Help, Bonding Buns Fighting

[pbheather]

I brought a new bun home. A lionhead, and I think it's female. My other female, Kaylee didn't like her, and was nipping at her through the bars of the pen. Jayne, my male, was caring towards the new bun and was grooming her through the bars of the pen.

That night, I had put Jayneand Kaylee in their pen and was laying down on my bed. I heard someone scuffling, like a fight. I walk over to Kaylee and Jayne's pen and they were running around their cage at top speeds. They suddenly stopped in the corner and Jayne mounted Kaylee and proceded to mate. They're both fixed, so I'm not worried about them having babies.

What I am worried about is that every time I put them together lately, Jayne mounts Kaylee (or tries to), and they start running around, fur flies, and I'm afraid someone is going to get hurt. When I seperated the two, I saw some of the fur on Kaylee's behind was coming off from the scuffle.

I've kept them seperated since then. Last night after work, I put Jayne in the cage, and let Kaylee roam around the pen.

Is it normal for a fixed male to try to mate with a female? I thought the neutering would take away the hormones, thus there would be no urge to mate. They're a bonded pair (I thought so at least), and I don't think they're fighting. Kaylee is a littletimidand when she's not comfortable, she runs away as fast as she can, and so Jayne tries to catch her and keep her where she is. One, or both, are going to get hurt, and I don't want that.

Or is it possible that he wants to mate with Kaylee because of the new bun? I did a short exam myself, though a bad one at that, and I didn't feel any testicles, so I'm assuming it's a female. I do have a vet visit lined up next week, so we'll find out.

 

[kahlin]

It's pretty normal. It's his way of trying to show her that he's the boss....and it is likely an issue now because a new bunny is in the picture.

 

[pbheather]

That makes sense. I knew Kaylee didn't like the new bun because the new bun is probably a female, and a threat. I was wondering if Jayne was just asserting his dominance, and showing the new bun that he's the boss. I'm going to let Jayne and Kaylee out together, but away from the cage so they don't hurt themselves. I only want to do it when they're supervised, so nothing happens.

 

[elrohwen]

Humping is definitely a dominance thing. So these two buns are living together? Or are they separated now? How long were they living together before the fighting/humping started?

If I'm reading your post right, they weren't living together, but were doing ok when out for playtime, right? Technically, buns that aren't living together full time aren't actually bonded. They might enjoy common playtime, but it's not quite the same thing as the strong bond that forms when they're really together all the time. I think you may just need to take a step back in their bonding - go to the bathroom, or the bathtub- some kind of neutral space where they can get back on good footing with each other.

And even strongly bonded pairs can have ean upset when a new bun enters their home, so it's not unusual.

 

[pla725]

I have two bonded pairs. Sawyer and Maddie have been bonded for about a month. Sawyer is definitely the boss. Goobie and Woodyhave been bonded for over a year. Goobie (female) is the boss. Goobie will chase Woody around and mount him either at the tail end or the head. Sometimes she can be too aggressive. I will usually intervene to stop her. A couple of minutes later they can be cuddled together like nothing happened.

All my rabbits don't like newcomers to the house. They will thump and chase each other around.

 

[pbheather]

Well, they have been living together for the past few weeks. They have a cage, and a pen surrounding the cage, and have free roam of the pen. They have their play time, in which they maygo away from eachother,but a few moments later, Kaylee is following Jayne around.

They'd done well. They would cuddle, flop together, groom eachother, eat from the same carrot, etc. But when I brought the new bun in, they seemed fine those first few hours.

I came home after going to my parents' house, and though Jayne was just shedding. No, I found out tonight that they get in duke-out fights and Kaylee is taking the fur with her. I haven't found any wounds on either, but it's crazy. And when I seperated them a few times, Jayne fought against my pant leg for a few seconds before realizing it was me. He'd pull and bite and scratch.

I put them on the bed earlier, when I had a friend over and she wanted to see them. Both were loving, back to their regular selfs. When I put them on the floor, that's when they started fighting.

I just want them all to just get along. I know a third rabbit can break a bonded pair, but the third rabbit I want to cuddle and have a somewhat lap pet, and she seems to have the right personality for that; she lets me hold her for long periods of time, and will even come up to me willingly and expect pets. Jayne and Kaylee are fun to watch, but they do not want to cuddle. Not with me at least.

There has been thumping. On both Jayne's, and the new bun's part. Jayne seems to like the new bun more. I'll just take them back to the bed and try to start bonding them again. I'm going to rotate them in and out of the cage: Jayne in the cage one night, Kaylee in it the next; the other in the pen surrounding the cage. I'll take one at a time out for play, and just try to settle this. I just don't want them hurting eachother, and subsequently me, or the new bun.

Thank you guys for your advice. I really want to get this bunny parenting right, and it's not going good right now.