Forum

OUR FORUM IS UP BUT WE ARE STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF UPDATING AND FIXING THINGS.  SOME THINGS WILL LOOK WEIRD AND/OR NOT BE CORRECT. YOUR PATIENCE IS APPRECIATED.  We are not fully ready to answer questions in a timely manner as we are not officially open, but we will do our best. 

You may have received a 2-factor authentication (2FA) email from us on 4/21/2020. That was from us, but was premature as the login was not working at that time. 

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

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.

What are we about?  Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

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.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BONDING What to expect when bunnies are establishing hierarchy

Viewing 10 reply threads
  • Author
    Messages

    • sarahthegemini
      Participant
      5584 posts Send Private Message

        Those of you that may be following my bonding thread will note that Peanut and Buttercup have been getting on tremendously -“it was what I believe a love at first sight scenario with just a minor humping issue (I’ve been marathon bonding since Monday 11am and it is now Saturday 8:30pm and Peanut has humped Buttercup 5x) Unfortunately when mounting her, he did mount her face too which meant I was hesitant to call them “bonded” as I didn’t want to leave them unsupervised til the face humping ceased. Anyway, yesterday was their first scuffle. 

        It was a bit of a blur but I believe Peanut mounted Buttercup, she didn’t like it, and circling ensued. She gave chase and we stopped and calmed them both down. Both have been back as normal since – snuggling, flopping, sharing hay and veggies, sharing litter boxes, grooming each other. 

        I guess what I’m confused about is, if they’re working out their hierarchy, should I expect more scuffles? They both ask for grooming and both do groom each other but since the scuffle yesterday, Buttercup has been asking/demanding it more and Peanut obliges most of the time whereas when he asks (much less than Buttercup) she only reciprocate some of the time. This would lead me to believe that she is now top bun however Peanut is sniffing her butt a lot and I’m afraid he’s going to try and hump her which could lead to another scuffle as Buttercup does not want to be mounted.

        So what should I expect? In an ideal world, one would hump and one would immediately submit but of course it isn’t going to work like that!


      • Mikey
        Participant
        3186 posts Send Private Message

          Yep, expect more until they both have decided for sure who is the boss. Any scuffles that start, stop them like you did originally


        • sarahthegemini
          Participant
          5584 posts Send Private Message

            I’m so on-edge, I just hope I can react quick enough should another one occur. How do I know when they’ve actually decided/settled on the hierarchy? It took 5 days for the first (and so far only) scuffle to occur.


          • Mikey
            Participant
            3186 posts Send Private Message

              That depends on your comfort and their personalities. If you feel they have a cemented bond, extend the bonding sessions a few more days just to be sure, and if all is well after that, it should be fine


            • sarahthegemini
              Participant
              5584 posts Send Private Message

                That’s the thing – everything points towards them being bonded already, they are fantastic together but I just don’t feel I can trust this hierarchy issue. I’m scared something will ‘break out'”when I’m not here if/when Peanut tries to mount again. Boyfriend said last night, bunnies started sniffing each other’s butt and then Peanut attempted once to mount her and I guess missed or something but then gave up and didn’t try again. I suppose this means he doesn’t accept her as top bun. They both groom each other tons! I just don’t know if it would be safe to leave them. Would you say if a week passes w/o issue then it’s okay?


              • Mikey
                Participant
                3186 posts Send Private Message

                  I wouldnt leave them together until you feel comfortable, personally. If mounting still leads them to scuffle, it would not be best to leave them alone yet. Bonded bunnies might hump now and then, and you dont want a scuffle to break out when that happens. At this point, it sounds like they arnt fully sure who is and who is not the boss yet, so it would not be best keeping them together alone until they have accepted their totem


                • sarahthegemini
                  Participant
                  5584 posts Send Private Message

                    More sleepless nights for me then  It’ll be so worth it I just hope they don’t take too long lol. Peanut tried mounting again this morning but Buttercup immediately hopped out of his way and bowed her head down to demand grooms and he obliged But then he’s been thinking about humping her quite a bit since, he just gets distracted lol.


                  • Mikey
                    Participant
                    3186 posts Send Private Message

                      Thats a good step though! If he is ok with her jumping away and ok with grooming her, it sounds like he wants to be the top bun, but is slowly accepting he might be the bottom bun. It doesnt sound like it should be too much longer if they keep at this pace


                    • sarahthegemini
                      Participant
                      5584 posts Send Private Message

                        Posted By Mikey on 1/23/2017 10:41 AM

                        Thats a good step though! If he is ok with her jumping away and ok with grooming her, it sounds like he wants to be the top bun, but is slowly accepting he might be the bottom bun. It doesnt sound like it should be too much longer if they keep at this pace

                        I hope so! Is it odd that Buttercup grooms him a lot too? Though it’s usually on her terms – when he asks,  sometimes she’ll just do a few licks. When she does a proper grooming on him, it’s because she wants too.

                        Oh, boyfriend said last night when Peanut tried mounting, Buttercup dodged him and demanded grooming and he groomed her. So that’s a couple times he’s done that


                      • sarahthegemini
                        Participant
                        5584 posts Send Private Message

                          Now Peanut is not obliging Buttercup’s demands :-/


                        • sarahthegemini
                          Participant
                          5584 posts Send Private Message

                            Okay so Peanut wanted to mount Buttercup and she hopped around again and demanded grooming and he did oblige. Confusing pair!

                        Viewing 10 reply threads
                        • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

                        Forum BONDING What to expect when bunnies are establishing hierarchy