Bonding 2 Rescued Males

[Katscarpena]

Greetings!

 I am new to these forums and although not new to rabbit ownership – neither myself or my husband have owned a rabbit since we were children (preteens/teens.)

 In December – my sister and I found a small black bunny loose in her neighborhood. None of the neighbors seemed to know anything – and it was likely set free in the park nearby (common place unfortunately).   Well – he was such a sweet little thing we decided to keep him. We named him Black Licorice.

 Stats:

Age: unknown

Gender: M – neutered

Breed: Jersey Wooly

Color: Black

Size: 2.6 lbs.

Then this week – my husband brought home another rescue from the SPCA – Chipper. He is a very sweet guy, but also very terrified overall. When he was initially brought in, he had a wound and came from a hutch outdoors in this cold in poor condition. Then a family brought him home, only to bring him back within 30 days.

 Stats:

Age: unknown

Gender: M – neutered

Breed: Mini Rex Lionhead mix

Color: Calico

Size: 3.75 lbs.

We would love to have them at least tolerate each other. Currently Licorice seems just curious, sniffing and obsessively trying to sniff/lick Chipper. Licorice is mostly free range – we screened off Chipper in the Kitchen for now because Licorice was too curious and it was intimidating to Chipper – Chipper was trying to nip/bite through the cage. We did a “meet n greet” through the screen. It went ok. Chipper still tried to nip a bit through the screen – and did NOT want off my son’s lap. When my son had to go use the restroom -he hopped right up over to me wanting to be picked up.  Licorice licked the screen obsessively. He’s a little intense – I think in a “be my friend” kind of way though. Hard to say really.

Chipper is my primary concern. Licorice is a riot. He is a great animal – and very friendly and loving. He loves being out – loves us (his people) and is really playful. Chipper is the picture of scared. He does not want to come out of his cage – he hides all the time. He’s only been here this week, but I think it’s hard to know what to do because Licorice adapted very quickly. By end of week one he was letting us brush him/ sheer out all his felted mats.

Help!

I’d love the boys to be friends. I worry about poor Chipper. He just seems extremely overwhelmed.

Questions: can we keep them in separate cages and still have them be friends?

The droppings – the scattering. Oh my! Licorice never has done more then a few (3-4 at most) and well – his little turds are tiny. Chipper drops more like 10-15 in each spot he sets in sometimes! Does this ease up? Both are great about the litter…well Licorice always is – Chipper is in the Kitchen, but not else where. Maybe because he smells Licorice?

 And here they are yesterday. They did a LOT of sniffing through the screen – Chipper still was trying to gives some nips/bites. My older son whistled  – and they both kind of stood at attention in stead of getting at each other. =)

[LBJ10]

Nipping is not necessarily a bad sign. Have you tried putting them together in a neutral area yet? You could put them in the bathtub together, for example. You never know, their interaction may be completely different if they are in a foreign place. If you need something a with little more umph to it, you can try stressing them by putting them in a carrier together and taking them for a car ride. Others have put their bunnies in a box or laundry basket and dragged them around/shook them.

Licorice probably has his scent all over the house, so the pooping by Chipper is not unusual. A lot of people experience poop wars during the bonding process.

Regarding Chipper’s shyness. I think you might find that having a friend will bring him out of his shell a little.

[MK]

This may be helpful. they’re both cute!

http://rabbit.org/bonding-what-to-expect-what-to-do/

[MK]

LBJ10’s suggestions are great, although some people find the bathtub a little small. The meeting may be more natural if it is in a bit larger larger space.

[Katscarpena]

All I can say about today is poor Chipper!!! This morning we tried out first face to face since they seemed just very curious though the screen. Licorice seemed ok, but then chased and humped him. Chipper made little squeaks and high tailed it for me. Licorice clearly wants to be the bossy bunny here. We tried the bath tub now – about 6 hours later. Chipper literally jumped right out!

I think maybe Chipper needs more time to settle in. When Licorice is not around – he will not come out of his cage on his own (we leave the door open – they are in separate rooms.) But if you take him out – aside from an initial grunt or two – he snuggles right up, or hops around a little. He seems to particularly like my boys. Maybe smaller humans = less threatening? (Also – the boys know they are not allowed to pick up either bunny. Period. We had the same rule previous with the cat before he passed.) I mean – his bunny body language is a complete give away. (See below with my 10 yr old – very relaxed. Fell completely asleep a minute later.)

[LBJ10]

Chasing and humping is completely normal. Unfortunately, it’s one of those necessary “evils” in bonding. They must be allowed to work out who’s who in the budding relationship. Give Chipper a little break and then try introducing them again.

[Katscarpena]

I truly appreciate the insights. Chipper is really very much a couch/snuggle bunny right now. I’m very surprised. Also, I think my husband adds to his nervousness. =( He is real sweetie – love hunkering right in with me or the boys. But my husband’s deep voice seems unsettling. (Which makes him sad because he’s an animal lover to the max!)

[Beka27]

Chipper sounds (and looks) like such a sweet boy!

As far as your husband, maybe have him feed him when he’s available and talk to Chipper in a soft voice. If he can get Chipper to start associating him with good things (FOOD!) than some of that fear should start going away.

[Katscarpena]

Also – a good deal of what I read states the boys cages should be next to each other. Right now Licorice is in my office space because he likes to treat my dining room as an obstacle course – he tears through it then binkys all over the living room. Then flops on the couch to snooze or in a sunny spot near my sliding doors. So he’s pretty free here. Our entire down stairs is open concept – no internal doors. So I’ve got Chipper screened off in the kitchen (Licorice did go there – but not much. He doesn’t care for the tiles.)

Should I put them next to each other but still separated by a screen?

Another potentially noteworthy bit – Chipper refuses to leave his cage of his own accord. He does let me pick him up (only me) – sometimes with a grunt. Mostly though he’s ok. Once I get him out and into the living room – he really likes the couch, and I caught him mid -binky dance yesterday when no one else was home but me and the bunnies. =) He just will not come out on his own! Today – he got overwhelmed and started to thump though. =( I showed him back to his cage right away – he seems fine now.

[LBJ10]

Okay, so let me see if I understand this. They each have their own cages, but in separate parts of the house. Licorice just comes out for play time, but when he does he has full run of most of the house. Chipper comes out, but you mostly keep him contained in the kitchen. Am I understanding that right? I guess I was confused before because it sounded like Licorice was a completely free-range bunny.

You can put their cages near each other so they can see/smell each other. You want a bit of distance between them just in case someone tries to bite through the bars.

Other things to try:

Swapping litter boxes
Feeding them side by side
Stressing (which you may not want to try yet since Chipper is so shy)

As for Chipper refusing to come out of his cage, where is his cage at? Is it on the tile in the kitchen? Could he be afraid to make the leap onto that slippery surface. I realize he is shy, but eventually he should want to come out on his own.

[Katscarpena]

Ok so that is really confusing on re-read, sorry.

Licorice has a cage in my office. He only gets the door shut overnight and if we are not home. Sometimes he chooses to sleep in there (like right now. )

Chipper is in the kitchen. I moved him there because when we tried to keep his cage near Licorice – Licorice was relentless! He would sniff and sniff at Chipper through the cage bars – and even got up on Chipper’s cage. Chipper was panicking. So I moved him – and put up a huge old window screen to make sure Licorice can’t get into the kitchen and bother him.

I leave Chipper’s cage door open the same as I do Licorice’s. It’s just that he never leaves the cage on his own. I took a picture below. The cage is small. It came with him. I did not think he would stay in it by any means! It’s just meant to be a “home base” for a few hours in the day is all.

Even when I remove him from his cage – he returns immediately unless I take him far enough away that he doesn’t know how to get back yet. Then he perks up a tad – even does a little exploring, etc. During those time – I have to cage Licorice or he goes right for him and Chipper runs off in terror.

 

Below I put a pic – he came to the door, I took him out – gave him the apple as reward – he tore back into his cage and in his tunnel to eat it. Won’t come back out.I should add – he is more shy since we tried the face to face. =(

[Katscarpena]

So bonding… yeah.

Here’s the update:

They are totally and completely fine with a screen between them. They groom, they sleep, they sniff each other through the screen. The SECOND you lift the screen – Licorice gets all frantic (squeaks, humps, does a little chasing) and poor Chipper hides.

We try putting them on other “neutral” ground (involves carrying them both someplace else.) Roughly the same – Chipper hides, Licorice all frantic – sniffing, trying to hump, a little chasing. We try to hold them (Chipper mad dashes for a lap anyways – he likes people a lot.) Licorice tries to just get away like a madman.

Licorice is a fantastic animal – so much personality. He does come sit with you – next to you that is – on his own terms. He has a ton of energy. Chipper – is seriously a cuddle bunny. He doesn’t like open spaces, he likes people (loves to hunker in you arms/lap.) I think if Licorice would “chill” and sit there – Chipper would be fine – but Licorice is a ball of fuzzy energy. he’s overwhelming Chips.

Any thoughts?

[LBJ10]

I saw your other thread about Licorice possibly not being neutered like you thought. As I said there, a very dominant bunny is going to want to hump anyway (neutered or not). BUT if he isn’t neutered, then that might explain some of his craziness.

[Stickerbunny]

When I bonded my two, I couldn’t go the traditional route. I had to give them a bit more free run together so my timid bun could run away from my dominant one. In a small area, Powder would do nothing but hump Stickers non-stop and she would whine and cry and climb my legs trying to get me to pick her up (which isn’t normal for her!) It even ended up making Powder bite her she was so against it. So, I ended up just letting them have a room so she should run away and they could make each other tired enough to flop together. It was stressful though, for everybody. They’d run for 3 hours, flop for 10 minutes, run for 3 hours, flop for 10 minutes. It was less stressful for Stickers though than being humped 30+ minutes straight, poor girl. Eventually, Powder figured out he wouldn’t be getting what he wanted and gave up and they flopped out together and slept.

As for the cage, Stickers was like that when I first got her as well. I ended up getting a huge piece of cardboard and bracing it against the wall and making some boxes and stuff she could hide in as well. Having lots of hidey spots she could run to if scared made her more confident and she came out and started exploring. Then, each day when I walked into her room, I would take treats with me – a broken up carrot, or some fruit pieces. When I walked in, she would run and hide and I would leave her the treat just outside her hiding spot, making sure she saw me place it. Eventually, she started running up to me when I came in the room for her treat. Perhaps your husband could do something like that for Chipper so he’ll stop being so scared of the deep voice?

My advice would be let Chipper settle in before you try to bond anymore face to face. Once he feels secure with you guys, you can work on his bond with Licorice.

[Katscarpena]

I really appreciate all the advice. Licorice I think is going to be an issue until he’s fixed! In the meantime, we back up the screen – giving Chipper more room to roam without Licorice interfering. Chipper seems more and more comfortable with us and I cannot get over how cuddly he is. I find that very strange for a bunny. I don’t mind at all though – and my soon to be 7 year old is his favorite lap. How sweet is that?! Oh and – he isn’t totally high tailing it from my husband anymore. He travels a good bit – and I thought when he came back Chipper and him would have to start all over. But Chipper took strawberry right out of his hand and hoped right into his lap.

I think right now I’m just counting my blessing that neither bunnies seem to be major biters! We’ll resume more intensive bonding when Licorice is fully neutered and all recovered/ hopefully less hormonal.

 

Also – as of today we’ve had Licorice 3 months and Chipper 3 weeks. Licorice isn’t neutered and they can at least be next to each other through the screen no issue. So I think all in all things are going splendidly. 

[Stickerbunny]

Glad Chipper is settling in. Some bunnies are super cuddly, which is adorable. Powder doesn’t like laps, but he has slept in the bed all night with me beside my pillow and will sit for 2 hours being pet if your arm doesn’t give out first. lol Sometimes you just get lucky and get a really sweet one.

[tanlover14]

Just stumbled upon this thread.

You may find bonding much easier when the other is neutered, hormones can do a number on bonding.

I mainly messaged on here so I could help when you began rebonding! So definitely update the post when you begin again.

I have a bonded sextet and a lot of bonding experience outside of my own personal group as well.

[Katscarpena]

Chipper is adorably cuddly. Very shy – but I also suspect he can sense Licorice’s over excitement – and probably smell it too!

Hoping by the end of April to be back underway with the bonding efforts.

[Author]

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