Bonded rabbits - one has started trying to pin down the other.

Hi,

We have 2 mini lop's, Buddy and Blue - they're just over 3 years old.

They've always been best of friends, we picked them up from a breeder on the same day, although were different litters. Neither has ever been particularly dominant, Buddy perhaps more timid and likely to hide behind Blue if anything.

Anyway back in May we moved house and they have their own room, but prefer to spend the majority of the day in the cage and will only come out on the odd occasion. In June they became big brothers, to a Dalmatian puppy! We've been very careful with the bonding of the puppy and the rabbits, they seem fine together (though we don't leave them alone!). Puppy potentially more scared of the rabbits, than they are of him!

We went on holiday last month and as usual the pair go off to Grampy's house for a fortnight, never had any issues and they're looked after well. Puppy goes off to his trainer.

This time they've come back and on numerous occasions we've found Buddy (the quieter of the 2), jumping onto Blue's back and mounting him/pinning him to the floor. It seemed to initially happen when we were getting their food, but we've since noticed it happen a few times when food wasn't involved. Blue does try to run off but doesnt make any noise to suggest discomfort. Aside from this, their relationship seems fine and they both continue to sit there grooming each other. This has only ever happened once before, when they were a few months old and prior to being neutered, Buddy jumped on Blue's back and Blue squealed out. We did ask Grampy if he noticed Buddy acting like this when we were away and he said he had to pull him off Blue twice.

We've got a camera on them so I'm comfortable it's not happening on a frequent basis (well no more than a few times a day). When I'm around I try and intercept by getting Buddy off Blue, but I'm now starting to be concerned that I'm scaring Buddy when I pull him off; as he run off this morning when he seen me coming.

Am I doing the right thing by intercepting? Do we need to split them up (we really don't want to).

Any other advice?

Thank you,

Hi and welcome to the forum :wave: Whether and when to intervene in situations like this is not that easy to determine.

If they were my rabbits I would not intervene when observing this type of behaviour, but would very closely monitor the situation. Both rabbits are neutered and so in my view this would really only become a problem if Blue started to react in an aggressive way, when clearly a fight could happen.

Most pairs or groups of rabbits will experience occasions when one rabbit decides to hump another. This is moreso the case in Spring, when hormone levels can change slightly even in neutered rabbits. It doesn't usually last for longer than a couple of weeks though.

It is thought that this can be a dominance issue and can be prompted by illness, particularly in the one receiving the advances. If it continues for much longer with your rabbits, it might be worth a vet check, just to exclude any health issues. Otherwise I really would just closely monitor them for any signs of aggression.

Omi said:

Hi and welcome to the forum :wave: Whether and when to intervene in situations like this is not that easy to determine.

If they were my rabbits I would not intervene when observing this type of behaviour, but would very closely monitor the situation. Both rabbits are neutered and so in my view this would really only become a problem if Blue started to react in an aggressive way, when clearly a fight could happen.

Most pairs or groups of rabbits will experience occasions when one rabbit decides to hump another. This is moreso the case in Spring, when hormone levels can change slightly even in neutered rabbits. It doesn't usually last for longer than a couple of weeks though.

It is thought that this can be a dominance issue and can be prompted by illness, particularly in the one receiving the advances. If it continues for much longer with your rabbits, it might be worth a vet check, just to exclude any health issues. Otherwise I really would just closely monitor them for any signs of aggression.

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Welcome to the forum:wave:

I agree with everything Omi has said:thumb:

I also agree with the others.