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Attempted Re-Bond! (Do I let them hump)

Sarah1991

Warren Veteran
Just to start, the boys were only neutered on Monday! I decided tonight that I would see how they
behaved together in the new enclosure, giving them a little exercise and to gauge how they will react to
one another.

It started off fine, both bunnies explored the new enclosure and basically ignored one another. They would
come nose to nose now and then, have a sniff, then go on with what they were doing.

After about 10 minutes Milo started doing a little bit of chasing and then tried humping Finn a LOT, he
tried again and again to hump him and at first I stopped him, I was armed with a blanket to separate
if anything happened. Milo eventually managed to hump Finn and I thought I would see how Finn took it.
Finn just flattened himself in the litter tray and didn't do anything, after humping him Milo wandered off
but was soon back trying again. This time he humped his face but I was so afraid of a fight I separated them
again.

Now Milo is back in his medical cage and Finn is having some exercise in the new enclosure. I'm not exactly sure if
what I did was right or how to proceed? I know their hormones won't have disappeared yet, but there isn't any fighting or
biting so far? Should I be doing this again and again or should I be waiting until the 5 or 6 weeks it takes for hormones to
apparently fade?

Anyone help please?
 
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I would wait at least until they are healed up and the hormones have started to dissipate, better to be patient IMO than to risk them having a fight and not being able to rebond. I think I would wait at least 3 weeks but possibly the 5-6 ŵeeks. You will need to neutralise the space you tried them in to avoid them thinking it's their speedo all territory.
 
I would wait at least until they are healed up and the hormones have started to dissipate, better to be patient IMO than to risk them having a fight and not being able to rebond. I think I would wait at least 3 weeks but possibly the 5-6 ŵeeks. You will need to neutralise the space you tried them in to avoid them thinking it's their speedo all territory.

I just wanted to see how they would react really. There wasn't any immediate attempts to hurt one another which was what I was most
concerned about.

When I do eventually start to rebond them properly, maybe in three weeks or something I might start to do this? Do you think I should allow mounting or stop it?
 
Do not put them together this early, it wont be indicative of how they will behave once their hormones are calmed down and you risk further injury, especially if they are humping as a display of dominance.

I would wait 6-8 weeks before even trying.

You will HAVE to allow some humping, its totally natural display of sorting out the hierarchy - they will never settle if you dont allow them to get on with it to a degree - just try and discourage head humping.
 
I just read my original post and didn't notice good old auto correct had put "speedo all" instead of personal :lol: I may have mis spelt due to my stupid dizziness at the moment :evil: :oops::lol: I allowed humping (but not head humping as can get bitten in sensitive places :shock:) as humping, chasing and fur pulling can and do happen in bonding, but be careful it doesn't escalate into circling and then fighting. I found distracting them with food stopped them humping/chasing when I did my bond if it became excessive. I just kept adding to the pile of hay, forage etc (my rosemary bush was very overgrown and got mega pruned that weekend :lol:) incidentally, after the event I have since read that rosemary is calming for rabbits :thumb:
 
Thanks all.

At the minute I was just putting them together for maybe half an hour with plenty of distractions to keep them from doing any humping (food, toys etc).

There has been no attempts to hurt one another at all. It is simply Milo trying to hump Finn that was the problem. He tried to hump his head once which I stopped right away, I know not to allow that.

I will wait another couple of weeks and attempt to bond again, they seemed so happy to be with one another, Milo groomed Finn for ages! It breaks my heart to see them wanting to be with one another so much.

I'll give it another couple of weeks as I said, I'm just wondering what do I do if in 6 weeks time Milo is still trying to hump? I don't want any fighting obviously but if its necessary I'll allow it a little.

Should I just allow Milo to do it for say a few seconds and then push him off? I think the rebond will be fairly easy as long as Milo calms down a bit! :roll:
 
I'm sure the bonding will be easier if you can wait the 6-8 weeks that it takes for the hormones to dissipate. I know you are keen to get them back together but the longer you wait the more chance you will have of it being successful. Milo will I'm sure be a lot less humpy. I'd try distracting them with food as I said, if there's prolonged humping you may have to intervene,
 
I'm sure the bonding will be easier if you can wait the 6-8 weeks that it takes for the hormones to dissipate. I know you are keen to get them back together but the longer you wait the more chance you will have of it being successful. Milo will I'm sure be a lot less humpy. I'd try distracting them with food as I said, if there's prolonged humping you may have to intervene,

Good advice.
 
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