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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

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Forum BONDING Bonding a Male and Female

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    • Rocky'n'Penelope
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        Hello! I am new to this website but have read many other’s forum posts. I have not found one that sounded very similar to mine and just had a few questions.

        To start, I got my first bun 2.5 years ago and her name is Penelope, a Netherland dwarf. A week ago I adopted rocky, a lion head, from the humane society. They are both fixed, however, Rocky was neutered about 2 weeks ago and Penelope was spayed about 2 years ago. I got him checked out by the vet already and she and the humane society said it was ok to start putting them together and his incision was healing well. We have had about 6 bonding sessions at this point and I think things are going ok. Penelope has a 3 level cage and Rocky has a wire cage with a plastic bottom. They are in the same room and are separated enough to not get to one another through the cages. I allow each of them plenty of individual exercise time and they usually sniff and groom through the cages and have even laid down together with the bars in between.

        Their bonding sessions take place in the bath tub. My main problem is that Rocky mounts Penelope excessively. The last 2 sessions, Penelope will squeak whenever he mounts her. She doesn’t run away or nip or anything and just lays down and even lays her chin down. He usually mounts and then runs a circle around her and mounts again and then he will also mount, run a circle, and then plop down next to her. Sometimes when he mounts he’ll pull hard on her scruff and she’s starting to get a little bald spot on her back from that. I read that squealing can mean pain but also heard to only interfere with mounting if she’s trying to run away. I feel like she’s given up and has told him she’ll be the submissive one but he is fairly relentless about mounting. Sometimes when she’s laying down he’ll even bite the towel/rug around her, and sometimes bite at her butt. Other times when he lays down and she moves to clean herself or to adjust her head then he’ll stand up and start mounting again.

        I guess I just want to know when to interfere and when to let them figure it out. Penelope has always been a timid bunny and Rocky seems to be very outgoing and energetic. They had a decent bunny date at the humane society as well. Any and all advice is appreciated.


      • Rocky'n'Penelope
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          Just some more information, I just did another bonding session with them and she didn’t squeak every time he mounted like before. I started pushing him off when he mounts a little more though and now he started biting her front foot and she squealed once for that. She keeps putting her head down either to be submissive or because she wants him to clean her, which would be the only behavior she’s shown to wanting to be dominant if that’s the case. He just tears up the rug or towel constantly and when he’s not doing that, then he’s mounting. My other question was if anyone thinks that the mounting sill subside with more dates or longer after his neutering? Also, he is 1.5 years old so I’m wondering if they waited too long to neuter him for his mounting habits to subside.


        • tobyluv
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            It can take a month or more for the hormones to be flushed out of a rabbit’s body. Plus, sometimes a rabbit will go into a post neuter frenzy, with all the fluctuating hormone levels. Maybe you should put off the bonding for another couple of weeks, and hopefully the male will have calmed down then and there will be less mounting. Keep their pens close to each other like you have been doing. Mounting is common during bonding, and both sexes may do it, but if it’s really excessive, that could lead to fighting or could cause the one being mounted to get upset or depressed.


          • Rocky'n'Penelope
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              OK, maybe I will try to just wait a little longer then. Thank you


            • Evelin1988
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                Hi!
                I also have a question about bonding altered female and male bunny and this seemed like a good topic to do so.
                I’ve had a female bunny Nuhvi for 3 years and now we decided to adobt a new friend to her. Our new rabbit Juss is 3 years old (the same as Nuhvi). He was neutered in november and Nuhvi was spayed about 2 years ago.
                We first introduced them in my parents home. On first dates Juss mounted Nuhvi and put his head low on the ground so that Nuhvi would groom him. That didn’t happen. Then we came to our home and put Juss in our kitchen. Nuhvi is a freerange rabbit so kitchen was the only place where she hadn’t been. The first bonding sessions in our home took place also in the kitchen but in the corner Juss never went cause theres a bit hardwood floor. Juss again mounted Nuhvi and she let him. This continiued for several dates and i thought it was going great. They were eating hay and rwlaxing side by side. So i decided to move Juss to our living room where Nuhvi also spends mostnof her time. Juss has a pretty big pen which at first was closed. After a while when I had a bonding sessions Nuhvi started to nip Juss but Juss never hurt her. Couple of days ago i decided that i can keep Juss’s pen open while I can keep an eye on them. Nuhvi often spent time there- they ate together and were perfectly fine with eachother. Still Juss was putting his head on the ground in front of Nuhvi but Nuhvi still didnt groom him. Last night I decided to leave his pen open for the night and sleep in the living room. At night a fight broke out. They never showed any agression towards eachother and now this happened! I separated them. In the morning I took them both to the bonding area which i had used before and again- Juss bit Nuhvi and a fight broke out. He was always the calmer one and now he is being the agressive one towards Nuhvi. After i broke up the fight Nuhvi started earing hay and it seemed like she was fine with Juss but he was still really tense. They were together about 30 minutes.
                I have no idea what happened to them or what made Juss so angry at her.. Does anyone have any good advice? It has been two weeks since they first saw eachother.
                Also sorry for my english – it’s not my native language.


              • LittlePuffyTail
                Moderator
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                  Sorry you didn’t get a reply until now. It’s best to start your own thread. It will get more attention.

                  Since your post was 4 days ago, how are your bunnies doing now? Are they still living together or have kept them separate?


                • Evelin1988
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                    Thank you for replying!
                    I kept them in my living room. Juss has his big pen ( the one that is just like a fence- the only way i know how to explain it )and Nuhvi is still able to go everywhere she wants but her pen(smaller one with plastic bottom) is right next to Juss’s pen. I don’t have two big pens so I can’t keep her closed inside one. She would also probably lose her mind since she has never been in these kind of conditions. She luckily spends most of the time in my living room. But the fact that i moved Juss to her carpet might upset her. They sometimes try to nip eachother through the pen. Last night and today I gave them treir greens and some carrot and cucumber from the same plate. Yesterday Juss took maybe two bites and then left. Nuhvi kept eating. Today they both ate but I saw Nuhvi was a little tense and probably would have bit Juss but I didn’t let her. It’s funny that before they nip eachother or start a fight they don’t show big signs of aggression (raised tails or ears in different position).
                    I think right now I have to let them get use to the new living arrangements so Nuhvi wouldn’t hate him so much for the fact that she now has to share her beloved carpet with him. Or what do you think? Do they still have a chance for friendship? I really want them to get along and make them understand that a friend is a true gift. And I don’t want to give up on them yet.


                  • LittlePuffyTail
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                      Absolutely I think the will bond eventually. There are several different things you can try. Maybe you could go back to “dates” in neutral territory. And you could always try some stress bonding. That is helpful for aggressive bunnies.


                    • Evelin1988
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                        I did start dating again. I put them in a pen in my kitchen. I have no carpet there so it was slippery which prevented them from fighting. I kept them together for about half an hour and they didn’t fight. Nuhvi nipped Juss once but that was it. Also they haven’t nipped eachother through the pen anymore. Today Nuhvi pressed her nose through the wires and they just sniffed eachother and then stayed there relaxed, noses touching, for a couple of minutes. I really see that there is a potential for them to be friends so I hope it’s just taking time

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                    Forum BONDING Bonding a Male and Female