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 Rabbit dominance displays

Viewing 4 reply threads
  • Author
    Messages

    • Sirius&Luna
      Participant
      2320 posts Send Private Message

        Hi all,

        I’ve got another topic about the bonding in general, but although I just asked this question in there, I thought it would be useful as a separate topic to get other people’s input.

        What are displays of dominance? 

        How can you tell who the dominant rabbit is?

        How can I tell if my pair just don’t have a clear hierarchical relationship?

        Atlas tried mounting Luna once, she nipped him, and he never tried again. They both groom each other, although Atlas grooms Luna more. They flop together, and they both take turns following each other around. 

        Are there signs that one rabbit is the dominant one other than mounting? Might they just be a pair where it’s not obvious? Or have they still got to sort it out? 

        When can you declare rabbits bonded? 


      • sarahthegemini
        Participant
        5584 posts Send Private Message

          I believe Buttercup is top bun out of my pair simply because whenever Peanut tried to hump her she would not tolerate it at all. She’s never humped him though, instead when he tried humping her she’d jump round and demand grooming. Sometimes Peanut obliged A member here (Dface I *think*) said that in a happy pair, it shouldn’t be overly obvious who is top and who isn’t. I definitely agree with that. Just observing my two, it’s not clear that there’s any hierarchy going on. I only know (or have my theories I should say) because of the humping business when we were initially bonding.

          Buttercup is the most generous groomer. She can be quite obsessed with Peanut’s ears lol but they both flop, snuggle, share food and whatnot as long as there’s enough to go around otherwise they’ll try and snatch the food from the other’s mouth. Both do this. Buttercup is just more boisterous about it.


        • Sirius&Luna
          Participant
          2320 posts Send Private Message

            Thanks Sarah. I also feel like Luna is the dominant one, but she’s never humped Atlas, just gave him a telling off when he humped her

            At what point did you feel confident leaving Peanut and Buttercup alone?


          • sarahthegemini
            Participant
            5584 posts Send Private Message

              Posted By Sirius&Luna on 10/09/2017 9:47 AM

              Thanks Sarah. I also feel like Luna is the dominant one, but she’s never humped Atlas, just gave him a telling off when he humped her

              At what point did you feel confident leaving Peanut and Buttercup alone?

              Well we marathon bonded and we felt like after 10 days they were bonded. Peanut had stopped trying to hump at day 10 so we left them unsupervised overnight although we checked on them 3 times per night for the first few nights. It was exhausting  At this point, Peanut still looked like he wanted to hump, he’d get very close to her butt but wouldn’t actually follow through. And Buttercup just moved out of the way. My bond was very, very easy though. No aggression apart from a scuffle at day 5. Lots of grooming and snuggling from the start


            • Sirius&Luna
              Participant
              2320 posts Send Private Message

                Yeah, I remember reading your thread and thinking they sounded like a dream pair!

                Mine haven’t tried any humping etc in about a week, so I think we’re nearly there at calling it officially.

            Viewing 4 reply threads
            • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

            Forum BONDING Rabbit dominance displays