LuvMyRabbits
Well-Known Member
Hello..have a ? today about the submissive/dominance thing. Spirit is the Dominant rabbit in the relationship and Shadow is the submissive one. They both were fixed this month so I know that some of the hormones are still in play. My concern is that Spirit is kinda..well...she can be really rude to Shadow. Shesnot agressive with him and shes never tried to hurt him but shes sometimes can be what I would call a "bully" . Every morning its the same thing..I get their veggies then let them out of the cage (They have seperate cages ) Spirit goes to Shadow and proceeds to groom his face. Her grooming is a bit forceful and definitley not as gentle as when Shadow grooms her, honestly it looks like shes eating his eyes...He doesnt run or act like she hurts him but I'm not comfortable with how wildly she does it...I mean it does not look like it would be a pleasant expierence for him. After she "grooms" him a.k.a eats his face off she proceeds to mount him. This is the same ritual every morning as well as any time we leave the house and come back and they get out of their cages. I really dont like how forceful she can be with him sometimes and I make her stop when I feel its getting to be a bit to forceful.
Shadow is a very laid back type of rabbit and wouldnt hurt a soul, hes very gentle with her when he grooms her and he loves her to death..he follows her everywhere she goes so I know hes not holding any ill feelings towards her but I dont like how she treats him sometimes and I'm wondering if its still a hormone issue or if it may be because she feels the need to prove her dominance everytime they get out of the cages?? Its also kind of just her demeaner with everything concerning him like the way she makes him groom her or like yesterday when they were eating pellets, Shadow had his face down picking one up and she wanted one to so what does she do?? Shoves his face out of the way!! How rude!!
Shadow is way to nice to be treated like that and to be honest it bothers me. I'm seeing that the forceful grooming thing usually only happens when they get out of their cages so I dont know if she thinks he forgot that shes the dominant one or if thats just her personality, either way I just wish she would be more gentle with him.
So wondering if its still a hormone thing? Her spay was about a 31/2 weeks ago and I'm not sure how long it takes for the hormones to fully be out of her system or ifthey ever fully go away...I know I've been reading that spaying/neutering usually makes the rabbits more docile and calm so I'm hoping that eventually that will happen..
Also was wondering if maybe I got a bigger cage so they could both be in it together maybe if that would stop her from being such a bully with him since it seems she needs to establish her dominance when they come together in the mornings ( she also does groom his face forcefully other times but its usuallyonly when they get out of their cages ) If getting one cage for them both would work that would be good but I would be concerned about her doing that to him in the cage when I'm not around.. I'm at a loss on what to do but I definitley dont like him being bullied by her. Shes a sweet rabbit dont get me wrong its just this one issue with her when it comes to him that bugs me..:tears2:The bullys in high school always bugged me to!!
Wow this turned out to be a loooong post...sorry bout that!! I'm still learning things everyday about these 2 and I just want to make sure I'm doing the right things with them and not allowing behavior that may be a problem in the future =) Thanks for reading!!
~*~Korey~*~
Shadow is a very laid back type of rabbit and wouldnt hurt a soul, hes very gentle with her when he grooms her and he loves her to death..he follows her everywhere she goes so I know hes not holding any ill feelings towards her but I dont like how she treats him sometimes and I'm wondering if its still a hormone issue or if it may be because she feels the need to prove her dominance everytime they get out of the cages?? Its also kind of just her demeaner with everything concerning him like the way she makes him groom her or like yesterday when they were eating pellets, Shadow had his face down picking one up and she wanted one to so what does she do?? Shoves his face out of the way!! How rude!!
Shadow is way to nice to be treated like that and to be honest it bothers me. I'm seeing that the forceful grooming thing usually only happens when they get out of their cages so I dont know if she thinks he forgot that shes the dominant one or if thats just her personality, either way I just wish she would be more gentle with him.
So wondering if its still a hormone thing? Her spay was about a 31/2 weeks ago and I'm not sure how long it takes for the hormones to fully be out of her system or ifthey ever fully go away...I know I've been reading that spaying/neutering usually makes the rabbits more docile and calm so I'm hoping that eventually that will happen..
Also was wondering if maybe I got a bigger cage so they could both be in it together maybe if that would stop her from being such a bully with him since it seems she needs to establish her dominance when they come together in the mornings ( she also does groom his face forcefully other times but its usuallyonly when they get out of their cages ) If getting one cage for them both would work that would be good but I would be concerned about her doing that to him in the cage when I'm not around.. I'm at a loss on what to do but I definitley dont like him being bullied by her. Shes a sweet rabbit dont get me wrong its just this one issue with her when it comes to him that bugs me..:tears2:The bullys in high school always bugged me to!!
Wow this turned out to be a loooong post...sorry bout that!! I'm still learning things everyday about these 2 and I just want to make sure I'm doing the right things with them and not allowing behavior that may be a problem in the future =) Thanks for reading!!~*~Korey~*~
