# How to tell the difference between good & bad teeth grinding?



## miyumiyu (Apr 10, 2015)

So my fluffy little lop mix hates me, bless her heart. And by me, I mean every creature on two legs, and by hate I mean is terrified of. I've been trying to get her to warm up to me for months, and I've mostly just come to the conclusion that she's never going to want me touching her. (Though she is oddly fine with climbing up on me to get veggies, or if I'm just in her way).

Anyway, she was flopped out on the floor earlier, and I decided to try and be social. I lay down next to her and slowly started petting just her forehead. She was still flopped out, but I could hear a kind of medium-loud grinding sound, and I wasn't sure whether that was her doing a bunny pur, or her telling me to get out of her space. 

She's not an aggressive rabbit at all, I think she's just traumatized from past owners. I still haven't been able to bond her with my other rabbit, partially because while she won't act aggressive towards him, she flat out refuses to groom or go near him.

But yes, sorry for the ramble. My question was how to tell if her teeth grinding was the content one, or whether she was just extremely uncomfortable with my presence. Thanks for any and all advice!


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## JBun (Apr 10, 2015)

Sounds like good tooth purring to me. This occurs when a rabbit is relaxed, like when laying down and when being petted. The 'bad' tooth grinding is something that occurs when a rabbit is in a lot of pain and/or highly stressed, and their body language will be completely different - tense, increased respiratory rate, usually hunched posture, eyes squinting or very wide open. The bad tooth grinding won't just happen because a rabbit doesn't want you bugging them. Tooth grinding is a signal of extreme distress in rabbits. If she had merely been uncomfortable or irritated and didn't want you petting her, she would have jumped up and hopped away, grunted at you, boxed your hand away, dug at your hand, nudged your hand away, or nipped for you to stop. Or if nervous, may have whimpered and cowered away from your hand, and in very extreme cases of fright, tooth grinding may occur. But this would be very unmistakable, and the rabbit would likely be frozen in fear, which doesn't at all sound like your bun.

So sounds like you are certainly making progress with her  She definitely doesn't hate you if she will allow you to pet her, and tooth purr as well. Some rabbits just take time and effort to learn to trust, but what a rewarding moment when you make that breakthrough.


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## whiskylollipop (Apr 10, 2015)

Tooth grinding is not an intimidation/communication tool for bunnies, the only reason she would have bad tooth grinding would be if she were in great pain. I've never heard of it being a stress reponse or anything other than physical pain, a bunny who is uncomfortable with you would simply hop away or sometimes lash out. Bad tooth grinding, like when you have to bite down on something during childbirth, is just a way of dealing with pain. That'd usually be accompanied by a hunched posture, refusal to move, hiding, grumpiness and other general signs of discomfort.

I doubt a flopped out rabbit receiving head rubs (assuming all normal bright, inquisitive, fluid behaviour is also present) is in any pain!

Edit; Jenny beat me to it


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## miyumiyu (Apr 10, 2015)

Oooh, really? Because she does actually kind of...freeze from fright when I get too close, a lot. And I do notice her breathing looks pretty fast. But she wasn't hunched over at all, so I wasn't sure.


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## JBun (Apr 10, 2015)

Freezing from being a little nervous and freezing from being terrified is very different. When a rabbit is terrified they will either not move at all for a long period completely frozen in fear, or bolt in a panic, to the point they may even run into and bounce off of walls trying to find an escape. They may also scream. Trust me, when you see a rabbit that is terrified, you will know. A rabbit that is just a little nervous and unsure about something is not the same thing, and doesn't mean they don't feel comfortable with you at all or trust you.

A rabbit that is just a bit nervous may freeze for a moment or dash away momentarily til they are certain all is ok, then resume normal behavior. I still would say she was tooth purring for you. Just the fact that she will approach you and hop up on you means she does trust you and isn't really scared of you, though some things you do may make her a little nervous at times.


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## miyumiyu (Apr 11, 2015)

Really?  Okay, thank you. I really do like my little girl, but I've been worried that she doesn't like her home since she always seems so nervous. The person I got her from didn't know how to care for rabbits (he didn't even know she was supposed to eat hay), and she seems like she's been kind of traumatized by it. 

If she was purring though I feel a lot better.  I hadn't thought I'd made much progress.


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