Help With Re-Bonding(Questions)...

[SweetSassy]

I PM'ed NorthernAutumn earlier today cause I was trying to re-bond Daisy and Rascal.

First, I had them seperated til they were fixed. Which they are fixed now. I had them sharing a NIC cage and they could still touch each other. I had a wall up. They would groom each other thru the wall. Stick their noses thru to see each other.

Today,I started them in the bathtub, and they did fine-some grooming. So I took the wall down and put them in the NIC cage together. Rascal was chasing Daisy pretty much the whole time. At one point Rascal did groom her, but he just chased her, pulling her fur on her back and butt. He basically was trying to hump her, and at one point he did hump her face. Poor Daisy.

This lasted a couple hours-the whole process. Autumn thought it might have lasted too long so I seperated them and put Rasal in a different cage.

Is Rascal gonna keep chasing Daisy? Is it normal? Should I let him mount her? How long should I let them be together if he's just gonna chase her?

Sorry about all the question. Thanks for any replies!!

 

[Amy27]

Chasing with bonding has always been normal with my two. It seems to slowly decrease as time goes on. I am not sure about the humping, both of mine are girls and never humped during bonding. Though I imagine that is also normal. I think if it was me, I would stop the humping the other rabbits head. I say that just because I saw pictures on here of a bunny being bit while the other was humping her head. If he is humping normally and Daisy doesn't seem to mind, I would leave them alone.

I decide how long to bond depending on how I feel the bonding is going. You are always suppose to stop on a happy note. So if I feel they are getting tired or crabby. I will stop. Whether that is 30 minutes or 3 hours. I don't want them getting to stressed and upset and starting a fight. I watch the bunny who is being chased or in your case chased and humped and when I feel she has had enough, I quit. The time varies for me depending on their mood.

Good luck. I hate bonding, so I feel your pain!

 

[ra7751]

There will still be some posturing for dominance....that is normal pecking order in a warren. Keep in mind that just because a male is neutered, that does not immediately change his attitude. The older a male is when neutered, the longer it takes to purge the "boy bunny". It will diminish over time. But they do need to establish who is who in the relationship. A car ride in the same carrier works wonders. If you are doing laundry, some time in a carrier on top of the washer or dryer also works....of course, supervised at all times. And you are already aware of the neutral territory rule....and we enhance that by reducing any markings scents even more by using a bit of vanilla flavoring on the bridge of their nose.....and that will mask any territorial markings and make for an even playing field.

Randy

 

[SweetSassy]

Thanks Amy & Randy