintain very marked hierarchies, made up of females with at least one male, because if there is another male a dispute will arise and he will have to either adopt a submissive position or be expelled from the nest.
When living together, these animals tend to create bonds and relate to each other through mutual grooming as a sign of affection andgroup acceptance , as well as sleeping together to stay safe. A domesticated rabbit that lives with people will also show this kind of behavior with its owner if the owner trusts it, and even with other animals, such as dogs and cats, if they obviously maintain a friendly attitude.
In this other article we explain how to tell if a rabbit is male or female?
Daily Rabbit Behavior
In addition to behavior aimed at interaction with other individuals, the rabbit also performs many behaviors in order to meet its physical needs, such as:
- Grooming: rabbits are very clean animals and, therefore, it is natural that when they are comfortable and relaxed they groom often. In these cases, we will see how they lick and rub with their paws to remove dirt and tidy up their fur. On the contrary, if your rabbit is stressed or sick, it will stop performing this behavior.
- Standing on two legs: As we have mentioned, rabbits are animals that are constantly on the alert. For this reason, with the intention of seeing beyond the ground and detecting threats, as well as out of simple curiosity, they usually stand up on their hind legs to widen their field of vision.
- Rub your chin on objects: rabbits also communicate with each other by smell, as they have this highly developed sense. In addition, these animals are very territorial. For this reason, it is common for these animals to mark their territory and the members of their group with their scent, because by rubbing their chin, these animals secrete pheromones with their individual scent thanks to the glands located on the chin.
- Urine Spray: Another way to leave odorous messages is through urine and feces. In this case, rabbits (especially males) can mark their territory by spraying urine.
- Eat droppings: Sometimes your rabbit can surprise you by performing this behavior. However, if this behavior is not excessive and if the stools are normal, you should not be alarmed, as it is a natural behavior of the rabbit. This usually performs this behavior in order to make the most of the nutrients from the excrement.
- Gnaw: rabbits are animals that like to gnaw all kinds of elements, either to eat or to build a nest.
- Dig: Rabbits are animals that usually live in burrows underground thanks to their strong legs. For this reason, it is common for you to see your rabbit carry out this behavior in order to make a nest.
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Abnormal rabbit behavior - stress or pain
In the same way as us, when a rabbit is not feeling well or is in pain, this is clearly reflected in its habitual behaviour. In these cases, the best thing to do is take the rabbit to a veterinarian so that he can diagnose if it has any injury or pathology. Let's see what changes usually occur:
- Reduction of activity: if your rabbit is not feeling well, you will see how it is not so active and remains rather immobile and apathetic.
- Food and hydration changes: This person may eat and drink less frequently, stopping eating in severe cases, either because he is not feeling well or is having difficulties. If you don't get him to the vet quickly, his condition could worsen due to rapid weight loss and dehydration.
- Lack of hygiene: as we have mentioned, grooming is a behavior that is carried out if he is happy and at ease. On the contrary, if he is not well, he will stop washing and, therefore, keep the coat dull and dirty looking.
- Irritable Mood: If your rabbit is not feeling well, it will probably want to be isolated and will be upset if you try to pick it up and even get close to him.
- Overactivity: You may also be stressed or frustrated if you don't get enough exercise and therefore engage in behaviors like gnawing excessively, digging nervously… in order to discharge their energy.
- Grinding teeth: When a rabbit grinds its teeth loudly, it is usually trying to communicate that it is suffering.
- Strange sounds: the rabbit may make all sorts of strange vocalizations or other sounds, for example if it is having difficulty breathing.
In this other article we talk about 10 rabbit sounds.
How is the courtship of rabbits?
Regarding the behavior of rabbits in heat, when a male shows interest in a female, he usually emits the most peculiar sounds to make her pay attention to him, as well asstarts chasing her In case the rabbit wants to pay attention to her, she usually runs around making small pauses and jumps in the race.
Next, if the female is interested in the male, he will often start his display, which consists of the rabbit strutting walking with its hind legs stretched out, moving away and approaching the female three or four times in a row.
This forced position is also accompanied by the tail standing upright, which transmits the scent coming from the glands located in the groinIn addition, it is also common for the male to spray the female with his urine, even when far away, causing her to sometimes respond by fleeing.
Finally, if the interest is mutual, part of the ritual is the licking of the ears and snout, as well as the rubbing of heads and chins, both from the male and the female, as a sign of acceptance.
However, if the female is not interested in the male, he often finds himself frustrated, nervously digging up the ground or getting into fights with others males with whom it has competition.
In this other article, we explain everything about Heat in male and female rabbits.
