Rabbit Bonding

[sezzybabe]

My rescue rabbit (spayed doe) has lost her partner (6 months ago) and I have got another rescue rabbit (buck) who is 4-5 months old and entire to bond with her. They have spent over a week together now- but their relationship does not seem to be progressing. All he wants to do is hump her and although she didnt mind at first, she is getting annoyed with it now. She continuously runs away from him and squeaks at him. He adores her but cannot get close. There has been a little chasing- but no fighting that I have seen. They have both groomed each other and laid cuddled up.... so I thought they might be bonded, but yesterday morning I noticed a small scratch on his nose- which could be from her? Should I separate them? How can I help them progress? I intend to get my male neutered as soon as he becomes old enough (my vet wont neuter until he is 6 months).

Any advice much appreciated! xxxx

 

[kirbyultra]

A 4-5 month old baby bun is hitting maturity at that time. He sounds like a classic hormonal buck. The humping is typical, and he may be quite rough as an unaltered boy. Neutering him may help but I would not put them together until a month after his neuter to allow him for his hormones to fizzle away before trying to bond them. He is probably in no mood to bond, he's just thinking about reproduction right now, it's how he is wired at the moment.

Separating them NOW would be ideal. His continued behavior towards her may scare her, and may be detrimental to their future together if she resents him for it.

 

[Yield]

All Sabriel wanted to do at first was hump Solara. We let them sleep together one night and they chased each other the whole time. When we let them out, Solara humped Sabriel and his humping stopped, though he still sometimes does it randomly. Solara used to run from Sabriel and squeak all the time. Sabriel had been fixed a week before we started the bonding, so he still had his hormones.

I would seperate them until your boy gets fixed, then start bonding.But the humping won't change until he gets neutered. With my buns, I waited until my boy was neutered before even starting bonding because hormonal boys are crazy o.o

Watch the scratch and make sure it doesn't get infected (i'll let someone more experienced with scratches tell you otherwise lol)...