Rabbit Lingo

By: Cait Reizman and Matt Cummins

Like any community, the world of rabbits has its own lingo! This can be confusing at first, so here’s a handy list to get you talking like a seasoned bunny owner in no time!

Behaviors:

Binky

A running, twisting jump. A bunny’s version of a happy dance

Flop

When a bunny suddenly flops over on its side. This is a sign of trust and relaxation, as it’s akin to making them vulnerable to you.

Dead Bunny Flop (DBF)

A variant of the flop where the bunny lays very still and appears almost lifeless. Will scare you the first time, and most times after that, but is actually a sign of extreme relaxation.

Sploot

When a bunny lays on the ground with legs stretched out behind them or off to the side.

Superbunning

A variant of the sploot when a bunny rests on the ground with front legs pointed forward and back legs stretched behind them. Looks like Superman flying.

Loafing

When a bunny tucks up into a position with all limbs drawn in, looking like a loaf of bread. It’s their go-to comfy position and frequently happens in a state of rest.

Mirroring

When rabbits copy each others’ pose. Clearly the first one had a great idea!

Periscoping

When a bunny stands up on its hind legs. Could be a sign of curiosity, or more likely an attempt to get your attention for a treat or some pets!

Bunstruction

A portmanteau that describes a bunny’s love of chewing on things, which leads to all sorts of destruction.

Chinning

When a rabbit rubs their chin on things. Rabbits have scent glands there that they use to mark territory, or claim things as “theirs”. You will see this behavior a lot when the rabbit is in a new place or gets new toys, and you should take it as a huge honor when they chin you!

Rabbitude

A rabbit’s attitude.

Tip-toeing

When a bunny walks by stepping with all four paws instead of hopping the back two forward. Often done in an attempt to be inconspicuous.

Zoomies

What happens when a bunny gives in to an uncontrollable urge to run, or “zoom” around! Can involve seemingly random bursts of speed and changes in direction. Another sign that the bunny is happy and playful.

Household Care and Supplies:

Bunnyproofing

When you protect your bunny and your belongings by blocking access to hazardous things your bunny will want to chew.

Spicy Hay

A playful term for electrical wires and cords! Bunnies will want to chew them, and may unfortunately be shocked to find that there’s no actual hay present. Make sure to bunnyproof by covering your cords.

Critical Care

An important part of any bunny owner's medical arsenal, this is a type of nutrient dense food supplement your vet might instruct you to use when your rabbit is not eating. You may have to force them to eat it with a syringe. We recommend the apple-banana flavor it comes in to make it more palatable.

Snuffle Mat

A mat, usually made of fleece, that has all sorts of nooks and crannies into which pellets or treats can be hidden. This makes the rabbit have to forage for their reward and serves as exercise and enrichment.

Rabitat

A rabbit’s habitat or living space.

Bunny Burrito / Bunrito

A technique of wrapping your bunny up in a blanket or towel to immobilize their limbs and prevent them from squirming around. Can be used to aid in nail trimming or feeding medication.

X-Pen

Short for “exercise pen”, it’s the common type of enclosure used to confine rabbits to a certain space. A metal one, many feet tall and with closely spaced bars, ensures that your furry friend probably won’t escape (but they will certainly try).

Physical Traits and Relationships:

Dewlap

A pouch of skin and fatty tissue that appears under a rabbit’s chin. More common in females, especially if they have not been spayed or were spayed late. Allows mother rabbits to more easily line their nests with their own fur and can also serve as extra protection for their babies. Some males may develop one as well.

Doe

A female rabbit.

Buck

A male rabbit.

Husbun

A male rabbit in a bonded pair. No one seems to have found a good equivalent term for females yet.

Kit

A baby rabbit.

Colony

A collective noun for a group of rabbits.

Fluffle

The cuter collective noun for a group of rabbits.

Top Bunny

The bunny at the top of the hierarchy in a bonded pair or group. The dominant bunny gets privileges such as dibs on food or on-demand grooming from the other rabbit(s). This is a role that can change over time if a new rabbit is introduced to the family or if the current Top Bunny cedes their role, and is not specific to a gender.

Tips for Bunny Proofing

The more space you can give your rabbit, the better. Think of every time you’ve seen an animal in a cage and thought “oh that poor thing, if only they had more space to roam”. Of course, not everyone is in a situation where they can give their bunny full reign of the living space. If you have to have them in a penned off area, they need a minimum of 16 square feet and daily opportunities for supervised exercise outside the pen.

An X-pen setup with a waterproof tarp and fleece blankets protecting the floor.

When bunny-proofing whatever space you’re allowing your furry loved one to occupy, packing tape and C&C grids are your friends. Rabbits love to chew on wood, cords (“spicy hay”), books, carpets and other fabric. One of ours will even chew on plastic bags. After you’ve taped or blocked off things like baseboards and the edges of cabinets, you’ll want to move any of your possessions you don’t want chewed out of reach. Eliminating small spaces that they can crawl into that would make it hard for you to get ahold of them in an emergency is also very important.

Packing tape works wonders for baseboards without being too obtrusive.

We thought our board game collection was out of reach, until we learned it wasn’t.

We’ve found that no bunny is perfect when it comes to litter box use, so limiting free-roam spaces to ones with easily cleaned hard flooring and low/no-pile rugs is ideal if possible. Your bunny may also appreciate having fleece blankets strewn about. However, some rabbits take this as an invitation to dig them up and/or pee on them. If your bunny is a particularly voracious digger, you may want to protect your couches or chairs with covers or blankets you don’t mind getting torn up—or simply accept the fact that those items are temporary while your love for your rabbit(s) is eternal.

We use a blanket as a barrier layer to protect our couch cushions.

The biggest challenge we’ve faced in bunny proofing so far has been blocking our bunnies from accessing the underside of our couch. After one surprising morning work meeting in which my partner felt a bunny booping up from inside the cushions during a Zoom call, we found that they had dug a hole straight through the bottom and climbed in! Thus began a many months long battle to block off the area with attempted solutions that balanced aesthetics and practicality. Take it from this mechanical engineer who thought he knew what he was doing: as clever as you think your rabbit is, you’re probably not giving them enough credit. Metal products work best as their teeth can’t get through them, while a determined rabbit can eventually chew through plastic.

Our bunnies recreated their favorite scene from Shawshank Redemption with this plastic fence.

Bunny proofing is a battle of trial and error. The fewer options for mischief they have, the better, and sometimes you will have to make trade-offs between style and function. That being said, every rabbit’s personality is different, so hopefully you don’t have to sacrifice too many items before you learn the limits of what your particular companion is willing to nibble on just a little too much.