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Really need help re mounting

L

leeanderin

Mama Doe
I posted a while back but never got much help, my two Rubens (female) and Dilbert (male) are both neutered and since Novemberish time Rubens has taken to mounting Dilbert and pulling out chunks of fur, it is particularly bad in the morning and evening around feeding time and no matter how much Dilbert trys to escape she always manages to pin him down. Is there anything i can do to try and stop it as Dilbert is obviously getting a bit distressed by it all. Also, any suggestion as to why she might be doing it?
 
One of my girls, Primrose, does this - it's food related and she only does it to one of her sisters, not the other 2 for some strange reason. She sees me - thinks 'food!' then leaps on Zinneia - just incase she gets the food first :roll:

Quite often there is no food - I do walk around without it sometimes! If I get near to Zinneia at all, if I bend down to pick up something, etc. and there is no food, Primrose leaps on Zinneia - to the point where Zinn is now afraid to come near me and kind of looks over her shoulder to see if Primrose is watching :?

I HAVE managed to discipline Primrose a BIT - and I'm sure she only does it when I'm around, so I'm not worried about their relationship otherwise - it's just a jealousy/food thing for greedy madam Primrose!

I don't let her get away with it - I always wear wellington boots, and I literally put the boot in. If she's onto Zinneia I get my boot in between them, or grab her and pull her off - I don't let it happen without taking some action to discipline Primrose. She knows it's wrong and that I'm the boss of her - she'll see me now and kind of think a bit instead of really diving on Zinn. Yesterday I pulled her off and scolded her - they know when your voice sounds cross! She flounced out of the shed and I followed her and clapped my hands at her - she looked guilty so she knew it was unacceptable behaviour. She is getting a bit better I think.

But mainly I just try to put food down quickly, rather than faff about. Food is spread on the floor not in dishes. Water is warmed from the kettle and in a big dog bowl, so they all dive on that after eating - they love it - and whilst they're eating pellets I put lots of fresh hay in too, spread around in 3 litter trays, a box and on the floor too, just so there's plenty of tasty stuff to eat with no competition. I try to get out of the shed before the pellets or veg are all eaten, because if I'm not there, she's fine - whereas if I'm faffing about sweeping the floor, she assumes I've given Zinneia some extra pellets of course!
 
elve_mk2 said:
One of my girls, Primrose, does this - it's food related and she only does it to one of her sisters, not the other 2 for some strange reason. She sees me - thinks 'food!' then leaps on Zinneia - just incase she gets the food first :roll:

Quite often there is no food - I do walk around without it sometimes! If I get near to Zinneia at all, if I bend down to pick up something, etc. and there is no food, Primrose leaps on Zinneia - to the point where Zinn is now afraid to come near me and kind of looks over her shoulder to see if Primrose is watching :?

I HAVE managed to discipline Primrose a BIT - and I'm sure she only does it when I'm around, so I'm not worried about their relationship otherwise - it's just a jealousy/food thing for greedy madam Primrose!

I don't let her get away with it - I always wear wellington boots, and I literally put the boot in. If she's onto Zinneia I get my boot in between them, or grab her and pull her off - I don't let it happen without taking some action to discipline Primrose. She knows it's wrong and that I'm the boss of her - she'll see me now and kind of think a bit instead of really diving on Zinn. Yesterday I pulled her off and scolded her - they know when your voice sounds cross! She flounced out of the shed and I followed her and clapped my hands at her - she looked guilty so she knew it was unacceptable behaviour. She is getting a bit better I think.

But mainly I just try to put food down quickly, rather than faff about. Food is spread on the floor not in dishes. Water is warmed from the kettle and in a big dog bowl, so they all dive on that after eating - they love it - and whilst they're eating pellets I put lots of fresh hay in too, spread around in 3 litter trays, a box and on the floor too, just so there's plenty of tasty stuff to eat with no competition. I try to get out of the shed before the pellets or veg are all eaten, because if I'm not there, she's fine - whereas if I'm faffing about sweeping the floor, she assumes I've given Zinneia some extra pellets of course!
Click to expand...


Thanks Elve, it's getting to the point as soon as we get out of bed in the morning she starts and continues until we go downstairs and feed them :roll: i've tried pulling Rubens off him but she just hops back on again, i'm off for three days this weekend so i'll have the time to spend trying to discipline her :roll:
 
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Can you feed them separately, so as soon as you go down to feed them pick one up and lock in the cage, then give each their food (while one is still in the cage) and don't let the one in the cage out until they have both had time to eat? I tried this with Gus as he used to chase Poppy at food time, eventually he stopped associating food with chasing Poppy and stopped
 
louise and Gus said:
Can you feed them separately, so as soon as you go down to feed them pick one up and lock in the cage, then give each their food (while one is still in the cage) and don't let the one in the cage out until they have both had time to eat? I tried this with Gus as he used to chase Poppy at food time, eventually he stopped associating food with chasing Poppy and stopped
Click to expand...

Could give it a go but as i say she starts as soon as she heres us up, it's not just when we go down to feed them. I'll give it a go, thanks for the suggestion :)
 
louise and Gus said:
Can you feed them separately, so as soon as you go down to feed them pick one up and lock in the cage, then give each their food (while one is still in the cage) and don't let the one in the cage out until they have both had time to eat? I tried this with Gus as he used to chase Poppy at food time, eventually he stopped associating food with chasing Poppy and stopped
Click to expand...

yes I think with rabbits they are very much creatures of fixed habits - you just need to break the habit somehow - maybe even have them in your bedroom for a weekend to break the habit she's got?
 
leeanderin said:
Could give it a go but as i say she starts as soon as she heres us up, it's not just when we go down to feed them. I'll give it a go, thanks for the suggestion :)
Click to expand...

How about shutting her in the cage as soon as you hear her kicking off, and leaving her there until after feeding time?
 
elve_mk2 said:
yes I think with rabbits they are very much creatures of fixed habits - you just need to break the habit somehow - maybe even have them in your bedroom for a weekend to break the habit she's got?
Click to expand...

We moved them to the dining room last weekend as we had visitors and needed the space in the living room, didn't make a blind bit of difference.
 
It sounds like a firmly established pattern of behaviour that will be hard to break. You could try spraying the naughty one with water, though it's hard unless you are standing over them for hours at a time.
 
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