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Forum BONDING Boy to boy bonding?

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    • LoveThemBunnies
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        I’m wondering how many people have boy/boy bonded pairs as well as how many people tried and the bunnies just didn’t get along.

        Kim


      • tanlover14
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          I have a trio with 2 boys and a girl! My boys were CRAZY easy to bond though! Easier than the girl and boys. The first bonding session they had — they ended up cuddling by the end for an extended period of time.


        • LoveThemBunnies
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            tanlover14, hearing this makes me soooooo happy! Because I’m going to have the same, 2 boys and a girl. I hope I’m as lucky as you and all three get along. But at the very least I really need two of them to get along, lol. Because having 2 cages/pens I can work with, three would be hard.

            Can you give me more details? Like did you have two bonded then added the third? Or did you bond all three together at the same time? Are they all close in age? All altered first, correct?

            Kim


          • LittlePuffyTail
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              I had 2 boys that didn’t live together but were buddies and spent all their out-of-condo time together. It took a lot of time and patience though, as they really didn’t like each other at first.

              The situation really depends more on the personalities of the rabbits, rather than their sex.


            • LoveThemBunnies
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                Thanks LittlePuffyTail, I’m hearing this more and more. Cocoa and Piper are very calm and accepting, but they haven’t met yet. And I don’t know about Caramel, I pick him up at 1pm today.

                Kim


              • Monkeybun
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                  My boys are bonding Have to take a break until Squirrels toe is better though


                • tanlover14
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                    I love it! Trios are so much fun and it can be hysterical to watch them play together. And yes, 3 cages is in fact a nightmare! We actually got our buns when two of them weren’t neutered and spayed and the last boy came neutered. The boys I bonded together (but they didn’t live together — just had very good bonding sessions) and then the neutered boy and unspayed female I put together for bonding sessions. My un-neutered male and unspayed female we let “get to know each other” enough to see how they worked together.

                    Anyways, so basically… this may be long but I’ll give you the WHOLE story since I think it may be easier to understand that way. First we got our boy (unaltered) bun when he was 2 months — then along came a doe from the same litter (also unaltered) when they turned 3 months. We actually put them together in the same crate on the car ride back home since stressing out a bunny is actually one of the best things you can do for buns. When they feel terror together they will come together for comfort and the safety. The girl was completely terrified and took a lot of comfort in our boy bun the whole way home. When we first brought them home — we put him away and let her hang out around and just run around to get to know the play area and her cage and such. Then the next day we let them out together for about 15 minutes and kept a VERY close eye on them. (Dangerous, I know. But being amateur bunny owners we didn’t think much of it — some people think at such a young age it’s okay and some people don’t — our breeder we got them from told us they would fine together.) I’m guessing your buns might not be that young though? I would personally give them all stuffed animals or blankets/towels in their cages so their scent gets all over and then every day switch the blanket into another cage. Doesn’t SEEM like it would do much but it makes you see each buns personality to the scent of the “intruder” and really, if it bothers them it gives them a chance to take that aggression out on the stuffed animal or towel rather than the other bunny. The reason that can be very helpful is because sometimes the buns just get that first impression type of aggressive urge but then after that will be fine.

                    Anyway, when they all became 4 months — we got ANOTHER male from the litter and this boy bun was already altered but had only been altered for 4 days so I imagine his hormones were actually still there. The best way to go about the bonding process is to start slowly with maybe 5 minutes one day and every day up the number of minutes by another 5. If the buns, like mine, get closer quicker than expected than you can up the time more quickly. Each day I would spend the bonding time with each pair. Boy/boy, boy/girl, boy/girl. Each bond needs to be strong before you can put all 3 together. A very helpful tip that I learned quickly was to DEFINITELY put them in a neutral area. An area that none of the buns have been. If you don’t have access to a car ride on the way home — you can try tricks such as putting the first bonding session in the bathtub! It really freaks the buns out which can seem bad but the absolute BEST way to bond bunnies is putting them through stressful situations together. You could see what happens when you do that and how they get along. If they come together as a team or fight back at each other. And you can plan accordingly for the next session.

                    One of the most important things about bonding is to ALWAYS end on a good note. ALWAYS. Even if you have to force the bunnies to be happy by letting them sit on each side of you and get treats but make sure they ALWAYS do. Bad interactions with each other can stay in their minds forever and make it impossible to ever successfully bond them together.

                    After they all started bonding together in each pairs (which funnily enough my girl was harder to bond with the boys than the boys to each other) but then I just threw all 3 of them in together to see what they’d do! They had a few minor dominance battles (which I didn’t interfere in because they NEED to sort these hierarchy battles out before they can live peacefully together). After a few days of doing this they did really well together so we let them spend the night in their new condo (aka. neutral territory which personally I think helped a little also). They did REALLY well and we spent the night out in the living room just to ensure there was no fighting.

                    If you have any questions or concerns (I think I covered a lot but may have missed something) just let me know and I’d be happy to tell you what I know/have experienced!


                  • LoveThemBunnies
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                      What happened to Squirrels toe Monkeybun?

                      Tanlover14 ~ Thank you so much for taking the time to type that up, I really appreciate all the information. So all three are littermates brought home 1 month apart each?

                      Caramel is 2 months old, Cocoa is 4 months old, and Piper is 1.5 yrs old. None are altered yet and none have met yet.

                      Question… Can I have all 3 in the living room right next to each other? I could make it so they can’t see each other. And even if I have them in separate rooms they will still be able to hear/smell each other I’m sure.

                      Kim


                    • LoveThemBunnies
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                        Oops… it posted twice.

                        Kim


                      • Monkeybun
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                          He tore his nail out when he got scared by the maintenance guys So holding off more bondign until its better.


                        • LoveThemBunnies
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                            Poor Squirrel. I hope he gets better real fast.

                            Kim


                          • LBJ10
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                              My boys love each other. Always grooming and giving each other cowlicks. They didn’t take long to bond. The first few days was nothing but humping (Leopold on Wooly). Once he was all humped out though, they acted as if they had been best buddies for years.


                            • tanlover14
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                                No problem! I’m glad I could help and any other questions are always welcome!! I did a ton of research before bonding because I didn’t want something to happen that was my fault and have them never able to bond successfully… so I know the feeling! And yeah, they were all 3 brought home one month apart from each other. We didn’t actually bond them until we had all 3.

                                So adorable! Two babies! Expect to have your hands full with those two! My little babies are ALLLLL terrors! And do the craziest and funniest things. Hahahah. It’s so much fun to watch their personalities come out more as they grow also.

                                It’s fine to keep them all in the same room! I think it may even help if when they come to the “neutral territory” and it already has all the scents there it may be easier to bond them because it’ll be a constant — not like bringing another bun into an area that they have already marked as their own. I don’t think there’s any reason to keep them separated in different rooms at all.

                                I would DEFINITELY do the stuffed animal/blanket trip as soon as you bring them home though! Then they’ll get used to each others scent quickly and as they begin to get use to the new home it may help them feel a little comforted which will make bonding much easier.


                              • LoveThemBunnies
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                                  I started a thread in the Habitats & Toys room about the pens I just “built” for each and I’m about to post how the first night went.

                                  Each bun has a carrier in their pen as a “hideout/bedroom”. I put a pillowcase (from the thrift store) in each carrier. So every morning I’ll rotate the pillowcases over one pen.

                                  Kim


                                • tanlover14
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                                    Great !!! Sounds like you’re going to be off to a great start ! Definitely keep me updated (and everyone else) on how the bonding goes and any questions or situations that may arise during.

                                    I don’t think I mentioned it before but when I used the “neutral area” for bonding – I put a small barrier between myself and them… when I was in with them they were way to interested in me (surprisingly) to be interested in each other and both just climbed on both sides of me wanting attention. I had to remove myself before they became interested in each other. Keep a spray bottle on hand and if something happens, spray the bad one! Humping and chasing each other are perfectly fine — I freaked out with nervousness when they did this to each other — but it HAS to happen for them before they can successfully and fully bond. So unless it starts to get nasty — DON’T interfere! They will usually work it out themselves and interference in the process makes the whole process have to start over again! My nerves were a WRECK watching their dominance battles but they worked out and besides a few humping sessions now and then there is no more of it and all are content!


                                  • LoveThemBunnies
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                                      Well the actual bonding won’t be happening any time real soon. I will get Piper and Cocoa altered as soon as I can then will be able to start the bonding process with them. Maybe by the time Caramel is old enough to neuter the other two will be well on their way to being bonded. Then I can start Caramel bonding with the others individually like you said.

                                      Kim


                                    • Elrohwen
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                                        It really depends on the boys, I think. Females together tend to be hardest, because females are more territorial and bossy in general. Some people report problems with boys, but my boy was one who could get along with anyone – he’s easy going and extremely non-confrontational, so I would’ve had no problem getting another boy. My girl is quite bossy to him, so I can’t imagine another boy being worse. Haha


                                      • LoveThemBunnies
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                                          All three seem to be pretty mellow, but they have not met “face to face” so to speak. They’re in pens right next to each other with the baby in the middle (figured I didn’t want a sexually mature male and female right next to each other). They can very easily hear/see/smell each other but not touch. So far no problems. I should be getting Piper and Cocoa altered in about 2 weeks. )

                                          Kim


                                        • LittlePuffyTail
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                                            Good luck!

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                                        Forum BONDING Boy to boy bonding?