Bonding – Help with behaviors needed!

[JackRabbit]

I’ve been working on bonding my three bunnies, Kieko(F),
Moshi(M), and Marlee(F) (actually still doing one-on-ones because of aggression).  All three have been spayed/neutered at least
9 weeks.  I’m not sure how to interpret
some of the behaviors I’m seeing.  Hoping
you all can help!

1. Session with Kieko and Moshi where Moshi had
   been the aggressor – Moshi grooms Kieko then puts his head down for her to
   groom him.  She responds by putting her
   head down too and won’t groom him.  This
   happens during every session.  Is she
   being submissive or is she demanding continued grooming? 

2. When Kieko won’t groom Moshi back, he starts
   sticking his head up under her tail and nipping at her genitals.  He’ll do that then groom her again a few
   minutes later and when she won’t groom  him back he goes up under her tail again.  Huh?  Do I stop him when he does this?

3. After sessions between Kieko and Moshi, Moshi
   goes to play with Marlee (they’re already bonded).  She has started grooming him almost non-stop
   when they’re together.  He loves it, but
   is she smelling Kieko on him and getting possessive?  Marlee will also groom Kieko during their
   one-on-ones even though Kieko will not groom her back either.

4. How do I get Kieko to groom back?  I’m considering the banana on the head thing, but does that get too messy?

I want to start bonding sessions again with all three
together but since Moshi was very aggressive toward Kieko when Marlee was there
before, I thought I’d better get a little help figuring out what’s going on
first! 

[Zombie-Sue]

1. Demanding grooming is dominant behavior, but sometimes submissive rabbits decide it’s their turn, too. but it’s not a bad sign, rabbits will do that–the only time this is a problem is when the other rabbit refuses and it causes a fight.

2. Are you sure that’s what he’s doing? Does she hop away from him or do they fight when he does this?

3. I don’t think so. Unless it’s causing fights, don’t worry about it. Grooming is always good.

4. What do you mean by too messy? You might have to clean it up off of the floor they don’t eat it. Bananas aren’t that messy usually. I don’t think it will be a big problem for you.

Keiko might not ever groom back. She doesn’t necessarily need to. My trio has been together for a month ish now, and I haven’t seen Tank ever groom the other two, but I see them groom him and each other.

This is all normal bonding process. I think it’s fine to put all three of them together. If the girls start fighting, I’d try removing them to stress bond them a little bit and then put them back together again.

[MoveDiagonally]

I would try the banana trick… I actually would mush it up a bit in my hands and rub it on their heads/near the base of their ears. Lol. It’s a little messy but they usually lick it off. I would also place treats on their heads, like craisins, or hide them behind their ears, stuff like that. You can always use a damp cloth and wipe their heads if they still have some residue.

I would be wary of genital nipping. Is it “biting biting” or cleaning/nudging nips? My only concern would be if they are injuring each other in that area. :/

The grooming when you put M&M back together is probably scent related. Have you tried group sessions since you’ve started doing the one on ones? Is there still aggression or just lack of grooming? If you haven’t tried a group session for a while it might be time to try one again to see if things have improved. I can’t remember if you did any stress bonding? Did it affect Moshi? I know you were worried that he wouldn’t respond to it.

[JackRabbit]

The first time he stuck his head under her tail he practically had his whole head under her — had her raised up so far she looked like she was squatting over his head.  We thought he was just trying to get a good sniff!  Since then he’s gotten a bit more aggressive with it and last time it looked like he was actually moving his mouth and biting (she jumped and made a little noise).  He used to sniff Marlee’s butt before she was spayed but never like this. Do rabbits groom other rabbits there?

We haven’t had any group sessions since the one on ones.  We did some stress bonding with Kieko and Moshi in a tall plastic tub but both were trying to jump out and I was afraid they would get hurt.  Switched to forced snuggles and that seems to be working.  Moshi hasn’t been aggressive during the one on ones with Kieko, but Marlee hasn’t been there.  Don’t know if it’s the stress bonding, the forced snuggles or Marlee not being there that made the difference.  Kieko is still pretty scared but is tolerating the other bunny during the one on ones.  I guess we’ll do a group session again and see how that goes.  BTW, I’ve calmed down with the bonding!  Got rid of the squirt bottle and the colanders and the whistle but kept the heavy duty gloves — now I just stick my gloved hand/arm between them and yell if needed!

[JackRabbit]

I think he’s biting.  She doesn’t really hop away.  She just sits there with a weird look on her face at first but when he really gets going she jumps.  She’s too afraid of him to fight (she’s big bad bunny when she’s in her condo and sees him out, but acts like he’s going to eat her when there are no bars between them).  Kieko isn’t as afraid of Marlee, and Marlee is curious about Kieko but not aggressive at all so I can’t see the girls fighting.  Moshi is the one I worry about.  When we first started group sessions, Moshi is bigger than the other two and was definitely the one starting fights (with Kieko).  Luckily the only one injured was my husband (glad he doesn’t read here!) when he stuck his hand between them and Moshi bit him hard (now he wears gloves too!)

[JackRabbit]

Guess I’ll be heading to the store tomorrow for craisins *and* bananas!

[Zombie-Sue]

If she doesn’t even hop away, I don’t think he is hurting her. He might just be anoying her. When I was bonding my rabbits, the two bonded rabbits would often try to groom under Tank’s tail. He really HATED it, so he’d often grunt or thump at them for it. It caused fights in the beginning, but then he just started hopping away.

[Author]

Messages