Bonded for 3 years, having issues now.

[Neens]

Hello all.

I have a male and female that have been bonded for maybe three years and I’ve had them for even longer. They’re rescues, I estimate they’re both at least 7 years old now. They’re both fixed, I bonded them myself, everything went smooth and only took a few weeks. I moved them into my apartment with me about two weeks ago into a completely new cage and environment. The male has gone completely nuts, he wont stop mounting my poor girl and I can see its taking a toll on her. She honks and runs away, and even nips at him when he tries to advance. I put him in the bath tub as a “time out” since I got fed up with him and she immediately relaxed when he wasn’t there. I put him back in the cage like 30 min later since I had to leave the house, I left lettuce in there as a distraction but he still tried to go for her. They’re still acting the same otherwise, grooming each other and snuggling but when the male isn’t sleeping or eating he wont leave her alone. I’m at a loss on what I should do, start from square one and try to rebond them? I don’t want my old girl to endure this anymore but I’d hate to separate them since they’ve been together for so long now.

[DanaNM]

Oh I went through something really similar with one of my pairs with an elder male bun! We moved and he was mounting OBSESSIVELY. I had to separate them overnight because she wasn’t able to eat or rest and I was worried he was going to have a heart attack.

I would recommend having him checked out by a vet as a first step, there can be bladder issues that can trigger excessive mounting (infections or bladder stones). I did this with mine and he got the clean bill of health, so it turned out it was triggered by the move. Sometimes when you move they need to resort things out a bit.

I would continue to separate them for periods of the day to give them both some rest, but then allow them to be together in a more neutral space. Giving her some hiding spots and tunnels to escape from him should also help. In my case things calmed down after about a week or two.

I also realized I had been feeding a lot of dandelion, which is a diuretic and is very high calcium (parsley is as well). I haven’t been able to find any info on this, but I’ve noticed my boy mounts WAY more when he’s eaten dandelion, so I’ve cut it out of his diet aside from occasional treats.

 

. . . 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.  

[Neens]

I moved their cage to another spot in the room and deep cleaned everything. I had them on the dryer to try and stress them a bit in the meantime. He went back to mounting when I put them back but I decided to pick him up and move him every time he tried it and he’s calmed down. I think he got the message if he tries it he’s gonna be stopped. They’ve been calm for the past two hours now. Their cage is next to a window so they have a little patch of sun and they enjoy sun bathing haha. I think it was definitely the move since I moved several states away and they’re not used to being indoor buns yet. If the problem persists for a few more weeks however I think I’ll get them checked out. Thanks 🙂

[DanaNM]

Glad he’s starting to calm down!

. . . 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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