What are bunny kisses?
Licking is an instinctual behaviour that bunnies groom each other. If your bunny licks you, it’s a sign of a bond.
The scent of people on blankets, pillows, clothes etc can make a rabbit want to lick those objects. Or it my be because they like the texture of the object on their tongue.
Bunnies use their mouths to explore the world around them. They use their whiskers to sense, teeth to grip and tongues to taste. If all of those things result in a positive or tasty outcome, the bunny will lick it.
Licking something too much means the bunny might be bored or have anxiety.
It really depends on the personality of the bunny whether it licks everything, licks certain things, or doesn’t lick at all.
Rabbits spend a lot of time licking other rabbits. They will lick you too if they think you are a bunny. The only time that licking really becomes a concern is when they lick their partner or themselves so much it becomes bald. This is called over-grooming and it may be showing anxiety.
When is licking dangerous?
The only danger is when a bunny licks something that has a chemical residue. It’s best to keep your bunny away from the place you’ve cleaned for a few hours, unless you used a pet safe cleaner.
Minerals
Bunnies also lick each other to get minerals from another bunny’s fur and skin. According to the Bunny Lady “there are some theories that rabbits who lick humans because of the salt from human sweat are salt deficient. There has been very little research done about the amount of salt a rabbit needs in their daily diet, but there also hasn’t been any evidence that domestic rabbits with healthy diets suffer from any kind of salt deficiency. This means that if your rabbit is licking you because of the sweat, they might like the flavor of the salt, but it’s unlikely that there are any health concerns that you should be worried about.”
Bunnies can be salt deficient. But we will discuss that in the mineral article.
Grooming and licking
Rabbits are very clean animals. They can spend a lot of time throughout the day cleaning themselves to keep their coats nice and shiny. Rabbits who live in pairs or colonies (more than 2 buns together) can spend a lot of time grooming each other. It is a sign that they are happy, will continue as friends, and are willing to show affection to each other.
If the rabbits are grumpy with each other, they won’t groom each other. A lick on the forehead can repair all of that, as it is regarded as an apology. But if the bunnies are not grumpy at each other and not grooming each other, that is fine. They are taking a break from grooming.
Boredom or anxiety
Bunnies can get anxious quite quickly if things change around them and they don’t understand what’s going on. Boredom occurs when they don’t have much to do and think they have been forgotten. These behaviours usually amount to either destroying their enclosure or themselves.
A bunny who is self-grooming obsessively is doing self harm. Licking starts off as a fun thing to do, and then when it’s mixed with worries and concerns it can quickly become a problem. Bunnies can lick themselves or others bald.
You have to make sure your rabbit is happy, even if things have to change and it doesn’t understand. Make changes slowly to give the bunny time to think about it. An example of that is if you have to move house. A new house has new smells, new sounds and new areas to roam in. Bunnies get anxious when things change, so you have to prepare them mentally for it. If you can, before you move in, take your bunny with you for short visits to the new house, then return it back to its original home. That way you are slowly introducing it to the new area. If you can’t do that, give something to your bunny that has the new house smell on it.
And don’t forget to talk to your bunny, they understand more than what you’d like to believe they do.