Mounting and Chasing

[Pablo&Molly]

Hi all,

I’ve recently adopted 7 month old mini lop Molly as a companion to my 1yr old mini lop house bun Pablo.

I’ve kept Molly in a cage with a pen in the living room for the last 3 weeks while Pablo has had free run of the house, so they have been able to see each other and have a good sniff through the bars! I’ve exercised Molly seperatly while Pablo was upstairs.

I put them together for the first time 2 days ago in the bathroom, neutral space, for 10 mins. They mainly ignored each other until the last few minutes, when Pablo tried to mount her a few times. The next day I put them together for 20 minutes and Pablo tried to mount her pretty much for the whole time. Molly also flopped down next to him and groomed him for a while and then tried to mount him back!

On the vets advice, we have let Molly out of her cage today in the living room to see how it goes. Pablo will not leave her alone and keeps mounting and chasing. She just runs away from him most of the time, but will then flop down and he lets her lie there for a few mins before trying to mount her again! She has also tried to mount him, but has also groomed him. He has laid his head flat on the floor as well next to her, but she ignores him and hops off.

My question really is how long does this mounting behaviour last for?! I don’t want her to get fed up of him and retaliate as they do seem to like each other. I’ve had them out tonight for around 2 hours with a rest break in between. I’m just wondering when they’ll settle down, any advice would be great!

Btw Pablo has been neutered, but we took Molly to get spayed on Monday but her heart rate dropped so low after she was sedated, they had to abort the op and it’s too dangerous to try again.

[Deleted User]

I’d take it back a few notches. That is terrible advice to just let her out of her cage at the same time. Bonding needs to be slow and patient. The vet really wanted you to rush things. Did you do any prebonding? Switching them between their enclosures or switching items between their enclosures? Bonding sessions should start at 10 minutes for a few days or even multiple times a day, and then gradually increase the time in 10 minute increments leading to 60 minutes, then you can start increasing by 30-60 minute increments. I’d go back a few steps and prebond (if you didn’t initially), and do that for another few weeks. She’s still new to the environment, and three weeks isn’t really a lot of time for her to feel comfortable and adjusted yet, especially with a bunny trying to constantly mount her. Go back to prebonding, give her a little time first before starting this, and then after a month of successful prebonding (you shouldn’t see any aggression when they’ve switched spaces), then you can start with short 10 minute sessions, and gradually move up to longer sessions when no incidences have occurred for at least 3 play dates.

[Pablo&Molly]

Yeah I was quite surprised that she suggested letting her out so soon to be honest, everything I read online said otherwise so I should have trusted my instincts! She has got Pablo’s litter tray in her cage as well as some of his toys.

I’ll go back to 10 mins in a neutral space for another few weeks I think and gradually build it up. I don’t want her to be stressed or annoyed by the constant mounting!

Thanks so much for your advice!

[Deleted User]

I just noticed she isn’t spayed. Bonding them isn’t going to be easy as bonding should be between two fixed bunnies. He’s likely going to continue to feed off of her hormones and act hormonal. So the humping, in theory, may never stop. She could also turn and become aggressive to him, again, due to the hormones present.

I hope your poor girl is doing better now

[Pablo&Molly]

Yeah because her heart rate dropped so low we can’t risk trying the op again in case she dies The vet didn’t seem to think it would be much of a problem, but I have also read that both buns being neutered is essential for a successful bond. We’ll just have to see how it goes I guess. She is such a lovely girl, I hope they do bond ok. Pablo is currently lying down next to her cage so there are positive signs in between the continuous humping

[Deleted User]

There have been people on here who have bonded an unspayed female with a neutered male, I think that’s easier than the other way around. Good luck When you start bonding, it might be helpful to keep a bonding journal just to track everything.

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