I'm not really sure what to do. I'll give you a brief of the two rabbits.
Dinah is a 3 year old Rex Otter, when she was 1 we adopted her from a family who kept her in bad conditions, with her parents. She was soon seperated because they were bullying her, and put on her own. She is insecure, but gets used to her surroundings quickly and once she's comfortable somewhere she becomes a very different rabbit. She is friendly and ready and willing to bond with any new rabbit she meets on her regular escapades. She was spayed 3 months ago.
Minstrel is a 5 year old grey dutch. For 3 years old his life he was kept on his own in a hutch, rarely cleaned out and hardly ever held, because his owner's children had gotten bored of him very quickly. He was very under socialised when he came to us, and even now is shy and not openly comfortable with humans. He was neutered 3 months ago.
The pair escaped together about 6 months ago, and showed open affection to each other, licking, nuzzling and cuddling. After about 3 minutes of affection he mated with her, and at this point I seperated them (I had been curious to see how they were getting on, I did not want the mating but I guess I should've expected it.)
They are in close hutches, and have been learning each other's scents this way for about 4 months now.
I put them in completely neutral places, stroke them calmly and then let them see each other. Minstrel, no hesitation, launches himself on her with aggressive humping, while biting her back and fur. I seperate them immediately, although Dinah doesn't seem phased, Minstrel is breathing heavily. Sometimes he's biting her back so hard that when I lift him up, the skin on her back is still in his teeth and is pulled up as well and I often struggle to get him to release it. A few days later I will do the same thing, with the same result. I have tried them together 4 times now. Sometimes he waits a while, sniffing, before humping. Other times he doesn't immediately - sometimes to the head, sometimes to the back.
It seems like they shouldn't be together, but they were love-at-first-sight 6 months ago, and I don't want to keep Minstrel on his own forever (this is our only spair female). He's never usually this aggressive, he's always very docile.
Ideas please? Any hope for these two?
I have a young, sweet natured, more sociable dutch male who could go with Dinah, but he's only 1 year old. Is this too much of an age gap, or because Rexes have longer lifespans, will it be ok to have them together?
Dinah is a 3 year old Rex Otter, when she was 1 we adopted her from a family who kept her in bad conditions, with her parents. She was soon seperated because they were bullying her, and put on her own. She is insecure, but gets used to her surroundings quickly and once she's comfortable somewhere she becomes a very different rabbit. She is friendly and ready and willing to bond with any new rabbit she meets on her regular escapades. She was spayed 3 months ago.
Minstrel is a 5 year old grey dutch. For 3 years old his life he was kept on his own in a hutch, rarely cleaned out and hardly ever held, because his owner's children had gotten bored of him very quickly. He was very under socialised when he came to us, and even now is shy and not openly comfortable with humans. He was neutered 3 months ago.
The pair escaped together about 6 months ago, and showed open affection to each other, licking, nuzzling and cuddling. After about 3 minutes of affection he mated with her, and at this point I seperated them (I had been curious to see how they were getting on, I did not want the mating but I guess I should've expected it.)
They are in close hutches, and have been learning each other's scents this way for about 4 months now.
I put them in completely neutral places, stroke them calmly and then let them see each other. Minstrel, no hesitation, launches himself on her with aggressive humping, while biting her back and fur. I seperate them immediately, although Dinah doesn't seem phased, Minstrel is breathing heavily. Sometimes he's biting her back so hard that when I lift him up, the skin on her back is still in his teeth and is pulled up as well and I often struggle to get him to release it. A few days later I will do the same thing, with the same result. I have tried them together 4 times now. Sometimes he waits a while, sniffing, before humping. Other times he doesn't immediately - sometimes to the head, sometimes to the back.
It seems like they shouldn't be together, but they were love-at-first-sight 6 months ago, and I don't want to keep Minstrel on his own forever (this is our only spair female). He's never usually this aggressive, he's always very docile.
Ideas please? Any hope for these two?
I have a young, sweet natured, more sociable dutch male who could go with Dinah, but he's only 1 year old. Is this too much of an age gap, or because Rexes have longer lifespans, will it be ok to have them together?
