My bonded pair re-establish dominance every month?

[cosmoluna]

Hello again everyone!
In the middle of January, I was able to successfully bond my fixed male and female rabbits They absolutely adore each other, and groom and cuddle each other constantly, but it seems that every month or so, my female bun will mount my male bunny to re establish her dominance. He hates to be mounted and often tries to get away from her, but then immediately goes back to grooming her or flops against her. I don’t really know what prompts her to mount him, but the mounting usually lasts about 2 days and then all is well for the month. Is there anything that I’m doing that could be causing this? Is this behavior dangerous, and will it ever go away? I’d really appreciate some insight as i tend to get pretty nervous about it!

 

[Mariam+Theo]

Great job bonding them! She is just telling him that she is the boss and for him to not try and take over. This should decrease as the bond grows old. Just make sure there is no nipping when she mounts him because that could cause a huge fight.

 

[cosmoluna]

Great job bonding them! She is just telling him that she is the boss and for him to not try and take over. This should decrease as the bond grows old. Just make sure there is no nipping when she mounts him because that could cause a huge fight.

Thank you so much! As of now, there has been no fights since my doe got spayed which is great! She does sometimes pull fur when she mounts him though ): do you know how longbit usually takes for this mounting behavior to stop? Its been about 2 months already!

 

[Mariam+Theo]

I don't know exactly how long it will take because it will be up to her. She is going to have to realize that he is not going to take over. If she is pulling fur then I would push her off of him. Normal mounting is fine but nipping/pulling fur is dangerous.

 

[bunnylove2024]

The mounting is fine but like mariam + theo said fur pulling is not. If it seem like an accident then it could be ok but if it happens every time that I not good.

 

[cosmoluna]

The mounting is fine but like mariam + theo said fur pulling is not. If it seem like an accident then it could be ok but if it happens every time that I not good.

Yeah I’ve been watching very closely to make sure she doesnt pull fur anymore. She is never successful in mounting him because he tries to run away, so I’m finding it difficult to just let her assert her dominance and move on since she is so persistent! I still just have no idea what triggers this behavior in them

 

[bunnylove2024]

See if he is taking thinks from her like space, food, water, or attention. That could trigger her to do that again.

 

[zuppa]

It's only two months and they should settle after time, if there are no aggression some fur flying is okay, it should decrease with time as I understood they are generally nice to each other and groom each other a lot and happy together.

 

[cosmoluna]

It's only two months and they should settle after time, if there are no aggression some fur flying is okay, it should decrease with time as I understood they are generally nice to each other and groom each other a lot and happy together.

Thank you! They are very very happy together, this has just been a minor issue in their bond. I’m just gonna be patient and wait for her to settle down!

 

[cosmoluna]

Does anyone know if this could have anything to do with the fact that it is springtime? she is also peeing all over the floor and pooping everywhere, so i think she’s having some sort of hormonal spike even though she is fixed!

 

[Mariam+Theo]

How long ago was she spayed? It sounds like she is marking her territory. Maybe she is threatened by the guy rabbit? That may be why she keeps humping him.

 

[cosmoluna]

How long ago was she spayed? It sounds like she is marking her territory.

She was spayed back in October, i had them separated for 2 months after her spay before re bonding them. They finally bonded back in January, but their bond is still young.

 

[cosmoluna]

See if he is taking thinks from her like space, food, water, or attention. That could trigger her to do that again.

I’ll definitely keep an eye out for that! Thanks

 

[Mariam+Theo]

She was spayed back in October, i had them separated for 2 months after her spay before re bonding them. They finally bonded back in January, but their bond is still young.

Weird. Are you sure she was spayed completely? Rabbits have 2 uteruses so both of them would have to be removed.

 

[cosmoluna]

Weird. Are you sure she was spayed completely? Rabbits have 2 uteruses so both of them would have to be removed.

Wow i had no idea! I’m pretty sure she was, they didn’t say anything about her not being fully spayed! I can call and ask, but it was through a low income spay program so I doubt they would know ): Thanks for the info!

 

[Mariam+Theo]

Normally they will fully spay the animal, but maybe they didn't get everything especially since it was low cost. She should have calmed down by now if she was fully spayed.

 

[cosmoluna]

Normally they will fully spay the animal, but maybe they didn't get everything especially since it was low cost. She should have calmed down by now if she was fully spayed.

Yeah most definitely. She is usually very calm and not territorial, she just goes through weird 3 day territorial phases around once a month. The first time this happened, I know it was because I had a lot of friends over and the scent of my room changed. This time, I’m not so sure. It just came on randomly!

 

[Mariam+Theo]

This is very strange! I have no idea why she is doing this unless she is not fully spayed. Hmm...Let's see what other people think.

 

[cosmoluna]

This is very strange! I have no idea why she is doing this unless she is not fully spayed. Hmm...Let's see what other people think.

Thanks so much for all your help! I’ve been doing a lot of research today, and I read somewhere that even spayed rabbits may get territorial in the springtime since they still have some hormones. I just find it odd that she’s only territorial at certain times, and he isn’t showing any hormonal behavior. So strange!

 

[cosmoluna]

A little update for today: Luna has been chinning everything like crazy. She has been peeing all over the carpet and runs at Cosmo with her tail raised and grooms his face excessively if she isn’t trying to mount him. She also makes a little buzzing noise when she is near him. It has been 5 days now and it’s not really getting better /: Luckily I have a lot of time to spend monitoring them, but it is getting quite stressful and a little exhausting. If anyone has some advice for me that would be wonderful!