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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 9sd replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 1 month ago by Susan French.

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- 01/24/2012 at 2:15 PM
  Susan French
  Participant
  4 posts
  Georgie’s 11.5-year-old bondmate passed away last spring. She’s lonely, and we’ve tried three rescued rabbits as possible new companions. She adored the first bun, but he bit her whenever she’d come near. The second bun wanted to mount her constantly. Eventually she wouldn’t put up with it, and fighting ensued. Our latest try is a little guy named Mr. Nibbles, who seems more promising. Georgie has full run of the house 24/7, so there’s no neutral territory. The first two buns were baby-gated into one room, but Mr. Nibbles is in a dog crate with a loft, because he wasn’t litter trained. Georgie and Nibs can meet through the bars, and he nibbles and licks the fur on her face. When he got to about 4 weeks post neuter, we tried dates in the basement, the bathroom, and the car. They’re both terrified of the car, but in the other two places all he wants to do is mount her. She tries to run away and acts very upset, but she hasn’t tried to bite or mount him. I don’t want to let this escalate into fighting. What can I do to cut down on the mounting and chasing?
  
  Georgie is 5 or 6 years old and was spayed before we adopted her in 2007. She was the dominant bun with her former bondmate, Max. They took to each other immediately. Max was just happy to have another girl after his 9-year-old bondmate died.
  
  Mr. Nibbles is supposedly 4 years old.
  
  Sue
- 01/24/2012 at 2:19 PM
  Monkeybun
  Participant
  10479 posts
  Mounting is part of the dominance thing, they will have to figure out who is Top Bunny at some point. I would say let some humping occur, but stop it if the other bun gets irritated.
  
  Running away is fine, as long as it isn’t a non stop chase. You gotta wear them down
- 01/24/2012 at 2:28 PM
  mocha200
  Participant
  4486 posts
  I ditto Monkey ^
  
  To help the mounting decrease a little, try putting a stuffed animal in Georgie’s cage over night and rub some of her fur on it and place this stuffed animal in the pen with them during the bonding session so he can use that instead of her. When he mounts her, try to gently move him onto the stuffed animal. Also leave the stuffed animal in his cage at night so he will get used to it and it may help the mounting during the sessions.
  
  You could also give them some veggies, hay, or treats to distract him from mounting
- 01/24/2012 at 7:39 PM
  bunnyfriend
  Participant
  2368 posts
  For my bunnies I just let them work it out, definitely stop one of them if they try to mount the face. Totoro (male) stopped humping within 2 bonding sessions, Wilbur (female) will still do it . It may never stop completely, like with my pair, but it should be very minimal. I just pull Wilbur off if I ever see it because she only really does it when they’re anticipating food.
- 01/24/2012 at 8:02 PM
  mocha200
  Participant
  4486 posts
  ^ Haha. My bunnies still do it too. Mostly when they are just in their carrier.
- 01/25/2012 at 7:09 AM
  Susan French
  Participant
  4 posts
  Georgie doesn’t even have a cage, but I’ve selected a stuffed animal and will try to get it to smell like her. I’ll take it to dates and put it in his pen when that arrives. Nibs’ dog crate is very roomy with its partial second floor, but we’ve ordered two pens that can be put together so that he’ll have room to get up a good head of steam. We picked the shortest pens, so I hope he’s not a high jumper.
  
  I’m surprised Georgie has been letting other buns mount her at all. She’s a rather bossy redhead. She did mount the second bun back after a while, but she hasn’t even tried mounting Nibs.
  
  Please continue to chime in if you have any other suggestions.
  
  Thanks, Sue
- 01/25/2012 at 7:56 AM
  Susan French
  Participant
  4 posts
  P.S. Sadly, Georgie is now ignoring Nibs while he’s in his cage. During the pred-date two weeks that Nibs was here, Georgie used to spend time next to his cage asking for face licks, grooming herself, and lying near him. Now she seldom goes into the living room (his room) even to hang with us.
  
  Sue
- 01/25/2012 at 10:52 AM
  mocha200
  Participant
  4486 posts
  It could that before it was like “ooo! New bunny! lets explore!” and now she knows hes their and its not as exciting as it used to be.
- 01/25/2012 at 1:21 PM
  Elrohwen
  Participant
  7318 posts
  When Hannah would get very into mounting and chasing I would put them both in a laundry basket and shake them around for a couple seconds. It would break her focus and give me a few moments of calm when they would just together nicely. Always end sessions on a positive note like this.
- 01/26/2012 at 10:50 AM
  Susan French
  Participant
  4 posts
  Thanks for the laundry basket idea. Shortly they will get a long car ride together. They have vet appointments today, so I might as well make the car ride a date. They’re both nervous in a moving car.
  
  Sue
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