Bonding two bunnies. What's wrong?

[tanya_v]

My male bunny was fixed 3 weeks ago. Today I brought from SPCAanother bunny. She is just 2 months old and too young to be fixed. When I let them to meet each other my male bunny mounted here which I quess is a normal behavior even for fixed male bunnies. Well, he'd been mounting her all time they were together. Non stop! My kidswere shocked. Was it too early for him after neutering to meet a female bunny? Is he going to behave like this all the time?:shock:

Also, when he tried to sniff her through her cage, she attacked him. Is it normal? Please help! I am about to take her back and try another bunny.

 

[Maureen Las]

Bonding actually take work unless you are lucky. Your male rabbit is still hormonal although it has been 3 weeks since his neuter. It might take several more weeks until hormones are low.

Idon't know the age of the male but it is still common for rabbits to hump each other ; each rabbit is attempting to establish the dominant role in the relationship.

I don't know the age of your male but the female is still considered a baby. As she matures and prior to her spay she could exhibit temperamental behavior towards another rabbit especially a male.

Ideally (and even this often doesn't work) you could take your neutered male to a shelter (in a few weeks ) and allow him to pick out the female (she must already be spayed) that he prefers.

Even then when you get them home you may need to work on a bond.

The behavior that you described is normal for rabbits.
You just can't put two rabbits together and expect them to like each other. First of all they both must be fixed before you even begin and 2nd they have their preferences (just like humans) prefering one rabbit over another.
you need to read more about bonding ( info available in forum library)


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

Because you already adopted the little girl I am wondering if you could have a separate habitat for her and deal with this later when the time comes ..having the rabbits live in habitats next to each other and getting used to each other.
No bond is easy except in a blue moon

if you want to try to get a mate for him immediately it is probably best for you to take her back ...but even then you may not get the perfect mate 2nd time around

 

[tanya_v]

They are in different cages but my male bunny is very nervous. I took my bunny to the shelter to meet with this girl. He did mount her but it was nothing like what he does now. And she wasn't aggressive at all. I was told in the shelter she should be fine till 4-5 months when they could spay her so I've decided to give it a try. But I don't want to keep them in two cages for 3-4 months.

 

[tanya_v]

Looks like I'll have to take her back and try with fixed girl as I planned before. My bunny is free roaming and she jumps on her cage aggressively when he comes to visit her.

 

[Momto3boys]

Seriously if you're not willing ro run 2 cages then you shouldn't get a second bunny.

You're giving her back without even giving her a chance.
Even if you have a bonded pair, something could always happen down the road that will make you have to seperate them.

If you can't handle having 2 cages for 3-4 mths then only keep one rabbit.

 

[Tweetiepy]

My boy Peaches was fixed about 2 months ago. I got a male Popcorn 8-9 weeks and hubby said "Put them together" well I didn't wait to see if there was humping - I just say them get really close together fast - so I separated them. They're kept in separate cages (2x3x2 cube C&C cage for $30) until Popcorn gets neutered. They can smell each other but there seems to be aggession on both parties. Once fixed I'll try to bond them.

You don,t want an injured bunny while you're away so it's a good idea to keep them separate until they're both healed & then you can bond them slowly. Patience Grasshoppa!

 

[tanya_v]

Momto3boys wrote:

Seriously if you're not willing ro run 2 cages then you shouldn't get a second bunny.

You're giving her back without even giving her a chance.
Even if you have a bonded pair, something could always happen down the road that will make you have to seperate them.

If you can't handle having 2 cages for 3-4 mths then only keep one rabbit.

If I take her back now she would have a chance to be adopted with one of her siblings. Also I don't want my kids to get attached to this bunny and then return her later. Maybe you are right and I should only have one bunny.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Bonding is not always a possibility--some never do. It has to be done slowly and in a totally neutral area. Three weeks after a neutering there will still be some hormonal urges that haven't totally disappeared yet. Even with bond mates, sometimes they need to be separated. " Nothing in life is certain except Death and Taxes".