Dominant/submissive grooming

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This topic has 3sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 4 years, 5 months ago by DanaNM.

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- 06/01/2020 at 8:28 PM
  amyef2000
  Participant
  12 posts
  Hi! For the last 3 days (not including pre-bonding) we have been working to bond our spayed female (Pebbles) with a neutered male rescue bunny we have ‘on trial’ (Nutmeg). Pebbles was initially very timid however after today’s fully supervised bonding (9.5 hours in neutral territory – after having no aggression from previous shorter sessions) she has made a lot of progress and from occasional mounting and marking appears to be the dominant one of the pair. However, Nutmeg frequently asks her for grooming and she obliges him – he has not groomed her and she has not noticeably asked him to. This seems to suggest he is the dominant one of the pair – does this mean they haven’t fully worked out their hierarchy? Neither rabbit seems unhappy with the current situation, other than her finding him a bit clingy, so we are just a bit confused!
- 06/02/2020 at 6:41 AM
  Hazel
  Participant
  2587 posts
  Every pair is different. Especially dominant or submissive rabbits often don’t exhibit behaviors that aren’t typical for their role. If you have a pair of bunnies who are both moderately dominant they might behave more loosey-goosey in regards to their pecking order where a dominant bun will still groom the other and so on. As long as they’re both content it’s fine.
  
  Yours are still in the process of cementing their bond, so maybe they just haven’t figured all that out yet. 🙂
  - 06/02/2020 at 12:25 PM
    amyef2000
    Participant
    12 posts
    Ah thanks Hazel, interesting! He has groomed her a bit today but she definitely grooms him more – they’ve been very loved up so hopefully now just a case of cementing the bond with more full-day sessions.
- 06/03/2020 at 9:57 AM
  DanaNM
  Moderator
  9054 posts
  Sounds like they are doing great!
  
  . . . 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.
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