ForTheLoveOfBun
New Kit
I've got three buns - two alone and one who used to be a part of a bonded pair (her mate died about a month and a half ago). The two who live by themselves (in personal HUGE pens) are Maggie and Toby, brother and sister, raised together, hate each other. The formerly bonded bunny is Bitsy, her mate Radar is the bunny who "crossed the bridge".
I've been attempting to bond Bitsy and Toby together. When Bitsy and Radar were bonded, there wasn't a "dominant" rabbit. They took to each other immediately and there were no fights for dominance, so this whole thing is new to me.
Toby is about three years old, has been neutered for nearly a year. Bitsy has been neutered for two years, she's probably about five and a half, maybe six (she was adopted). He is very... aggressive, way more than he was before neutering. When I set the two of them up in a pen (far away from the room where their pens are) he chased Bitsy all over the pen, sometimes catching her to hump her and sometimes just chasing her.
When he catches her she tolerates it for awhile and then runs away, but it's obvious to me that the interaction stresses her out. She pants heavily and stands on the top of her feet trying to get out (the pen is too tall for her to jump out of but that doesn't mean she wouldn't like to try).
When I'm in the pen with them (in order to stop any fights) she huddles by me for protection.
I so desperately want these two to be bonded, but I'm worried that all the chasing and humping could be stressing Bitsy out. I'd rather have a healthy bunny (ie, no stress heart attacks!) than a bonded pair.
Is it ok for me to let Toby hump and chase her like that? Should I intervene? Is the stress bad for Bitsy?
Any and all help would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks!
:wave:
I've been attempting to bond Bitsy and Toby together. When Bitsy and Radar were bonded, there wasn't a "dominant" rabbit. They took to each other immediately and there were no fights for dominance, so this whole thing is new to me.
Toby is about three years old, has been neutered for nearly a year. Bitsy has been neutered for two years, she's probably about five and a half, maybe six (she was adopted). He is very... aggressive, way more than he was before neutering. When I set the two of them up in a pen (far away from the room where their pens are) he chased Bitsy all over the pen, sometimes catching her to hump her and sometimes just chasing her.
When he catches her she tolerates it for awhile and then runs away, but it's obvious to me that the interaction stresses her out. She pants heavily and stands on the top of her feet trying to get out (the pen is too tall for her to jump out of but that doesn't mean she wouldn't like to try).
When I'm in the pen with them (in order to stop any fights) she huddles by me for protection.
I so desperately want these two to be bonded, but I'm worried that all the chasing and humping could be stressing Bitsy out. I'd rather have a healthy bunny (ie, no stress heart attacks!) than a bonded pair.
Is it ok for me to let Toby hump and chase her like that? Should I intervene? Is the stress bad for Bitsy?
Any and all help would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks!
:wave:
