There was a lot of furr flying. It was actually a real fight. Right before we could seperate them, Tiger was on his side and kicking. Cotton also. I checked them afterward, and there are no injuries. It was only a few seconds, but we had to physically part them. I took Cotton while my mother took Tiger and they were still trying to go at each other.

As soon as we had them calmed down, Tiger jumped over her and then Cotton seemed to try to ride him. At that point he started circling but we broke it up. Well, at least the were peaceful for a few hours.

Thanks for all the help!

Good morning,

we  tried the pen this time in the frontroom same set up, with blankets. i planned to leave them all day until my daughter comes home. then we move the pen to her room.

The  the first 30 min or so session did not go as good this morning. There was alot of aggressions.

Then they mostly lay next to each, eating together, and grooming each other.   I watched them and it appears things are Ok unless cotton tries to ride Tiger, He would mostly try to get away, but if she was insistant he would go back after her, but now after  almost 2 hrs in the pen. They just push each other for kisses, and grooming. and breif episodes of chasing, and circling, I stop the circling, again He mostly tries to get away.  he hides in the litter box because she continually tries to ride his head, I try to stop that, I am afraid he will bite her parts.

It is a complete turn around from the other days she is being the aggressive one, only by trying to ride him. He seems to have mellowed some. Like i said mostly tries to get away from her advances. And he no longer nips. They look like they are getting along .but i still don't trust them to leave the side of the pen.

I wonder how it will go after we have them finally in the same cage. if they will be able to have playtime together, out of the cage, or pen  they had normally have run of the whole house. I am still not sure when to try and introduce them back their condo.

till next time,

Monkey, you won't get any farther with them than where you are unless you cement their bond by housing together. Once bonding rabbits share a defined living space they become family. If they don't turn on each other any longer, and it sounds like they are just thriving together, it is time for the 24 hr session. If it goes well, move them in together.

YES!!!! We have a breakthrough!!!!!!

Tiger and Cotton spent the night in the pen in their room. They were not soo happy about being confined to the pen, as they knew where they were. We had to weigh down the pen with bricks, to keep them from trying to get out. After moving them into the room, they still behaved as before in the front room, no change.

The night went very well, without any problems. Early this morning, as Cotton was gettting restless in the pen, she started riding him again. Tiger just kept running from her and they were quickly running in circles, but no fighting or aggression. I got up and made them stop as quick as possible.

As soon as it was light outside, it was very hard to keep them in the pen. So we decided to try something risky and put them in their condo. We cleand it with vinegar und put in new bedding. Then we fastened a new board, so they would have more room to lay down in. We made this condo ourselves, while they were still small. That was not that good of an idea, because they got a lot bigger than we expected them to. Especially him. He is the first male we have had and he is huge! He can no longer lay outstretched on the top or middle platform. He can lay down, but not to his full length. Who would have thought, he could get so long. He is about 22 inches (55cm), when he lays all stretched out. Is that normal for a dwarf rabbit?

The condo is 120 x 80 x 40 cm and the two platforms are 40 x 40 cm. On top they have another small extension of 40 cm x 20 cm (with a hole to get up the steps). It's a bit small, but they have time to run around the whole house daily.

My mother had Cotton and I had Tiger when we put them in the condo. We expected a fight or some sort of scuffle, but nothing happened. They started smelling the new platform (board) and then went to their normal snuggle corner. There have been no incidents, no fighting, no pushing, no nothing, except snuggling and grooming.

Their bond seems to be reestablished. We hope that the day goes as it has started. Now are next challenge will be the first run of the house together. We hope this goes okay too but are optimisitic.

The whole bonding process took us about 5 weeks, which seemed a lot longer.

But we finally have two happy bunnies again. Tiger (orange) was always the type to get a little depressed, when he was alone while I am gone for the weekend even though my mother was always there to take care of them.

Thanks for the help and have a happy bunny day!

*happy bunny parents*

PS: I couldn't upload the video.

I have a very strange bonding story, which I would like to share.

We got Tiger and Cotton from a breeder. The woman had two female bunnies (Tiger and Cottons Mommy and one other) in one pen (they were not sisters). Both bunnies had a litter of babies at the same time, in the same nest and would share the nursing of all babies. Tiger was very smart and decided to drink milk from both mommies, so he had always been the biggest of his litter. We thought this was so amazing, that two unaltered females, even with babies, got along so well. At no point did the breeder have to seperate the mothers. This shows us, that in some very rare occasions even females can bind a friendship.

Hello again.
It is now 8:00 in the evening here. and Cotton and tiger have been together in their condo for over 12 hrs. No problems
only Cotton riding tiger (once in awhile) I guess just reminding him she is boss. And he runs away when he has has enough, They even had free run of their room, all went well, They played together, in their cardboard castle.
Only after being put back in the condo something strange, happened and I don't know if that is a good or a bad sign and if they should still be watched over night. He started riding her, she let him, then after a few seconds I broke it up. Other then that they still groom and lie beside each other, eat together etc. Does that mean that the dominant rabbit has not been 100 percent established??? And do I need to be concerned?  I hope we haven't jumped for joy too soon!!

Thank you again. for everything.

A set of very humpy bunnies you have! Well, if the humping results in either bun taking off, it's fine. They will sort it out. Some people believe strongly that even altered rabbits mount each other more in the spring time. Observe them but don't separate unless there is real aggression; remember, though, that even a fur tuft getting ripped out during mounting is still acceptable.