Henry and Poppy…is this normal?

[luna]

Hi guys,

 

Iv had my two bunnies bonded for over a week now and they have been getting on great. Poppy is a very passive bunny and Henry is the dominant one. Iv noticed in the last day that there are a lot more poops scattered around the cage ( they are poppys… I know this because they are bigger)

So just a minute ago i fed them and Henry was at the bowl when Poppy came over and hopped up on him and started humping. he let her for a few seconds and then moved away and started biting her on the bum and they circled each other like they were chasing each other and therewas  grunting. This only lasted a couple of seconds and literally a minute later Henry was grooming Poppy and she returned the favour and now they are cuddled up together.

Im not quite sure what to make of this.  im thinking that Poppy is challenging Henry as top bunny and he was not having any of it !!! Any thoughts?

 

 

 

[Beka27]

it might be a challenge. sigh.

i wouldn’t say to separate them just yet unless it becomes more aggressive. she might still be dealing with some hormones and this sounds like it’s just a wrinkle that needs to be ironed out. do keep a close eye on them tho. you might contnue to limit them to the kitchen for longer as well…

[luna]

I started letting them into the living room two days ago? could this be something to do with it? When i open their cage to let them out into the kitchen they show no interest anymore and i felt they were bored. The two of them were binkying like crazy when they got in on the carpet and they didnt poop anywhere so i thought this was a good sign!

[Beka27]

it’s certainly possible. will they only have living room and kitchen access permanently, or are you planning on opening up their territory further? is the living room an area they had access to pre-bonding? it could be that existing scents are confusing them. since they’re already being allowed in the living room, i would still let them have that access, but watch them closely to see if you can figure out what is triggering these behaviors. some buns are solidly bonded but they can still have “disagreements” from time to time. bunny bonding is no exact science, so every situation and every pair is going to be different.

[luna]

Yes they both have had access to the living room previously. I let each of them out for an hour a day separately pre-bonding. My plan is to only give them access to the kitchen and living room for floor time. These are adjoining rooms and give good space for plenty of binkying

 

I will keep a close eye on these two now. I just hope the honeymoon period isnt over and this is a sign of things to come. We are going away for 3 days at the end of the month and i dont want to be worrying about them. Hopefully it will all be fine…fingers crossed!

[MarkBun]

There always may be some challenges, mounting and so on. As long as it doesn’t turn into out right fighting, do not seperate them. You could restrict their out time so that they have to be in sight of each other 24/7.

[Author]

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