Bunny Bonding Problem

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Sublime

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A few years back I adopted my first rabbit, a maledutch (Oliver)that is as curious as they come. I've had him 3years now and he still finds things to poke his head in on. Then lastyear we adopted another rabbit to be his friend, a female mini-lop(Snowball)that almost doubles him in size. Where she is verycalm and quiet, he is extremely outgoing and in-your-face at all times.

When we introduced the pair they seemed to be okay, Oliver mounted andcircled her to I'm assuming show some kind of dominance. Now that theyear has gone by they have bonded well, but Oliver will not stopmounting her. Both rabbits were spayed before we adopted them, so it'snot like there is anything to gain from it. Yesterday while givingSnowballa bath I noticed that she has manyscratches on her backside from Oliver.
Is there anyway tocorrectOliver's behavior?:?

Also, we recently came into contact with another rabbit whowasdropped offin our fields. After discovering himI took him to the vet, and after a clean bill of healthhecame home with me. I'm wondering if it would be a better idea to justremove Snowball from Oliver and place her with this new rabbit instead,then adopting a newfriend for Oliver to play with?

I want to find a good solutionfor the benefit of Snowball andthose nasty cuts on her backside. If you can help in anywayitwill be greatly appreciated.
 
The bond between them is strong andintroducing a new rabbit may not be a good idea. I would sujest notputting the new rabbit in the cage with them but maybe let them allplay together. As for the scratches he gave her i am not to sure. Haveyou checked his claws, if they are too long they may need cutting. Itsbest to ask a vet or do research on the internet in correcting rabbitbehaviour. Good Luck. Keep us updated.

Catherine (carrots):)


View attachment RabbitWeight2.pdf
 
We havea very largedog crateoutside where the other rabbitsplay, and I put Tucker (thenew rabbit) in thier spare crate so they can just get the scent ofeachother for now. As for Oliver's claws they are checked weekly.
 
Thank you for reading the post, I'll try what Ican. I'm just unsure about leaving Snowball in that situation if she'sgetting hurt. Honestly I think she just tolerates the other rabbit andI'm just not sure if it would be okay to move her out of there. Theywould still play together, I just don't like the fact that she'sgetting scratched. Thank you for your post though! I'll work on it!
 
My bunnies did the same thing, I agree that it isa sign of dominance. I would just pick the top bunny up, put her to theside, and ignore her for a while. This worked for me and now my bunniesare best of friends.

Good Luck!

Lissa
 

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