# Nudging with her nose



## Rosieleon (Aug 23, 2011)

Poppet has been with us just over a week. She is about 15 weeks and she has been out of her cage constantly the last 5 days.

I noticed she was nudging things like my leg while she was smelling me at the start and nudges my hands alot. 

Is this a sign of...."hey get out of my way" or "show me affection?"

I don't want to irritate her further.

Saying this she is running a million miles an hour round our living room right now so she seems to be living it up!

Thanks


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## Must_Love_Pets (Aug 23, 2011)

Awww how CUTE!!! Most of the time it is hey show me some love!!! Sometimes it can be, uh can you please move or get this out of my way. I can always tell which nudge means what.Thor use to nudge me then circle me several times. LOL


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## Rosieleon (Aug 23, 2011)

Thank you so much for this. I can tell her get out of my way ones when I have been cleaning her cage while she is out and she is trying to see what I'm doing. But that is why I was starting to get confused.

Today was a great day she was sitting on my lap eating (in the above picture) and flopped down beside me and let me stroke her while she was lying out!!!


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## Korr_and_Sophie (Aug 23, 2011)

It may depend on what she is doing at the time and what you are doing. If she is wandering around and exploring and you are in the way, she would be wanting your to move. If she is just hopping around and come over to you, then she is probably looking for affection. You could try moving out of the way and she what she does, if she goes on her way, then you were in the way but if she come to you again, she wants affection. 

You did just get her. You will need to learn more about what she does. There is really no set in stone rules. A nudge can mean some different things, you need to figure out what it means for her.


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## Nancy McClelland (Aug 23, 2011)

:yeahthat: With ours it can be one or both of those things.


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## jeanluc_pippen_merry (Aug 24, 2011)

Apparently rabbits believe in good manners, and part of that is always acknowledging you when they are passing you by. They expect no less from their fellow bunnies and apparently even their humans! My bunnies never pass by me without nudging me, and ive learnt to always give them little pet on the head (human nudge) whenever i pass them too. 

When Pippin wants attention he will nudge me several times and then groom me, or if i put my hand down towards him he'll put his head down so i can "groom" him. When he is just acknowledging i am there he will give me a nudge and then continue on his way. If he keeps nudging me without any licks and stands there and stares at me, then i know he wants me to move, and if he starts digging at me then that's usually a sure sign.

A nudge can mean so many different things, it takes time to learn what your rabbits are trying to tell you, and they might not all communicate the same things to you in the exact same way. It wont take long for you to understand what he's trying to tell you, though im sure everyone still gets it wrong from time to time. 

WTB Universal Translator. 

EDIT: Oops, and by he i meant she. >.<


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## Bunnylova4eva (Aug 24, 2011)

Yep, Mine do that too. Just happy, or sometimes wanting attention.

Poppet is *A-d-o-r-a-b-l-e* !!!


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## Zelda&Linky (Feb 26, 2019)

I’m sometimes really lost with what my bunnies are trying to “tell me”. I really see them trying to communicate something to me, and I just don’t speak Rabbit  There are 3 kinds of nose bumping with my buns - 1 bump, double bump and very hard bumping, which definelty means “out of my way!”. I am always greeted by the single bump when they’re passing me by. Not sure, what the double bump means. It could simply be “attention, Holman!” , but then they sometimes stare at me, obviously waiting for me to do something. It’s definetly not the rubs - they never ask for rubs that way. Hope to understand the double bump one day!


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## samoth (Feb 26, 2019)

My buck thinks he owns the house and runs things around here, so when he nudges me, it means, "Get of my way, lowly human! I'm gettin' important stuff done around here and you're in the way again!"

When my doe nudges me, it can mean a couple things. If I'm in her path, it means, "Hello. Move, please. I want to go this way." If I'm petting her and she nudges my hand upwards, it means, "Heeeey, pet my nose! Pet my nose!"

Us humans can be pretty dense sometimes, so rabbits can have trouble communicating with us in ways that we understand. It just takes some time & learning to figure out what your rabbit means when it nudges you.


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## Zelda&Linky (Feb 27, 2019)

samoth said:


> My buck thinks he owns the house and runs things around here, so when he nudges me, it means, "Get of my way, lowly human! I'm gettin' important stuff done around here and you're in the way again!"
> 
> When my doe nudges me, it can mean a couple things. If I'm in her path, it means, "Hello. Move, please. I want to go this way." If I'm petting her and she nudges my hand upwards, it means, "Heeeey, pet my nose! Pet my nose!"
> 
> Us humans can be pretty dense sometimes, so rabbits can have trouble communicating with us in ways that we understand. It just takes some time & learning to figure out what your rabbit means when it nudges you.



Hrm, I’m definelty gonna check if they want nose rubs when they nudge my hand upwards! I thought I was simply getting rejected, hope that’s not the case


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## April LD (Feb 27, 2019)

I have many rabbits and as everyone says - eventually you will get to understand your bunny and her language. 

I get a nose bump - not too hard, on my hand and it's that they want affection, especially if they are out of the cage. I have one that will nudge my hand and put his head under it and he wants heads rubs/massage around his ears, face, and head and will lay down and chomp. 

I have a younger rabbit that will "boop" me and if I am coming from above to pet him when he is in his cage, he is telling me to stop - nicely - and usually he will run over to his potty if this is the case.

I have rabbits that "boop" my nose and I call it bunny kiss and I "boop" them back, tell them I love you too and let them go on their way or pet them, depending on their body language after that. Some times I will even get a boop or two more 

I have noticed with all my bunnies, a hard "boop"/bump typically means get outta my way, or stop doing that!

I don't allow my bunnies to bite/nibble for attention - some tried that and I bite back - not hard mind you - tell them we don't bite we give love, kisses, and snuggles. They usually close their eyes and lower their head because they know I am the "boss bun" and we go about our snuggle and kisses time. I have a few rabbits that will actually lick/groom me - mostly my older buns. The younger ones will do a drive by licking...like a quick kiss or I don't tongue tag? they are silly rabbits - but OH HOW I LOVE THEM ALL!!!!!


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## somebunnylovesme (Feb 27, 2019)

My bunny will nose bump me harder if I'm in his way to say move. When he wants pets, he'll nose bump my hand and place his head underneath my hand. Another way he'll show me he wants pets is if he nose bump me any were and starts licking me.


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## Liung (Feb 27, 2019)

Lahi doesn’t like humans touching him, and when he wants something out of the way his tendency is to shove his nose under it and then try to toss it out of the way. One day when he was really upset with me totally cleaning out the litter box, he actually grabbed my pant leg and tried to drag me out of the room. Then he sat at the doorway, watching to make sure I left. 

Lahi’s most common nose bumps are his ankle pokes. He’ll hop over to someone and poke their ankle. This is exceptionally cute, except that he is highly sneaky about it. He’s already really sneaky by being pure black, but he’s always very quiet about it and comes at your ankle from behind the chair so you don’t see him coming. I think he enjoys startling people. 

If you’re very very lucky you can lie down on the floor and maybe get nose boops. Nothing is cuter. Having him boop your nose with his nose, your heart explodes. 

Delilah will poke at your ankles when it’s dinner time, but otherwise she tends to bump things with her nose to check consistency. She’ll bump you if you’re lying on the floor and she’s checking to make sure you are stable enough to climb on top of.


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## Whiterabbitrage (Feb 27, 2019)

I know what you mean about trying to speak Rabbit. They seem to be expecting an answering action of some sort sometimes. I did an online search about this a couple years ago because my bun was getting irritated with me. I remember an article recommended always greeting your rabbit as you pass by. So I started doing that and Harvey stopped being irritated. Now, whenever I pass by her, I hold my foot out and she bonks it with her nose. Sometimes she bonks once and sometimes twice. 

The vigorous bonking is definitely to get out of their way. I haven’t seen a difference between the single and double greeting bonk though. If you figure it out please let us know!


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