Bonding and mounting question

[JenniferCameron]

Winston was neutured a while ago, so his sperm is all gone, it's been about 6 weeks, we've started trying to bond the two buns now. They get along great except after he spends a while grooming her he tries to mount her, sometimes the right way and sometimes the wrong way. Is this just a dominance thing or is it something more? When he does it I push him off her, he doesn't bite her fur or anything and she doesn't bite him she just runs away a bit, then i seperate them. Is this normal in bonding? Neither of them bite each other and they seem to get along great otherwise, they also don't bite me when i seperate them or push him off.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[NorthernAutumn]

Dominance, IMO.
My one fella did this with my doe during their intros. However, she would get really upset and run away, stamping. She bonded successfully with Stu, who SHE would hump. He ignored her, and that was it.

If your girl isn't bothered by it, (she comes back to interact)it is OK. Don't let it go on for too long so she doesn't get frustrated; they are establishing their social order.

Are they grooming eachother?
When you say separate, is playtime over, or do you just get him to stop? If she won't let him near her afterwards, she is getting frustrated.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Yes, it sounds like a possible dominance thing to me. Hard to tell in the beginning stages. Have you read our Bonding Thread from our Library? It might shed some insight. Give er a read and let us know if it helps you at all. K?

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12072&forum_id=17

 

[Flashy]

It could also be that his hormones have not completely settled. Yes, they are still fertile for 6-8 weeks after a neuter, however, it does take longer for the hormones to completely wane, so that might also play a factor.

 

[tonyshuman]

Other people have said some great stuff about what causes the behavior and what to do about it. However, I want to say that you should probably not let him mount her the wrong way. Too much potential for getting bit in a very bad place.

 

[JenniferCameron]

When i say seperate I mean that I first seperate the two bunnies and they both go back to their homes. She doesn't groom him but he grooms her and she seems to like it. I have read a lot about bonding and I have read the section before but it's a good idea to refresh my memory. I try to make sure that he doesn't mount her the wrong way, but it's not always easy as he goes from grooming to mounting in like a second lol, I never let it last though.

They seem to enjoy each others company and hang out alot through their cages, but the mounting does worry me as I think that if it continues she will get angry and fed up, which will lead to some not good things for the both of them. Fights I mean.

Another really cute thing that is not at all related, but still i want to say it because I thought of it is.... Winston has a big bunny cage it's like 4 by 7 by 5 and i have to go inside to clean it, well when i do Winston doesn't mind, but our cat Calvin tries to get in and if his sister Charlotte is there she will too, Winston doesn't take to this kindly though and will grunt and growl and chase them out. It's a really cute sight to see my little Winston chasing and scaring these two big cats. 0

 

[Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears]

I don't know about dominace or anything but more towards hormones, but it's very natural when buns are neutered/spayed. All of our bunnies (female and male) all have done it after after they got neutered even months later... give it a few months and i'd say it'll slowly go away, my sister and I always laughed and say "they don't realise they're fixed". Our first rabbits all did it to eachother, no harm done, sometimes they'd bite down, but often they'd just run away. Fluffies did this for the longest of times after he was fixed, though the only thing that cured him was his head tilt so he couldn't get on.

We also didn't really bother to seperate them after we've seen it so many times overs.. They were never harming eachother so we let them be with eachother after maybe a week of being apart to recover.

Give it time and i'm sure everything will work out

IMO -> It's the "we need to reproduce" hormon in all buns until they get the idea that "She's not getting pregnant.. I'll stop my persuit now" (LOL)

Hope that helps.

 

[NorthernAutumn]

A good tip I learned was that a bonding session should never end on a sour note. Everyone should go home happy.
Thus, I think that you should consider letting playtime go on after the mounting. Push him off, give them both treats, and occupy them with something else.
That way, that isn't her last experience with him daily, which would likely stick in her head over time.

Evie developed a lack of trust with Slatey for this reason; I couldn't get the to end sessions on a positive note, so she never got over her dislike at the time.