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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BONDING Aggressive Mounting

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    • Creepylocks
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        I have a 5 year old neutered male named Fenris. I’ve had him his whole life and he’s been a solo bunny. I wanted to get him a friend and try bonding. I fell in love with a spayed female rescue and named her Herla. When I first started bonding he did nothing but chase her. She would run and hide. I was told they had to work it out on their own. The chasing died down after a few months and they started snuggling. I moved them in together and after a week he started biting her and pulling out her fur. I felt I couldn’t leave them together while I was at work so I separated them. I gave them a break for a while and now whenever I put them together he is very aggressive with his mounting. He bites the heck out of her when he gets on her. It’s caused her to be a little afraid and stressed around him. We went back to neutral areas and she’ll try to explore but he is obsessed with her. He’ll chase her and try to mount her. I can’t distract him with loud noises or treats or anything. He makes a beeline for her and won’t leave her alone. I’ve tried gently holding him until he calms down, but as soon as I let him go he goes back towards her. I also got him a stuffed animal for him to dominate and he will mount it and pull all the fur out of it. I was hoping he would get the humps out of his system at some point. I feel like I can’t let them work it out on their own or she will be too scared of him. She never fights back, just runs away. Any ideas? I’m okay with two solo rabbits if it’s not going to work. But when they are in their side by side pens they lay next to each other like they want to be friends.


      • DarthVadar
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          That may be a rare case of 2 bunnies that cannot be bonded. Even though Fenris is neutered, he is still acting like a breeding buck. Especially if its been months and he’s still doing this.


        • LBJ10
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            Hmm… perhaps they need a break. Like a complete break, where they cannot see each other for a little while. Then try again, starting with the basics. In the meantime, you should probably have your boy checked out. Since he’s neutered and 5 years old, there are things that can cause excessive humping. Bladder stones and adrenal problems come to mind.


          • Creepylocks
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              Thanks for the response. It’s kind of a relief to take a break. If I keep them from seeing each other, do they have to be completely oblivious to one another? They can’t see each other, but I’m sure they can still hear each other and possibly smell. Also, they were taking turns in the exercise area. Do I have to have two separate areas where they can run? Or can I have one bunny in the same room at a time?


            • DanaNM
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                I agree that a long break is needed, sorry you are having such a stressful time of it.

                I think ideally they would be completely separate, but if that’s not possible, just try to minimize their interaction. If you don’t plan to try to re-bond them any time soon, you might just figure out what your permanent double single bunny set-up would be and go with that.

                I’m wondering if they were ever bonded completely, since if I interpret your post correctly, they were only together for a week or so before the biting started? it’s possible the transition from neutral to non-neutral was too rapid. It also sounds like you had a pretty tough time bonding them. Once bonded, did they groom each other? Did they seem pretty happy together? Or just kind of a mutual tolerance?

                I had a pair where one was very nervous and afraid of the other bun. I thought they were bonded, because they stopped trying to fight and would relax near each other. But then 5 months later a fight broke out, and I think they had reached a sort of truce, but didn’t really trust each other.

                I do wonder about a medical cause, like LBJ10 suggested. I might have both buns checked out. Sometimes when one bun falls ill it upsets the bond. Was your girl injured?

                If you do attempt to re-bond, I would take a different approach, and focus on building trust and positive association between them.

                And, as others have said, they may just be one of those rare couples that aren’t a good match. Or maybe after a long break and a lot more pre-bonding they will be fine. There are members here who have stories of buns that were deemed unbondable, so they ended up having them live side by side as neighbors. Then years later, they find one bun has escaped to the other side, but the two are cuddling and suddenly bonded.

                . . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  


              • Creepylocks
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                  I was afraid I made the mistake of moving too quickly to the non neutral territory. This is my first time bonding and I’ve read everything I could about it. Before I put them together they were showing all the signs of a bond: mutually grooming and spending hours cuddling next to each other. I spent two days alone with them and there was no chasing or biting. After the week of them together he would follow her around and she didn’t have a place to go to to get away from him. One night I woke to the sound of Herla knocking down the gate that kept them in their area. She was in a panic trying to get free from him. There was fur on the floor. After I separated them Fenris just sat in his litter box and wouldn’t eat. I took him to the vet and they couldn’t find anything wrong with him. I went back to the vet a few days later because he still wasn’t eating or drinking water. The vet discovered the right side of his face was paralyzed. He didn’t have any dental problems and his ears looked fine, the vet was stumped. Guessing it could be an ear infection, we treated that and kept the bunnies separate until his medication was done. Fenris’ ears perked back up and his face wasn’t droopy anymore. I waited a while to try bonding again and ever since he’s been very determined with humping. I thought maybe he associated illness with Herla and took it out on her? I would smoosh them together and pet them to get good feelings back but most sessions don’t last longer than 20 minutes. I wanted to take it much slower this time, but even in the most neutral areas, he can’t just let her be. Other than large bald patches, she hasn’t been hurt.


                • LBJ10
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                    Yes, ideally, there would be no contact… so separate rooms. Sometimes when there is “bad blood” between two rabbits, it helps to give them a break from each other and allow them time to sort of forget. If you can’t do that, then I agree with what Dana suggested. After they have had a break, then you would proceed with the bonding process from the beginning. You can do pre-bonding things for awhile, getting them used to each other’s presence again. Then you can move on to bonding sessions in neutral territory. There is still a chance they can bond, you just have to take things slow and not rush.

                    Sometimes an illness can cause problems between a bonded pair… so hopefully the ear infection is all it was. I had to ask about the other possibilities because cases of “older” neutered males exhibiting sexual behaviors due to adrenal problems is pretty well documented. Bladder stones are a less common cause, but it is something we have seen on the forum before.


                  • Creepylocks
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                      When Fenris first met Herla at the rescue center, the first thing he did was mount her. Then that was all he had on his mind. The lady at the rescue commented on how determined and enthused he was on it. She said it would be a long and difficult bond, but not impossible. I was ready for it to take a while. I just didn’t know how to get past the humping stage. I would email the rescue for ideas and anything they suggested, treats, loud noises, spray bottle, didn’t work. I was glad when it started dying down and I got too ahead of myself. I was going to take things very slow the second time, but the humping turned into bite-humping. I’ll give them a good long break and see how it goes from there.


                    • LBJ10
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                        Did you try allowing him to hump for a few seconds and then moving him over to a surrogate?


                      • Creepylocks
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                          Not quite. She would always run from him so when he would chase, I would give him the surrogate.

                          And my poor girl doesn’t understand the separation. Last night she escaped from her pen and I heard her in Fenris’ exercise area. Keeping them completely apart is going to be difficult..

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                      Forum BONDING Aggressive Mounting