Trying to mount, turns into a tornado?

[cosmoluna]

Hi- so after 2 months of bonding through an X pen, I have been reintroducing my two fixed bunnies after my female was spayed. They went 24 hours together free roaming with no fighting, lots of grooming, cuddling, and binkying, but last night my female started trying to mount my male since she is dominant, and he does not want to be mounted. They start running around eachother in a tight circle and pulling fur, and I have to separate. This has happened probably 3 times since last night. There has been no fighting or signs if aggression since I started rebonding, just all love and cuddles. How am I able to help my male rabbit be comfortable to submit when she mounts him? Thanks

 

[Blue eyes]

Was the 2 months of being separated by an ex-pen after the spay?

If they are going into a tornado, that is not good (obviously). You were right to separate them after that. It is up to the male as to whether or not he will submit. There isn't anything you can do to encourage it. The two have to sort it out.

 

[cosmoluna]

Was the 2 months of being separated by an ex-pen after the spay?

If they are going into a tornado, that is not good (obviously). You were right to separate them after that. It is up to the male as to whether or not he will submit. There isn't anything you can do to encourage it. The two have to sort it out.

Yes! after the spay they spent 1.5 months apart while she recovered. Theyve been bonding nightly, grooming, binkying, flopping, cuddling, and eating together, the only thing that is an issue is still the mounting. it turns into chasing, but only happens occasionally. I’m not quite sure if what I saw before was a tornado or if it was circling, but i didnt get a great feeling about it. I can confidently say that my male is 100% bonded to my female, but she gets moody sometimes and occasionally pulls fur/ chases him. Poor guy is getting stressed about it. I’m so anxious to get them back together because I hate separating them when cosmo gets stressed about having to leave her. What would you suggest I do next?

 

[zuppa]

I would separate them completely so they can't see or smell each other and had a chance to forget each other and the fact that there was a fight, keep them in different locations ideally for about 6-8 weeks at least, then reintroduce them to each other but it is important that you find completely neutral territory for both, so they don't feel home there and won't try to protect it.

Or you can give up and just keep them separated, not all rabbits can bond, in this case they will have each their own living area like an x-pen. You can also find a new good home to one of them and keep the other, you can try finding a suitable companion through rescue dating in example. But I personally would try separating completely and reintroducing after time, it may or may not work for your rabbits, they are all very different and you never know.

OR you can give them a break and try again but you'd have to spend time with them and try to prevent any fight, like in this video.

 

[SimbaAndFlora]

I actually recently had this problem with my rabbits. Separating them is a really bad idea because rabbits are cleverer than people give them credit for and if you separate them completely they likely will never bond. They sound like they’re on the last stage of bonding and are just working out their hierarchy. What I did after the vet okayed me to start bonding them again was I immediately put them together and supervised them constantly for 24 hours. I even slept next to them and while I was there my Male rabbit who is the dominant one started to understand that I am the boss and if my female tried to jump him he just could runaway he didn’t have to fight back. They’re very happy together now and actually haven’t been separated since the vet okayed it.

 

[cosmoluna]

I actually recently had this problem with my rabbits. Separating them is a really bad idea because rabbits are cleverer than people give them credit for and if you separate them completely they likely will never bond. They sound like they’re on the last stage of bonding and are just working out their hierarchy. What I did after the vet okayed me to start bonding them again was I immediately put them together and supervised them constantly for 24 hours. I even slept next to them and while I was there my Male rabbit who is the dominant one started to understand that I am the boss and if my female tried to jump him he just could runaway he didn’t have to fight back. They’re very happy together now and actually haven’t been separated since the vet okayed it.

Thats exactly what’s going on. They LOVE eachother and clearly are best friends when they hang out. even when they are separated by an ex pen, they cuddle through the bars. When we put them together, there is absolutely no fighting, but they both binky like crazy, cuddle, and groom. At this point, separating them feels mean, but after awhile my female tries to mount and it makes him nervous ): I’m going to try cementing their bond this weekend as I have a full 4 days to be with them. Thanks for your advice and I’ll be sure to update everyone!

 

[cosmoluna]

I would separate them completely so they can't see or smell each other and had a chance to forget each other and the fact that there was a fight, keep them in different locations ideally for about 6-8 weeks at least, then reintroduce them to each other but it is important that you find completely neutral territory for both, so they don't feel home there and won't try to protect it.

Or you can give up and just keep them separated, not all rabbits can bond, in this case they will have each their own living area like an x-pen. You can also find a new good home to one of them and keep the other, you can try finding a suitable companion through rescue dating in example. But I personally would try separating completely and reintroducing after time, it may or may not work for your rabbits, they are all very different and you never know.

OR you can give them a break and try again but you'd have to spend time with them and try to prevent any fight, like in this video.

I separated them for 8 weeks after they had a TRUE fight when she got spayed. Now I am working on rebonding, and they are on their last stage of bonding which is establishing their roles in the relationship. The ONLY time that my rabbits have any sort of bonding issue is when my female becomes insistant on mounting and starts chasing him. But, there is no fighting and I can tell that Mo really loves her so he doesn’t get mad or try to fight. I’m just wondering how I can help guide them to establish their hierarchy without any issues is all At this point separating them stresses both bunnies out and feels kinda mean ):

 

[zuppa]

Surely you know your situation best and it is hard to get a clear picture of what is happening there from your short comment
What is about their first fight before separation, who started it and were they COMPLETELY separated for 8 weeks after that or they were able to see each other during this time.
Of course if you think you are close to the end of your bonding you are probably right, in this case I would suggest 24/7 bonding session with you as an active supervisor with sleeping next to them and all. Also I like as was said maybe you need to improve your own bonding with each of them.
Have you tried stress bonding?
Also I already asked if you do bonding sessions in a neutral foreign to both territory. Some pics would help us understand better your situation