Is this normal?

[MissD]

I’m sorry if this is obvious for you, I have never bonded rabbits before and find it really stressful

So I brought a girl called Cookie (we’ll most probably change her name) home from a rescue, we took Buddy there with us so he could pick his new friend and he seemed to like her straight away. There are no neutral areas in my place as Buddy’s free range but he didn’t go into our bedroom very often so we set them up there. First evening was really good – they lay together, she groomed him a little but yesterday Buddy started mounting her like nuts, he does it most of the time they’re together and also started making little grunting noises. He’s not aggressive or anything, no biting, and she’s not scared of him, she just hops off and ignores him for a minute then goes right back to him and they snuggle I just don’t understand why he tries to mount her so much and I worry that eventually she’ll get fed up and bite him or something. We took them to my brother’s today (totally neutral) and he kept trying there as well. I know a little bit of mounting is normal but it’s really excessive. I’d really like them to bond, she’s a sweet bun and Buddy needs a friend.

[Zombie-Sue]

I think you’re making good progress, she seems pretty comfortable around him to me, just annoyed by the humping. Lol she thumped at him. x)

Yeah, this is within the range of normal I’d say. Do you push him off?

There’s a video diary by BB where she (?) tries to bond a very humpy Jack. https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/9/PID/940/Default.aspx read “the stunt double” at the bottom and here are the videos I was talking about https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/BondingJournals/BondingJackVivian/tabid/184/Default.aspx I like the music lol

[MissD]

No, I don’t push him off, do you think I should? The lady that runs the rescue we got Cookie from told us not to unless one of them gets aggressive or if Bud humps Cookie’s head. I watched the videos, thanks. And will definitely try the stunt double It’s really funny with my two – he humps her, she runs from him and then flops right in front of him and they snuggle. He hasn’t groomed her yet once though.

[Zombie-Sue]

Nah, it sounds like she just runs away when it’s bothering her. But you might try it when it gets excessive.

[NewBunnyOwner123]

When first bonding Sally and Harley after awhile I’d allow him to hump her for only a couple seconds before gently nudging him off. If you want you can do that. But humping is a big part of bonding. It’s a dominance thing so allow the humping, but you can intervene after a few seconds.

[NuggetBuns]

It sounds like you have it really easy if humping is all that you’re worried about. Like everyone else said, as long as he’s not humping her face, they’re fine. The fact that she is already grooming him is a really good sign. As of right now, it sounds like she’s accepting his dominance since she’s not humping back, but the roles might change later on. Keep up the good progress!

[MissD]

Thanks for all the replies and reassurance. I was worried because he humps her almost all the time. She seems to like him and I don’t want him to spoil it by annoying her. How long does this stage usually last? I’ve only been bonding them for 3 days. And do you think I could let her run around the flat a little? She’s been in the play pen for the last three days, I’m sure she’d love to stretch her legs a bit.

[Zombie-Sue]

I know what you mean, but sometimes your friends probably annoy you too and you still love them :p although they don’t hump you I hope…

my rabbits did it until about 24 hours after I’d put them into their permanent home for the first time. Then it really cooled off. Although my husband did see one of them humping the other day and they’ve been together for almost a month now I think

[MissD]

Well, they’ve been together for a full week now and they seem to be getting along although Buddy still humps her but not as often. I noticed they started ignoring each other a little sometimes but snuggle a lot too. One thing that worries me is that when Buddy wants to be groomed and she’s not interested, he nips her. Is it normal or have they taken a step back? I’m afraid it will turn into a fight one day. He doesn’t really groom her back, I saw him lick her ears maybe twice. And can I let them out of the pen to run around the flat a little? I hate keeping them locked up all the time

[LBJ10]

It just sounds to me like Buddy is feeling a bit insecure. He wants to be dominant and it sounds like the new bun is like “whatever”, but he wants to make REALLY sure. So he is saying “groom me now” and she is saying “geez, you’re annoying”.

[NuggetBuns]

I don’t think it’s anything to worry about, my pair does the same thing and they’ve been bonded for 6 months now. Emilee is so needy when it comes to grooming and she gets mad like Buddy and try to start a fight, but it never turns into a real fight. In your case, you can either let it play out to see how they handle the situation or you can intervene and spray him with water so he knows it’s bad to nip her. They say to not intervene because rabbits need to figure out the hierarchy and they need to learn how to deal with things without the human butting in all the time. I agree with it, but if you see anything REALLY BAD, then of course you will have to step in.

If you want to give them more space during bonding sessions, I’d do it gradually. If you let them run freely, the chances of them chasing each other and maybe leading to a fight is always higher. When you are not doing bonding sessions, you can let them run around, just keep them separated. Or let one out at a time. We used to divide the apartment up with a stretched out puppy pen and our buns could run around freely but on different sides of the fence.

[Zombie-Sue]

Have they been together in their permanent living quarters? If not, it’s time I think. Or do they not have a cage?

Some rabbits are just nippers. I’ve been nipped before, and it really doesn’t hurt, even if it might look like it, so it’s nothing to worry about. Mulder still does it when he wants them to move out of his way sometimes. Or just to be a brat I think :p

[MissD]

Thanks for all the suggestions, they’re very helpful

I let them run around the flat yesterday and today and they were been fine. Buddy still tires to hump her a little and won’t really groom her but she doesn’t seem to mind (I still haven’t decided what to call her). They were both soooo happy, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many binkies They will move into Buddy’s cage when I’m totally sure they’re fine with each other, it only gets locked when I’m not home. I haven’t let her go in it yet, how do you think I should prepare it? I was gonna try and let them both in it tomorrow to see what happens. I’ve got new water bottles, new litter tray, a few new toys, a new towel for the cage floor, pretty much everything will be new but I don’t want to replace the cage, it cost a lot of money. How do I make it more neutral?

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