Hi everyone- this is my first time posting here, but I have combed the forums (and the internet in general) and haven’t been successful bonding my 2 rabbits yet. I adopted Crush (neutered male) a little over a year ago. In September, my husband and I decided it was time to attempt bonding Crush. The first time we took him speed dating at our shelter Crush met about 5 bunnies- 1 was deemed to be a winner, a spayed female. During this date they approached each other without issue, she groomed him, they each mounted the other without incident and they were able to lay next to each other while being pet by the shelter manager. So, we took her home with us.
Since coming to our apartment, the bonding process has not gone smoothly. We initially tried a date in the bathtub since neither rabbit had ever been in the bathroom. There was immediately a fight. Fur everywhere and a hole in my sweet new girl’s ear later was the end result. I probably tried this 3 separate days before my nerves were totally shot and we took a 1 week break from dates.
Since day 1 I have been switching litter boxes daily and each rabbit is able to see the other through a baby gate throughout the day. They eat their salads at this gate, litter boxes are by this gate, and for the last 2 weeks or so there has been essentially zero aggression toward each other when at the gate. They’ll even lay against it at the same time. I also allow them to each run around in the other’s space for at least 1 hour each evening. We had a massive poop marking war for a few days, but that has been over for at least a week.
Our next plan was to put each rabbit in their own respective carrier, go for a drive lasting about 10-15 minutes and date on our front landing, which is also a neutral space. This was more successful than the bathroom. There is no longer instant fighting. We’ve been at this for about 2 weeks and while together in this space each rabbit seems very comfortable. We’ve had flopping, grooming (not each other), and both rabbits are more than happy to lay side by side smooshed together as long as I am petting them both. BUT (of course their is a but) neither rabbit is able to approach the other without a fight ensuing. Both have been known to instigate so no one is innocent here. So far I’ve been able to prevent a full blown fight by using a pasta strainer to separate the two when they approach each other and then petting them both to calm down.
I’m not really sure where to go from here. We are definitely further along than we were when she first came home with us, however the fact that they can’t approach each other without full blown aggression is concerning to me. For the record, neither rabbit allows itself to be approached from behind so we haven’t had any nipping or mounting since their first date at the shelter. In sum, my rabbits have been bonding for a month, have no problems being around each other except that they can’t approach each other without wanting to attack the other. Is there a next step I should be taking? I’ve thought about putting them in a box together and going for a drive, but I’m not sure that would fix their inability to approach each other. Is it still worth trying? Is there another solution I am missing? Any and all insight is greatly appreciated.