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Mounting while bonding...

charlie82

Mama Doe
Is it normal for the male to be mounting excessively during bonding....

I've been trying to bond two rabbits for a week now. They got on well from the start, with the exception of the male mounting quite a lot, fortunately the doe put up with it. After three days they were happy together and seemed to be friends.

Unfortunately the buck was really poorly after mounting so much :oops: and I really thought I was going to lose him. He's back to normal now thankfully after a few sleepless nights, and yesterday I let the doe back in the same room as him. He went to start mounting straight away, and he's really aggressive about it. Obviously I split them up straight away as she was starting to fight back and I don't want him to injure himself again.

I'm at a loss as to what to do now. It's such a shame because they were getting on so well. I have them in cages side by side now and he's not bothered by her, nor is she about him. Any tips.....


ETA...I've had many rabbits go through the mounting phase while bonding, but none that have been as excessive as this.... it's almost like he's behaving as a un-neutered rabbit!
 
It is quite normal for a lot of mounting to occur. I had it when bonding a neutered boy to a neutered girl. Luckily for me she just put up with it and it stopped once I put them outside in the hutch.

I'd give her a week or so alone for her to forget about it all and then try again.
 
It is quite normal for a lot of mounting to occur. I had it when bonding a neutered boy to a neutered girl. Luckily for me she just put up with it and it stopped once I put them outside in the hutch.

I'd give her a week or so alone for her to forget about it all and then try again.


yeah, the only problem is that I can't allow him to mount much because he caused himself an injury :oops:

It's been an expensive week at the vets trying to treat him because he was so poorly, I don't want to go through that again, It took three days before he would start to even nibble on food again. I would love for them to bond because it means my foster bun has a lovely home to go to and Chip will have a friend. He just needs to calm down a bit!

Maybe if I leave their cages side by side for a few days and then try them in the garden it might help.
 
Yep very normal. Harvey would mount Tika no end for 48 hours. The thing is you can't keep seperating if they are getting on just leave them to it. By taking them away from one another you break the link and they will start again when re-introduced.

If your female is allowing herself to be mounted then I would just let them get on with it. I triust your buck is neutered and female spayed?

Good luck with them and hope your boy is feeling better now. :)
 
Yep very normal. Harvey would mount Tika no end for 48 hours. The thing is you can't keep seperating if they are getting on just leave them to it. By taking them away from one another you break the link and they will start again when re-introduced.

If your female is allowing herself to be mounted then I would just let them get on with it. I triust your buck is neutered and female spayed?

Good luck with them and hope your boy is feeling better now. :)

Thanks

Yeah, that's the problem.... he wants to mount excessively but I can't risk it! :(

She initially allowed him to do it, then yesterday she wasn't putting up with it and fur started to fly...chip got quite aggressive when I tried to take her away!
 
Ah bless her she is probably fed up of it. I know what you mean, when I bonded mine Harvey was really going for it but it did calm down. Maybe bond much slower then an hour a day increasing more until they get used to one another.

I think I just touched lucky with my two.
 
yeah, I think short sessions might have to be the way to go!! I'm sure they would be firm friends if he would only stop. They would have been fine together had I not had to split them up while he was so poorly.

He was neutered almost a year ago :shock:
 
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