Bonded Bunnies are twitterpated

[BubbaMomma]

My bonded male rabbit has been pulling the hair out of his bonded mate during spring/while mounting her. It was innocent seeming at first but he’s pulled out almost all of the mid section of her back hair and even chases her into corners as she tries to get away which worries me. These are 8 year old rabbits who’ve been bonded and fixed since babies.

Is it suggested I temporarily separate them keeping them near each other with a pen wall in between, till the spring energies calm down?

Any guidance helps.

[Wick & Fable]

I would recommend separation and maybe doing a light refresher of bonding between them if it’s so severe that there are fur chunks ad chasing that’s escalating. In addition to spring, perhaps they are going through something that has caused the bond to be tested a bit?

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.

[BubbaMomma]

Thank you for the feedback, Wick. I’ll mediate and think through any issues stressing their bond. 🙏🏻

[Azerane]

Do you know if your female is typically the dominant rabbit? Sometimes if a dominant rabbit becomes unwell even if we can’t tell yet, another rabbit may pick on them. I agree with separating them for a time, so some basic bonding and see how they go. If it persists it might be worth getting them both checked out for health issues.

[BubbaMomma]

Thank you for the insight Azerane. The male has always been the dominate one and the female is and always has been very submissive. (She’s the type that doesn’t run away, she just freezes in situations where my other bunnies run. ) I appreciate your feedback. It really is perplexing but is good to learn about the potential of unwellness.

 

[DanaNM]

I’ve had to deal with this a bit with one of my pairs. My 12 year old male bun, Bun Jovi, can go through phases of obsessive mounting.

Some things I’ve done:

• Added extra hides, platforms, and tunnels so she can get away from him, and made sure they have plenty of space to run around.
• Had Bun Jovi checked out by the vet for urinary issues, because bladder stones can cause excess mounting behavior. He was fine, but I recommend having your buns checked out too (both for issues with your girl and your boy)
• Removed dandelion and parsley from Bun Jovi’s diet, except in very small amounts. These two veggies are diuretics, and although I never saw anything about this in the forum or the literature, I had been feeding dandelion daily for a while, and when I removed it from the diet things calmed down a lot for him. Even now when I give him a dandelion leaf, I notice and uptick in mounting later that day. I still give it occasionally because it’s so nutritious but Bun Jovi doesn’t get as much as my other bunnies.
• On one extreme instance I did remove Bun Jovi for about 12 hours because I was worried he was going to have a heart attack from chasing her. But this was also right after moving and during an attempt to bond a quad, so I think it was all due to the bonding stress.

He has since calmed down a lot. He still chases her a bit each day, but it’s not extreme  and she has plenty of places to take breaks from him if it gets to be too much.

. . . 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.  

[BubbaMomma]

Such wonderful insight. Thank you so much DanaNM. 🙏🏻

[LBJ10]

Sometimes obsessive humping is stress-related. My vet recommended melatonin for this and it seemed to work. Do you think your male bunny could be stressed by something?

[BubbaMomma]

LBJ10, he very well could be stressed. What comes to mind is RHDV2 and all the stressful bio safety precautions we have been taking, which I’m sure they can sense. I’ll certainly meditate on other stressors as well. Thank you for the reply.

[Author]

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