Selfish Rabbits?

[Buckley's Mum]

Story so far,  I brought home my new adoptee today, my rabbit Buckley, has been to the rescue for a 5-day stay to be bonded with Sweet Pea, I’ve had them home for almost 5 hours now, we’ve only had one fight which I had to break up (I had to phone the rescue for advice) so that aspect has been taken care of, but I have noticed that both buns ask for grooming at the same time from each other and they’re butting heads as to who can get their head the lowest and therefore get groomed. The result is that neither get groomed as they both give up. Will they learn to take it in turns or will they continue to just butt heads?

[bpash89]

It sounds like they are still working out who is the dominant one. They both want to be top bunny aka demanding to be groomed. One of them will give in eventually and agree to be the submissive one aka will groom the other. Give them time, they will work it out in their own bunny ways.

[Stickerbunny]

Yeah, they are just working out who wears the pants in this relationship, so to speak. You may also notice some humping as they work it out. Perfectly normal. When they figure out who is going to be dominant and who is going to be submissive, they should settle in. Some buns follow a very strict dom/sub relationship – the dom gets groomed when they demand it, will hump the submissive one, etc. While others may kind of figure out a half-and-half setup. But, they really need to figure out what they want their relationship to look like.

My buns are… an odd couple. Powder humps Stickers, but Stickers demands grooms and will never groom Powder. They both squabble over who gets the best bits of food (they are constantly yanking food out of each others mouth if it’s the last bit of what they want). And who gets the best sleeping spot is whoever gets to it first, no matter how much pouting/thumping/grunting is done to ask the other one to move over. But, they don’t fight, so I guess it works for them.

[Buckley's Mum]

Thanks guys, I just thought Buckley would be the submissive one as he never “matured” he was neutered at 11months purely to get a companion but up until that time he never showed any signs of aggression and never humped anything, but the bun i got back today is not the bun that went away for 5 days, it’s like he got filled with testosterone when he met his lady. It was him that started the fight by biting Sweet Pea’s bum repeated until she’d had enough and then the fur flew. I always thought he would be the timid one. I do hope they sort it out otherwise they’ll be missing out on so much.

[RabbitPam]

Would you mind if I move this to the Bonding Forum? I think you will find more posts there that will be helpful to read, and it really is about that, rather than the more general q&a posts here.

[Stickerbunny]

Posted By Buckley’s Mum on 10/09/2013 05:05 PM

Thanks guys, I just thought Buckley would be the submissive one as he never “matured” he was neutered at 11months purely to get a companion but up until that time he never showed any signs of aggression and never humped anything, but the bun i got back today is not the bun that went away for 5 days, it’s like he got filled with testosterone when he met his lady. It was him that started the fight by biting Sweet Pea’s bum repeated until she’d had enough and then the fur flew. I always thought he would be the timid one. I do hope they sort it out otherwise they’ll be missing out on so much.

You never really know what they’re like until you see them with another bun. Powder was this mellow, sweet, docile creature that a simple “no” would get him off anything bad and he’d never go back to it, he’d sleep with me, lay down for hours and be pet, never aggressive or bad in any way. Then, he bonded with Stickers and he became this humping, crazy rabbit that was hard to handle. If she tried to move away from him to avoid being humped, he’d bite her neck and hold her down until she was literally crying (the most pitiful noise I have ever heard). He also started being “bad” by chewing stuff he shouldn’t and marking and if I hadn’t of had him at home the whole time, I might have wondered if I had gotten the wrong bunny brought home.

On the bright side, Powder did calm down and ease mostly back into his regular self once the bond cemented. So, the more aggressive changes in your boy may go away after they work things out.  

[Buckley's Mum]

Thank you Stickerbunny, i do hope so, as the bun I got back from the bonding sessions is NOT the bun that I sent away, the rescue didn’t believe me when I said he was shy, scared of his own shadow and didn’t have a malicious bone in his body, as he is now none of those things. One of the buns has also taken a chunk out of one of my brand new kitchen cupboards and hubby is on the war-path, so am very stressed out at the moment and I just want everyone to calm down so things can get back to how they were, but obviously with 2 buns instead of the previous 1. I guess I need to change my online name now?!?!? x

[Stickerbunny]

Things can be a bit chaotic when you first add a new one, yeah. Things calm down though! Eventually. lol

[tanlover14]

I wouldn’t worry, Buckley. Believe me, I thought I knew which buns would be easy to bond and which ones would be the hardest in my quintet and BOYYYY was I ever wrong. It’s normal for them to exhibit different behaviors than you’re used to them exhibiting with you. My bunnies all act COMPLETELY different with their bonded mates than they do with me… it takes some time to work out the kinks, but they’ll get there.

I only briefly skimmed through your thread but I noticed you said they were both demanding grooms. Have you tried smearing banana on both buns heads? It encourages them to groom it off the other rabbit (sneaky momma tricks )…none of my buns had eaten banana when I tried this though, so I actually hid craisins in Simbas long fur… Bahahahah. Worked like a Charm!  While everyone was sniffing through and tugging on his fur, he was in total happiness thinking he was getting the heck groomed out of him.  LOL

[LittlePuffyTail]

Maybe giving them a smaller area would be beneficial? Maybe you could house them in an x-pen for now. It’s recommended that bunnies working out issues like dominance, have a smaller area. Plus, Buckley probably sees the kitchen as his. Neutral territory is key to success.

[Buckley's Mum]

Thanks everyone, they are currently in a smaller area as I’ve had to set up the x-pen for them to get them away from the kitchen cupboards until my cupboard protectors arrive shortly. They have still not worked out who is top dog as they’re still butting heads, but on the up-side I have seen them groom each other, even if it was just for a short time. Last night they were pulling food out of each others’ mouth, I was just worried that one would bite the other one’s lip!

I do have a question about food. In the past I would give Buckley his plate of veggies and he would take a sniff and then wander off and come back later when he fancied a nibble, he never sat down and ate as soon as his dinner was presented. However, Sweet Pea is the opposite, I put down their plate of veg and she’s straight in there gulping everything in site, she hardly left anything for Buckley, he just watched and wasn’t bothered. Should I be doing something different?

[Stickerbunny]

The food situation is also something that they have to work out. Usually, the slower eater will realize if they want the food they have to be quicker. Powder used to take two days to eat his daily serving of pellets, leisurely nibbling at it all the time and he never emptied his plate. Stickers however will gobble down 5lbs of pellets in one sitting if I would let her (Ok, not quite, but she has stolen a bag before and eaten waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than something her size should be able to before I noticed). Now, Powder knows if he wants pellets, he has to eat them with gusto when they are given or he’s not getting any. On the flip side, Stickers used to take her time on salads because she’s not that into certain greens, but Powder would eat any green offered to him and leave no trace. Now, she eats her salads when they are given. You could spread it out to a couple of feedings per day instead of just one so he has a better chance of getting some until he catches on.

[tanlover14]

Mine are ALWAYS yanking food out of each others mouths.. LOL. It makes me laugh so hard. Especially early in the mornings and I have five bunnies fighting over ONE piece of kale when there’s plenty more in the dish…

[Stickerbunny]

Posted By tanlover14 on 10/11/2013 06:53 PM

Mine are ALWAYS yanking food out of each others mouths.. LOL. It makes me laugh so hard. Especially early in the mornings and I have five bunnies fighting over ONE piece of kale when there’s plenty more in the dish…

Omg yes it is hilarious. Powder will grab a veggie and go into the corner to eat it, Stickers will chase him and grab the food out of his mouth and go to her corner, then Powder will come over and try to get it back. All the while I am sitting there like “Uhm, dummies, there is A WHOLE PLATE of that sitting right there. You don’t need the same piece!” It’s even more hilarious when they run around fighting over one piece and then the bird comes over and jumps into their salad plate and starts helping himself since they aren’t there to stop him.

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