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Bonding help! Excessive humping/fur pulling etc

Hi everyone, I hope some of you can advise me! :roll:

I have a 1yo neutered male (who I have owned for around 7 months) and a 1y2m un-neutered female (who I rehomed recently).

Currently they live next door to each other. I swap belongings around daily and they get on perfectly through their pen's divider (laid next to each other, sniffing without nipping etc)...It's just when they meet when we have a little trouble!

My male currently is excessively humping the female and nipping fur out from her back every time I let them meet in the neutral areas. I know this is a dominance thing but he seems to be doing it ALL the time and the poor female is accepting it but she does seem to get frustrated at times and does nip him to tell him off! Hes now started to sniff near her face when they meet and sometimes nip that too. I rescued him around 7 months ago and he has never seen another rabbit before until I rehomed my female recently... I don't know whether he is overwhelmed by another rabbit being in close proximity to him and he just doesn't know how to act? (I have taken them on a car ride and they were snuggled next to each other, I have also had them next to each other our laps stroking them and they were fine!)

I really would appreciate some advice and some help on how I can get them to bond. I understand its easier to bond two neutered rabbits but currently I am not in a place where shes able to be spayed yet. I know quite a lot of success stories where neutered males have bonded with un-neutered females and its gone well from there on so I would love to know how I get there too!

Thanks in advance :thumb:
 
Have you looked at MischiefandTinkersMum's bonding videos? She has done several and recently has added a new video where she bonded her group of five together. It will give you an idea of what is acceptable and what is not.
Richard

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I watched that last night. She has some good tips and perseverance but they weren't excessive humping/fur pulling like my boy is!:roll:
 
Are you bonding in a big space where she can run away from him. They soon get fed up with chasing etc then. It is natural for the boy to harass the girl for a few days anyway so as long as she is not getting too upset I would persevere, maybe separate them for a night to give her a rest. It won't be anything to do with your male not being around another rabbit as it wasn't long ago he was with his Mum and siblings.
 
No I am bonding them in a small area in our bathroom or kitchen. She doesn't seem to be getting upset, gives the odd nip now and then to tell him off but he is doing it ALL the time! They live next to each other and are both perfectly fine with it, they're both so relaxed next to each other but its as soon as they meet that he goes into overdrive! :(
 
He needs to make sure she knows he is the dominant one. How long have they been together. It is best not to introduce any changes when bonding, keep them in the same space. Try to distract them with food, lots of hay. And once together try not to separate them
 
How long ago was he neutered? I would suggest separating them until you can spay her, and wait until 6 weeks after her op for her hormones to subside.
 
They have been living side by side to each other for around 5 days now. I will get her spayed as soon as I can, however due to the current situation and I am also moving soon, its not possible for the next month or two. He has been neutered for around 3 months now.
 
If you scroll down the bonding section a bit you will find a topic started by Craig titled Lillian and Leo. Craig was worried by the amount of mounting and humping going on, but he now successfully bonded his buns

Richard
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If you scroll down the bonding section a bit you will find a topic started by Craig titled Lillian and Leo. Craig was worried by the amount of mounting and humping going on, but he now successfully bonded his buns

Richard
Sent from my Moto E (4) Plus using Tapatalk

Yes, I was thinking about Lillian and Leo.
 
I have just read through that thread and it does seem like a similar situation. My male however keeps nipping the females face and circling her when hes doing his 'mounting'. Is this normal? She does flop out next to him and just accepts what he's doing but does get a bit annoyed with the nipping!!
 
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