Does your rabbit rub her chin everywhere? No fear! It’s a common practice and it’s nothing to be alarmed about.
Rabbits’ behavior is one of the most complex to understand and often their actions appear very bizarre and meaningless to us. One of these strange attitudes is precisely rubbing their chin on furniture, things or people.
Chin rubbing meaning
Rabbits tend to rub their chins, but where does this behavior come from?
These cute pets have scent glands under their chins. When they rub against objects, people or other animals release their scent and in this way they claim that object as their own.
The scent that rabbits give off during these actions is not perceived by human smell, nor does it cause damage to objects, but it can be detected by other rabbits. It is simply a “trace” that your pet is leaving to mark their territory.
Chin rubbing motivations
Chin rubbing, also referred as chinning, can be attributed to several reasons:
• Bunnies are extremely territorial animal and need to claim their territory in order to feel “at home”. So here’s how by chin rubbing on objects and furnishings, your pet makes their own space.
• If your bunny rubs her chin on an object, she may consider it as a source of pleasure. Marking it with her scent will remind her of its exact location to come back again and further investigate.
• This behavior will also surely be adopted by your rabbit if you have recently moved house. Your pet will need to mark the territory not only for a possession question, but also to help orient herself in a completely new and foreign environment.
Rubbing the chin on people or other rabbits
It can often happen that your rabbit rubs their chin not only on objects, but also on you or other rabbits. This behavior is also completely normal, and if it happens you should be honored.
In fact, if your rabbit rubs against you, she is showing her love and considers you important. This is a real compliment.
Chin rubbing on other rabbits can have two distinct meanings. It can be a sign of affection, but it could also result in dominance over the other rabbit. In this case it will be very common for the submissive rabbit to bow his head as a sign of respect, while the other rabbit rubs her chin.