Bonding diary – two males Rocky and Theo

[Callie810]

Hi guys,

We have been prebonding Rocky and Theo for a good two months now. We have had them in pens next to each other since November and have been swapping them into each other’s pens since just before Christmas. They have had time out near each others pens during which we have progressed from Rocky growling and lunging for Theo to small growls and Rocky licking Theo. Theo spends nearly all of his time out near Rocky or asking to be groomed and Rocky sits near Theo when he’s out as well.

We thought we would try their first face to face bonding session tonight.

We set up a pen in a small square in the bathroom. I have cleaned the bathroom thoroughly and neither of them have been in there since we moved them into adjacent pens. Neither of them like to be picked up so it was fun and games getting them in the pen in the first place.

We got Rocky in first and then introduced Theo.

To begin with Theo ignored Rocky and Rocky did little growling noises with little nips but nothing to be too worried about. Theo then took notice of Rocky and it all went down hill from there. Theo proceeded to try and hump Rocky but the wrong way around. I had an oven glove on so split them up which worked for a few seconds but then Theo started humping Rocky’s face again. I don’t really know what happened but suddenly Rocky was making a high pitched squealing noise so I swiftly lifted Theo out of the pen and Rocky stopped.

I have checked them both over and there is no sign of any injury and they didn’t physically fight each other so i’m guessing Rocky was just scared?

Both of them are acting completely normal now and have just lay down next to each other for like 3 minutes with Theo’s pen between them and Rocky has even licked Theo.

The bonding session lasted maybe two minutes.

I have no clue if it was a complete failure or just the norm for a first session? The noise Rocky made was scary but as soon as Theo was off him he stopped and as I said both are now acting completely normal.

Any ideas?

[Sirius&Luna]

Hi,

Great idea to start a bonding journal, I found it really useful when I was bonding.

Bunnies only make the high pitched squeal when they are deathly afraid, but it does sound like he overreacted… That said, face humping must always be stopped immediately, as it can end with a bunny getting a nasty bite to the genitals. It’s lucky that Rocky decided to squeal rather than bite.

Are both boys neutered? I assume they are, but it’s always good to check!

For the next session, I would try and start out with either squishing them together to be pet, or sprinkling some treats or pellets on the ground for them to eat (as long as neither is food aggressive). This way, Theo hopefully won’t go straight into the humping, and they can potentially spend a couple of minutes in the same space, without actually interacting.

I would also stop ALL humping immediately, since it is clearly very distressing to Rocky. It’s good that it doesn’t seem to have caused any hurt feelings after though.

[Callie810]

Thanks for replying!

Rocky has always been a sensitive soul bless him. I was shocked when he made the noise because I knew they were only meant to make it if they thought they were going to die!

Both boys are done. Rocky was done last May and Theo was done in November, it’s been over two months since his op, should we have waited longer?

I did stop the humping as soon as it started but Theo was a persistent little thing and it was difficult to separate them extremely quickly. I have a lovely big scratch on my arm from where i whipped him away when Rocky started squealing.

The food thing sounds like a good idea especially because Theo is our resident piggy and loves to eat. As far as i’m aware neither of them are food aggressive.

I think we may put Theo in the pen first with the food and then introduce Rocky as Theo will hopefully be distracted with eating.

Rocky has been a bit more growly today but has also been licking Theo through the pen and loafing next to him. I even saw Theo lick Rocky for a few seconds!

We are going to leave it for a few days so that Rocky can get over the ordeal and we’ll continue with the interaction between the pens.

I have a feeling it’s going to be a long process!!

[Sirius&Luna]

If it’s been over two months he shouldn’t still be hormonal. Humping is to be expected during bonding, even with long since spayed and neutered rabbits, as during bonding it’s about dominance rather than sexual urges. But, if one rabbit is very distressed by it, it should be stopped. If the rabbit doesn’t mind, then you can let it carry on for 10 seconds or so (as long as it’s not face).

Giving them a few days is probably a good idea, although if Rocky decides to hold a grudge, then it would need to be longer than that. I think it’s worth giving it another go in a few days, and try a different method to see how it goes. Are they scared of the vacuum cleaner? You could try running the vacuum next to them to introduce a bit of stress if the food method doesn’t work.

It will be a long process, but hopefully it will be worth it

[Callie810]

So a bit of an update.

Rocky doesn’t seem to be holding a grudge. He was a bit growly the day after it happened but they are both still spending time in front of each other’s pens when they are out. We have noticed that Theo is licking Rocky a lot more now as well. Both of them will put their heads down asking to be groomed but there seems to be an even share of it between them now.

Is this going to cause an issue with dominance? Theo was almost solely getting groomed by Rocky before but now that’s shifted.

[Sirius&Luna]

That’s great news!

Mutual grooming is good. Sometimes in a bonded pair you can’t immediately tell who’s dominant, and the dominant bunny will generally still groom the submissive one.

How much time have you been giving them to spend together? It sounds like it’s going well, so I would keep increasing the time.

[Callie810]

They are allowed near each other’s pens when they are out but they have the run of the downstairs so don’t spend loads of time directly with each other.

We haven’t had them actually face to face with no pen since the humping incident. We are planning on doing that this weekend. So the mutual grooming is through the bars of the pen.

[Callie810]

They are allowed near each other’s pens when they are out but they have the run of the downstairs so don’t spend loads of time directly with each other.

We haven’t had them actually face to face with no pen since the humping incident. We are planning on doing that this weekend. So the mutual grooming is through the bars of the pen.

[Callie810]

Back with another update!

Because the first face to face bonding session ended with Rocky screaming as if he was dying we decided to wait two weeks until we did it again.

Their pens are now pushed directly against each other and they now spend most of their time lying down next to each other. We have had more grooming through pens from each of them and Rocky’s growling only happens on the odd occasion.

So we decided to brave another face to face meeting again today. We set the pen up in the bathroom like last time but we added a sprinkling of pellets and a few treats as well. We also got Theo in there first to see if that made a difference.

Once both buns were in there was no interaction initially. Rocky seemed petrified and just snuggled himself in a corner and didn’t move.

Once Theo noticed Rocky was there the humping began. Everytime he want for Rocky’s face I immediately moved him off and put my two gloved hands between them. When he was humping Rocky the right way I let it get on for a couple of seconds and then moved him off. The humping wasn’t as ferocious this time but it was still happening. There were moments where Theo stopped and just stayed still. When this happened neither of them acknowledged each other’s existence. Theo would them resume the humping.

Towards the end of the session Rocky did move slightly in Theo’s direction but then thumped his feet as soon as Theo tried to hump him again. Theo also seemed to be biting Rocky’s back when he was humping, is that normal?

The session didn’t feel like a complete failure like last time did but not sure how much progress was made. Rocky seems very scared and Theo is just consumed with the need to hump.

Will the humping subside? Is it a bad sign that Rocky didn’t really do anything? The session lasted about 5 mins.

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