Can the alpha bunny ranking change???

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This topic has 9sd replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 3 months ago by Kokaneeandkahlua.

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- 05/06/2010 at 12:04 PM
  Mikayla
  Participant
  12 posts
  If there are two rabbits, and one has grown up with the other since it was a baby and the other was already an adult, the adult being the alpha bunny, when the baby becomes an adult could the alpha bunny ranking possibly change? I’m not sure how the alpha bunny is even decided, but the less dominant bunny might become more dominant as it becomes older… is an alpha bunny title set, then set for life????
- 05/06/2010 at 12:07 PM
  Elrohwen
  Participant
  7318 posts
  I believe that it can. As babies, most rabbits are ok to just go with the flow. However, once hormones kick in, they might have a new idea of who rules the roost. This is part of the reason why so many “pairs” consisting of a baby plus adult, go through a break up as the baby matures and gets hormonal. All of a sudden, the newly grown up baby starts shaking things up and it can cause fighting.
- 05/07/2010 at 3:47 AM
  Beka27
  Participant
  16016 posts
  With some pairs, the “top bun” can change weekly… lol!
- 05/07/2010 at 9:39 AM
  Andi
  Participant
  1048 posts
  If the alpha is getting older, or has become sick this can cause another rabbit to decided to take on the alpha roll as well.
- 05/07/2010 at 11:14 AM
  Deleted User
  Participant
  22064 posts
  Dominance can change with different pairings; a bunny may be top bun toward one other rabbit but be submissive when paired up with a new bun.
- 05/07/2010 at 11:21 AM
  kralspace
  Participant
  2663 posts
  I heartily agree with Petzy, the ladies at the rescue said my Hershey was the passive one in her life-long bond and when I brought Simba dating, she seemed to accept his humping passively. She’d just wander about the pen with him attached to her rump.
  
  We got home and she laid the law down to him. Within the first hour she was absolute ruler. She got him so trained that all she had to do was look or stomp at him from across the condo and he’d hunker down and beg forgiveness. True, he was clueless about rabbit behavior, but she trained him up to worship her well and she really enjoyed being Queen.
- 05/07/2010 at 12:19 PM
  Elrohwen
  Participant
  7318 posts
  Otto also went on bunny dates and was very submissive. Even during the majority of bonding sessions he was submissive. As soon as he and Hannah moved in together he became a humping machine and now humps her far more than she ever humped him. She has more of a typically dominant personality than he does, but he’s wearing her down 😛
- 05/08/2010 at 10:06 AM
  Mikayla
  Participant
  12 posts
  Elrohwen- I hope that isn’t happening with my bunnies. Precious is developing a dewlap, and they have been fighting alot lately.
  
  Also Precious has been trying to hump Bun Bun, but she won’t put up with it, and then she chases Precious out of the room. (they’re both girls)
- 05/08/2010 at 2:27 PM
  BinkyBunny
  Moderator
  8776 posts
  In your profile, it said they weren’t spayed, or just one wasn’t (the baby??) Anyway, if that is the case, babies will almost always be passive until they reach sexual maturity, and then you will begin to see more the personality of the bunny (dominant passive, somewhere in between)
  
  What are the ages of your bunnies right now?
- 05/08/2010 at 9:22 PM
  Kokaneeandkahlua
  Participant
  12067 posts
  It can definitely change and if you really read their are really no populations of animals with a true -alpha. Even wolves don’t have an alpha wolf in the sense that some ‘dog trainers’ explain it. It’s often explained as an alpha and a submissive but read up-that’s not really how things work in most animal populations-so in short not only could the alpha become not alpha but really it’s just changing positions that have nothing to do with alpha and beta etc.
  
  http://www.avsabonline.org/avsabonline/images/stories/Position_Statements/dominance%20statement.pdf
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