Are these bad signs? Help! Kind of urgent!

[Yield]

So today we had our first bonding session with Solara and Sabriel. Solara was super interested in Sabriel and sniffed his butt, then nipped him Sabriel tried to hump Solara a whole ton (including her face) and so they fought a little I seperated them, and they both seem fine.

Sabriel tried to hump me afterwards, but seemed fine. But I've noticed (I'm laying in my bed with him on my tummy) that his nose is almost always twitching. Solata's nose stops twitching when she is uninterested in something, or she's sleeping.

Now Sabriel is grinding his teeth. I wasn't petting him or anything.. how do you know if they're doing a tooth grind loud for pain or not? Cause Solara's tooth grinds are generally very loud. The toothe grinding he is doing kind of sounds like he's shivering but he doesnt seem to be... Is he just comfortable? Ugh, I dunno!

He's 6 months, in case that helps. And neutered. He's a dutch or dutch mix. A surrender I adopted from the Humane Society.

Please help!

 

[aurora369]

Check them both over for cuts and bite wounds. Also check Sabriel's genitals, if he was humping her face she could have bitten his genitals. I had that happen to me once.

If the tooth grinding sounds like nails on a chalk board and not chattering, then it is probably from pain.

I'm guessing he has a cut or wound somewhere that is painful.

-Dawn

 

[Yield]

aurora369 wrote:

Check them both over for cuts and bite wounds. Also check Sabriel's genitals, if he was humping her face she could have bitten his genitals. I had that happen to me once.

If the tooth grinding sounds like nails on a chalk board and not chattering, then it is probably from pain.

I'm guessing he has a cut or wound somewhere that is painful.

-Dawn

Thank you for the quick answer! There was no clawing involved so I know there are no scratches, and there doesn't appear to be any cuts or bite wounds. I will check again though. I checked his genitals, and they seem okay. Is it only his testicles that are at chance of getting bitten when he is humping her face?

Amd no, the tooth grinding sounded like chattering. So thats not bad then? I've never heard Solara do chattering like that, so when Sabriel did it I was unsure. I've never heard a bun tooth grind out of pain.

I put him in his cage to go to the bathroom and he seems his normal self.

Maybe he was just comfy and cozy then?

(I might have overreacted- but he's a new bun and I'm not entirely tuned into his body language yet, so I'd rather be safe then sorry.)

 

[aurora369]

It is possible for his penis to get bitten. If he had it out when he was humping her face, she could have nipped it.

Just keep an eye on him. If he's starting to act normally, then he should be okay. If he's still acting like he's in pain for a couple of hours, then you may want to check him over again. Push his penis out by pushing back on the genitals to see if there is any blood in there.

When my bun got bit in the genitals, it was very obvious. He had a huge chunk of skin ripped off and required about 100 stitches to put his genitals back together. That is why I am very hesitant about letting buns hump heads during bonding sessions now...

-Dawn

 

[Happi Bun]

Yield wrote:

Is it only his testicles that are at chance of getting bitten when he is humping her face?

I would check his penis for any damage, just to be safe.
If it's fine then I would say it's safe to assume he's just comfortable.

 

[tonyshuman]

Any of his genital area can get bitten. We had a member whose bunny had his penis bitten off because he was humping somebun on the face and they didn't like it. It was extremely painful and he had to have reconstructive surgery, I think.

I have not heard a bunny grind their teeth in pain either, although sometimes a happy grind from my Muffin sounds a bit like chattering.

If he were in a lot of pain, he wouldn't be acting normally. Keep an eye out for not eating or pooping normally.

 

[Yield]

thank you everyone ! i will get my mom to help me check his penis. right now he's lying on me again, maybe sleeping. He seems very comfortable, and is doing the teeth chattering thing again. He was completely fine when I picked him up. I don't think Solara bit his genitals at all because of all this (thank goodness) because when I saw she was freaking out, and seperated them quickly. I'm hoping it's okay.

 

[Yield]

i just checked his penis and it seems okay. it seems to stick out a little though.. is that normal? could it be because i had him on his back? (he's the kind of bun who doesn't care if I lean him back (and of course I support his head)).

 

[aurora369]

It's okay for it to stick out a little, especially if he's really relaxed. If it looks pink, with no blood coming out around it, he should be fine. Sometimes little boy bunnies will let it come out. I've picked up a couple of male bunnies to discover that their penis was hanging out and I had to tell them to put it away because I didn't want to see it!

It sounds like he's just a super chill rabbit, and is enjoying your company. If he's only chattering his teeth when he's relaxed and cuddling with you, then he's probably just happy. It's very obvious when a rabbit grinds it's teeth from pain, as it just sounds awful (like nails on a chalk board). And their body language usually tells you that they aren't feeling well either, all hunched up and uncomfortable looking.

And yes, Tonyshuman, it was my bun that had is genitals ripped to shreds and had to have reconstructive surgery. It was pretty bad, and hence why I do not let somebun hump another bunny on the head during bonding sessions. They hump the back end or no end.

-Dawn

 

[elrohwen]

Everyone else pretty much covered what I wanted to say. I did want to add that my bun will often do the chattering thing. Sometimes he'll even do it if he's lounging on the floor and I talk to him. So some bunnies just do it often.

I've also been told by a rescue owner that sometimes it is a sign of impending tooth problems (not necessarily a problem yet, but the beginning of molar spurs). Has he seen a vet recently and had his teeth looked at?

 

[Yield]

aurora369 wrote:

It's okay for it to stick out a little, especially if he's really relaxed. If it looks pink, with no blood coming out around it, he should be fine. Sometimes little boy bunnies will let it come out. I've picked up a couple of male bunnies to discover that their penis was hanging out and I had to tell them to put it away because I didn't want to see it!

It sounds like he's just a super chill rabbit, and is enjoying your company. If he's only chattering his teeth when he's relaxed and cuddling with you, then he's probably just happy. It's very obvious when a rabbit grinds it's teeth from pain, as it just sounds awful (like nails on a chalk board). And their body language usually tells you that they aren't feeling well either, all hunched up and uncomfortable looking.

And yes, Tonyshuman, it was my bun that had is genitals ripped to shreds and had to have reconstructive surgery. It was pretty bad, and hence why I do not let somebun hump another bunny on the head during bonding sessions. They hump the back end or no end.

-Dawn

Yeah, he's a really calm and relaxed rabbit (when he's not running around in circles and humping my legs and arms!). He lays there and cuddles with me is it bad for them to be on their backs? I know it can be a trancing thing, but he likes laying on his back between my arm and side. So I am hoping it won't hurt him or anything.

Okay! I'm glad there's no problem I also have a few more questions. He seems to have a red lump on his front left paw- and it's obviously his toe (I counted his toes) but I don't know if he's just missing the claw or like half of his toe or something. It seems small and seems to stick out to the side. It makes his fur under his paws fluff out. But it doesn't seem to bother him...

And I just forgot my other question XD

But yeah, I was uncomfortable with letting him hump her head. I seperated them as quickly as I could. She was very intolerant of his humping. I'm going to wait a couple weeks before attempting to bond again (since that was only the first date).

Oh. Another question. Sorry you just seem to know your stuff and I like to know things

When they went up to each other, she approached his backside, and sniffed his backside (close to his tail). Then started nipping him there! I don't know if she was trying to get him out of the way or not.. he was blocking the way, but she could have backed up.

Also when bonding, is it better in a smaller space, or a larger space?

I'm really sorry for all of the questions!

@elrohwen: no he has not since he's been fixed, but we're going to be taking him to the vet soon to get his toe looked at, and now his teeth. I don't want my poor boy having tooth probs D:

 

[elrohwen]

Good you'll be taking him to the vet soon. I'm curious about his toe! Funny the rescue never noticed and had it looked at. Hopefully it's just a healed stump that doesn't bother him.

I can hopefully answer some of your bonding questions. Being in a small space at first is very helpful - bathtubs are good for this because they're small, slippery, and neutral. Small spaces don't allow them to camp out in a corner and become territorial. Also, especially for the first few sessions, I recommend stressing before putting them in the tub. This can mean going for a car ride (with them in a box together), putting them in a laundry basket on top of the washing machine, or just putting them in a carrier and shaking it around The idea is that they'll snuggle together and be too afraid to nip or fight. They'll get good positive experience trusting and snuggling with each other. Plus, stressing them out first makes them less volatile when you put them in the tub.

Definitely no face humping. Regular humping is ok, but I will pull the top bun off after 10-20 seconds or whenever the humpee looks like they can't take it anymore (especially if the humpee runs like heck and can't get away). You definitely don't want the humpee turning around and biting the humper, but it's also good to let them work out the dominance thing. Sometimes it's a fine line between keeping them from fighting and letting them interact and figure out their dynamic. I personally struggle with this - I want to separate them whenever I see any chasing, nipping, or grunting, but sometimes you have to let it go and be ready to break up a fight. I recommend heavy gloves and turning the water facet in the tub on quickly as it'll startle them out of a fight (hopefully).

If you want to wait a few weeks, it can be helpful to switch their cages back and forth so they get used to each other's scents and litter boxes. You can also put a stunk double stuffie in with each, then switch them to the other bun when it smells sufficiently like bun #1. This doesn't help all buns, but can be very effective with others. However, I'll warn you that it's often easier to bond when at least one of the buns is new to your home. It's harder when both feel they've established territory that they might not want the other one in.

Once you do start bonding, I would do at least one, but hopefully two sessions per day. You really need to be consistent and calm and just work through issues. If you have a bad bonding day and decide not to do it for a few days, then pick it up again, they'll probably never bond (or it will take forever). And end things on a positive note. If they scuffle and you can't get them settled down, at least push them together and pet them forcefully so they're forced to snuggle for a few minutes.

I hope this helped! I'm still learning myself, but I've followed many friends on their bonding experiences and I'm learning new things from my own buns every day.

 

[Yield]

His toe is just missing a claw It's not infected and is perfectly alright, and his teeth are okay too!

I have started switching their bowls, and IO am not going to try bonding until their hormones are all the way gone from the spaying and neutering and until they start showing positive interest towards each other (I just moved their cages close together).

Thank you so much for the tips!

Also, we have gloves, and a water bottle with a hole it the top to squirt them if they start anything again!

We're hoping Sabriel doesn't want to hump as much once his hormones are gone!

 

[itoshiixhito]

Hope your bunnies are doing well

 

[Yield]

itoshiixhito wrote:

Hope your bunnies are doing well



[line]My babies~

Name: Maayatan Mochi Itoshii
Stats: Rabbit - Female - Holland Lop - Short hair - Black Tortoiseshell (aa B- C- D- ee)
D.O.B: 10/23/2008 - Gotcha: 11/23/2008

Name: 柩 Hitsugi-chan
Stats: Hamster - Female - Syrian - Short hair - Agouti Grey
Gotcha: 6/13/2009

thank you sabriel is doing great, besides the fact he keeps randomly biting me...
i will just lay there and he'll bite me super hard!
one bite left a large bruise that i've had for weeks now
and he bit me today and draw blood THROUGH my jeans!
i dunno what his problem is!

solara is her usual fiesty self, but she's great

 

[itoshiixhito]

Maybe it's just his age >_< They tend to be a pain in the butt while going through the "teenage years"

My Maaya is 1 1/2 years old now, and she starts eating my shirt to let me know when she's done being held XD