Stubborn rabbit grunts/nips while other wants to be groomed

[zerofighter]

Hi All

We recently moved to a new place so we took the opportunity to adopt another bun – Coffee (female, 2 years old) so our bun – Butterscotch (male, 6 years old) isn’t so lonely while we are at work, note that this has been a plan in the making.

We allowed both buns to adjust to the new place in separate rooms for a week then put their areas side by side to pre-bond for a couple of weeks. Their first meeting didn’t exactly go well and was quite short, Coffee mounted Butterscotch and he clearly didn’t like it and a bunny tornado broke out so we immediately separated them and called it a day to cool off.

A couple of days after we decided to move to a different space (bath tub) and started with the smooshing/petting beside each other. That went well for a few days with a nips or growl or mouthing from Butterscotch every now and then. It seemed to progress so we unfolded the towel in the tub so they have more space and added hay for the next sessions. During these sessions Butterscotch always growls and/or nips at least once or twice a session while all Coffee wants is to be groomed. We typically intervene after a few nips so a fight doesn’t break out.

Seems like Butterscotch is a bit stubborn and doesn’t want to groom Coffee while she seems to be ready to move to the next step. Is this more for a time thing or should we try the banana smear on their heads to promote grooming? Would we put the banana on both their heads or just Coffee’s so Butterscotch grooms her? Perhaps we should start the sessions with a car ride?

It feels like we are almost at the tipping point as they mimic each other while in their areas, Coffee keeps wanting to be groomed/doesn’t mount him anymore/rarely nips back, and they eat/groom while in the bathtub. We just can’t seem to get over this hump, Butterscotch might just need a bit more time I feel.

Thanks

-Pearson

[Bunny House]

Did you do any prebonding? It is essential to the bonding process to make a bond strong. It seems like they are confused as to who is the dominate and submissive one.

[zerofighter]

We did a couple of weeks of pre-bonding. They seem to know who is the dominate and who is the submissive one it just seems that the submissive one (Butterscotch) doesn’t want to acknowledge it yet.

[DanaNM]

Hi there

Stubborn buns! Don’t be deceived by their cuteness, Coffee asking to be groomed is a dominance display. Butterscotch is not having it (yet). She might not be as submissive as you think! It’s important not to try to project too much as to who should groom and who will be dominant (sometimes they can surprise you at the end with the final outcome).

A big part of a bun finally submitting is them trusting the other bun, and that often just takes some time. Anytime they don’t fight in a session, that trust builds, even if it doesn’t look like much progress has been made.

Sounds to me like they just need more time. You can try stressing, it’s certainly helped me with stubborn buns. You can also try a new, but still neutral space. I’ve always had better luck with larger spaces (things don’t seem to escalate as quickly as they can get away from each other if they want to).

The banana can work, but whenever I’ve tried it too early in the process it hasn’t really helped too much, and I’ve just ended up with sticky bunnies!

They’ll get there, just be patient! And yes a car ride together never hurts

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[zerofighter]

A bit of an update, it looks like things are starting to go well now. Just after I created the thread we had a breakthrough, Coffee groomed Butterscotch and now grooms him at least once per session. The interesting thing is that Coffee asks to be groomed immediately when they are placed in the neutral area then after an hour or so of not getting groomed Coffee will start to groom Butterscotch.

Butterscotch seems to take a bit of time to get settled down into the neutral area and is a bit jumpy of Coffee’s movements until about an hour has passed. Once the hour has passed, Coffee can move around without getting growled/nipped/mouthed by Butterscotch.

[DanaNM]

That’s great!

Sounds like they are at the point where they may benefit from longer sessions. You can start trying for 2, 3, then 4 hour sessions and see how they do.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Nutmeg]

I agree with DanaNM – I found with mine I started to see the most benefits in their bonding when we started doing the longer sessions.
It was almost like a two part thing happened:
1. They didn’t take as long to get settled and used to each other the next time
2. and most importantly it was almost like they thought “Hey this other guy isn’t going anywhere, better get on with this” lol

[Author]

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