Hello!
I started a thread previously about this bond, but I’m trying to look at it from a whole new perspective. I have been working with my buns for almost a year now, and I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong. Here is a quick summary of their history.
I adopted my first rabbit, Winston, about a year and a half ago. He is very outgoing and dominant. He was a baby when I got him and got a lot of TLC and attention. He got used to perks of my one-on-one attention and became very spoiled! Still, I decided I wanted to get him a little friend.
I adopted Gracie in June, (about 9 months after I got Winston). The shelter I adopted her from does not do ‘rabbit dates,’ so I had to pick her out based on my assumption that she would get along with Winston. She is slightly older than Winston, and possibly came into the shelter as a pair (they couldn’t tell me for sure). She is a bit shy, and generally quite calm.
I started attempting bonding about a month after Gracie came home. They didn’t get along right away, but there wasn’t anything particularly awful happening. Winston was certainly going to be the dominant bun. He did (and still does) a lot of nipping, and doesn’t like to share space with Gracie unless she initiates it. He has never mounted Gracie, and vice-versa. He will groom Gracie’s face if she sits still long enough for him to come close to her, but she is often frightened when he starts towards her and will run off. This sometimes initiates a small chase by Winston, although their bonding areas are never large enough for a real chase to ensue.
I had to take a break from bonding when Winston went through a bought of GI Stasis, and I’m just trying to start back with them.
They had a nice, long bonding session the other day (9am to 2am the next morning) and generally got along okay. But thats the problem. Its always just ‘okay,’ or not good at all. I have done stress bonding and they generally respond well during, but it doesn’t seem to make a difference in their relationship afterwards. Winston was particularly aggressive in todays bonding session. I had them set up in an x-pen in a room that they have both been in, but an area of the room they wouldn’t have had a chance to mark. Is this not neutral enough?
I am really, really trying not to give up hope! I built them a beautiful, gigantic condo last summer, and I can’t wait for them to share it. There is a very, very slight possibility that I could bring another rabbit into the picture, but I would only want to do that if I had a chance to introduce the existing rabbits to the new rabbit before I brought him home. I’m wondering if a third rabbit could act as a mediator between Winston and Gracie, or if it would just make things worse. I don’t want to wind up with three separate cages for three buns, especially considering how that would shorten their time out for exercise, etc. Has anyone had a situation like this, where a third rabbit solved some bonding issues?
Thanks in advance for your help and advice Winston and Gracie are counting on you!