Do Rabbits Get Jealous? (Answered!)

Rabbits have a huge range of emotions such as fear, anger, jealousy, love, grief, and many more. So, it is quite hard to comprehend the emotions of a rabbit, as they reflect quite complex emotions.

To understand the psychology of your bunny, you have to stay quite patient. You have to give a considerable amount of time as well as effort to understand their emotions.

Once you master that, you can always keep your rabbit happy.

Jealousy is one of the common traits of a rabbit. There are numerous reasons for which your rabbit may get jealous. Amongst them, the most common reason for jealousy is when your rabbit thinks that the other one is getting more attention. Rabbits belong to the family of hierarchical animals. And for that reason, they always try to become the center of attraction. This phenomenon induces aggression and other behavioral issues. 

Hence, let us take a good look at the psychology of the rabbits.

The psychology of domestic rabbits differs from that of the wild ones. They constantly look for potential threats with their sensitive eyesight and hearing.

They feel safe while they are underground with their mates. The right living conditions make rabbits cheerful. Still, why should we talk about jealousy?

Rabbits have different emotions, like jealousy, fear, anger, love, grief, and irritability.  As a pet owner, you may need a number of months to understand these emotions of rabbits.

You need very close attention to learn something about their reactions. Moreover, you have to identify their birth history and body language to know these emotions. 

To say simply, jealousy of rabbits is natural, and it is one of the common emotions. Like human beings, they react to different scenarios.

What is the cause of jealousy of rabbits?

Most of the rabbits become jealous while they are upset. For instance, when you have introduced some new pets, your rabbit may feel jealous. It will try to get your attention by nudging you forcefully. Moreover, the jealous rabbit can chase the new pet and mount on them to show their dominant attitude.

What are the signs that your rabbit is jealous?

There are plenty of signs that indicate the jealousy of your rabbit. You have to know about those signs. If you can know about those signs, it will be easier for you to take care of that behavior. So, let us comprehend the signs that signify that your rabbit is jealous.

Inserting themselves when you are giving attention to humans

Well, if you notice that your rabbit is inserting itself whenever you are giving importance to another human, there is a possibility that your rabbit is jealous. They feel like it’s their turn to get the love.

Poking themselves when you are handling other bunnies

Well, you may have to face this situation when you will have more than one rabbit in your house. If you see that one of your bunnies is trying to insert itself while loving the other one, there is a possibility that it is jealous.

They will start nudging you with their nose or they will create an annoying grunt. These are the significant signs that your rabbit is feeling jealous.

Bonded bunnies are fighting

Even if your bunnies have a great bond, there is a possibility that they will get jealous of each other. Once they get jealous, they will fight with each other. This may damage their bond permanently. Therefore, you should always try to avoid this situation.

Poking themselves into your activities

One of the vibrant signs that signify that your rabbit is jealous is that they will try to poke their nose in every activity of yours. In case, if your rabbit feels that it is not getting enough attention, it will always try to insert itself into all your activities.

Showing aggression around other animals

Now, it is one of the significant things that you need to check. You have to monitor how envious your rabbit is becoming in front of other animals.

If you see that they are showing aggression, you have to take care of that situation. Make sure that it doesn’t escalate. Or else, it will be harmful to your bunny and other pets as well.

They will behave weirdly

If your rabbit is jealous, they will try to do numerous things to catch your attraction. For instance, they can behave aggressively, and destructively. Similarly, if they are tending to eliminate the house, the reason is that they are jealous.

So, these are the signs that show that your rabbit is jealous. If you find any of these signs in your rabbit, you should start taking care of it.

Scenarios when rabbits can turn out to be jealous

Jealousy from other pet bunnies

You may have more than one rabbit in your home. Those rabbits can grow jealous to each other. They will feel an unequal distribution of rewards and attention. To solve this problem, you have to pay attention to each rabbit equally. Make sure that they get equal share of treats every day.

Jealousy grew from seeing other pets

Most of the animals have a habit of feeling envious of other pet animals. While you have a rabbit and a cat in one place, jealousy can grow in them. That is why you have to keep them separate.

Jealousy due to the lack of attention

Rabbits love interacting with their owners. While you get no time to play with them, they may have negative feelings. Create a schedule of your daily interaction with rabbits.

So, here are all the things that you need to know about the jealousy of your bunny. If you find out that your bunny is jealous and angry with you, you have to give some time effort to take care of the situation.