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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BONDING Bunny Bonding Journal

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    • Freddi.w
      Participant
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        Caramel was adopted Saturday, September 26, 2015

        Days 1-7: September 26- October 2, 2015
        Caramel was in a dog pen and toffee was enclosed in his corner of my room in a mesh dog pen. They could not see or smell each other, because toffee was neutered 3 weeks before so he still needed a week to recover and lose the sperm that was still viable. And it gave her a chance to get used to me first.

        Day 8: Saturday October 3, 2015
        Switched caramel to a large dog crate and toffees pen into the one caramel had so they could see eachother because the one toffee had before was not see through. I moved them so we were facing eachother with a heavy juice container in between so they couldn’t get to eachother if they wanted to bite.

        Day 9-13: Sunday October 4- Thursday October 8, 2015
        They have been eating their dinner and breakfast in front of eachother because eating is a social behavior so i feed them on the ends of the cage that they can see eachother but still not touch.

        Day 14: Friday October 9, 2015
        First bonding session in bathtub. Went pretty well in the beginning, toffee was humping her to gain dominance, we gave them carrots and caramel tried to nip at toffee. Separated them, and it lasted maybe 5 minutes (forgot time it)

        Day 15: Saturday October 10, 2015
        Second bonding session in bathtub. Decided not to give them food together to see if that would help with caramels nipping. Toffee again was humping her for dominance most of the time. He got off of her and I started petting them next to eachother to give caramel a break. I stopped and caramel again tried to nip at toffee. I started petting them again so that the session could end on a good note. Lasted probably 7 minutes (forgot to time it)

        Day 16: Sunday October 11, 2015
        Third bonding session in bathtub. It went pretty well. Toffee yet again was humping caramel for a long time, I did the petting thing and that calmed them down. It lasted 11 minutes until I separated them because caramel looked like she had enough of him humping her

        Day 17: Monday October 12, 2015
        Fourth bonding session. Best one so far. Started with some humping by toffee. They sat next to eachother and I started to pet them and then I stopped and toffee did a jerky move and I thought he would bite her but he started to groom her head. Lasted 12 minutes. I ended it because I wanted it to end on a good note and didn’t want them to start fighting.

        Day 18: Tuesday October 13, 2015
        Fifth bonding session. It went okay until the end. We tried giving them carrots but it just causes caramel to bite toffee so we aren’t going to do that again. It went with the usually toffee jumping her and she was getting frustrated so I pet them and gave carrots. Toffee went to eat his carrot straight away but caramel wouldn’t eat hers (still shy about eating outside her cage) and she took a nip at toffee. Forgot to time the session but probably 7-9 minutes

        Day 19: Wednesday October 14, 2015
        Sixth bonding session, didn’t go very well. Caramel was getting frustrated with toffee. Toffee would nip her while humping her causing caramel to turn around and nip at him. Only lasted 8 minutes.

        Day 20: Thursday October 15, 2015
        Seventh bonding session, last bonding session in the bathtub. It went okay. Started with the usual humping, then caramel got frustrated. I forgot to time it.

        Day 21: Friday October 16, 2016
        Moved the bonding sessions into my moms bathroom, blocking off the toilet so they can’t go behind it. I put the carpet I use during floor time on the ground so that was a bad idea because it’s not neutral, and I put some toys around, I felt like that didn’t really help. Lasted 11 minutes.

        Day 22: Saturday October 17, 2015
        Didn’t have time for a bonding session today

        Day 23: Sunday October 18, 2015
        One of the best sessions yet I would say. I didn’t use any of the things like toys or the carpets like before. Toffee didn’t immediately start humping her. They started by going in opposite directions and ignoring each other but then he started humping her. No nipping happened, caramel didn’t even try to bite him. Then, they lied next to eachother for around 10-12 minutes. No licking Sadly, but they were lying next to eachother. Lasted 18 minutes! Longest one yet

        Day 24: Monday October 19, 2015
        It was the usual bonding session, toffee was humping her, and caramel got frustrated after a while. toffee seemed very interested in her ears, he liked to put his mouth on the tip of her ears, not biting maybe licking I’m not sure. He also seemed to be like licking her butt? Well it lasted 17 minutes.

        Day 25: Tuesday October 20, 2015
        Went pretty well in the beginning. Caramel was very patient. When toffee came near her face she would close her eyes. She looked very relaxed lying on the floor. That lasted about 7 minutes and then she started getting frustrated, I mean who wouldn’t. It lasted 9 minutes. I looked up about the excessive humping since that’s basically all that happens during bonding, and it says to take him off and pet them, but that’s what I do. Who knows maybe caramel will turn around and start humping him.

        Day 26: Wednesday October 21, 2015
        Probably the best bonding session so far. I used an idea of putting banana on their heads to make them lick eachother. It worked with toffee licking caramel but caramel wouldn’t lick toffee. I’m not going to do that anymore though only because I feel like caramel thinks toffee is grooming her for other reasons so I feel bad. I might do it like once a week. But the session lasted 20 minutes and toffee groomed her like 3 times and humped her but I only let him do it for like 10 seconds and wouldn’t allow it for the next few minutes after he humped her.

        Day 27: Thursday October 22, 2015
        It went okay, I had to do this one on my own because my mom went away, it was the usual with toffee humping and caramel got frustrated after 10 minutes. I don’t know why toffee is so focused on humping her.

        Day 28: Friday October 23, 2015
        Didn’t have time for a bonding session today. And I’m doing two sessions tomorrow anyway since it’s a weekend, thought it might speed things up

        Day 29: Saturday October 24, 2015
        Morning Session: I decided to do a cementing boding session. I took a plastic storage drawer to use as my cube and I put them on the washing machine but it wasn’t shaking so they just wanted to get out. I didn’t that for 4 minutes, then I decided to do the cementing in the bathroom I usually do session in, that lasted 6 minutes. Then I decided to put them on top of the dryer because it actually shakes to make them scared and go to eachother, and it kind of worked but no grooming happened. That lasted 10 minutes.
        Afternoon session: it went okay, there was some humping but I stopped it. I was petting them next to eachother for a while, most of it actually. And caramel lifted her head and I thought she would groom him, but she just rested her head on top of his. I’m always nervous with her by his face but she didn’t bite him. At the end she tried to nip him so I pet them a little longer and separated them to end on a good note. I forgot my phone but I think it lasted 12-15 minutes.

        Day 30: Sunday October 25, 2015
        Only had time for one session today. I’m not seeing any progress in their bonding. It’s still the same toffee humps, I separate, caramel tries to get toffee to lick her, he won’t and then she bites him. It lasted 17 minutes. I don’t now what to do with them.

        Day 31: Monday Ocotber 26, 2015
        Caramel really wants him to groom her head, she constantly is nudging him and lowering her head, but he is only fixated on humping. It’s so irritating. I kept taking toffee away when he humped her but he didn’t understand to stop. It lasted 17 minutes because caramel and toffee were getting frustrated.

        Day 32: Tuesday October 27, 2015
        I used the trick of putting a drop of vanilla extract on the bunnies nose so that they couldn’t smell eachother and I think it kind of worked. I also decided to sit in the bathtub and hide (it has high walls) so that I’m not distracting them during the bonding session. I used a spray bottle when they were getting a little frisky. Toffee seemed confused in the beginning I think from the vanilla, he was smelling her but couldn’t smell anything probably. He was bumping her and I sprayed him and he went off. The only bad thing that happened was that toffee went after her and she turned around and nipped him. No intense fighting has happened yet and I hope it won’t. It lasted 18 minutes.

        Day 33: Wednesday October 28, 2015
        No time for a session today

        Day 34: Thursday October 29, 2015
        This session went pretty well. Toffee only tried to hump her three times and she only hit him once. It lasted 30 minutes so it was the longest one so far. They ignored eachother most of the time, which is a good sign I have read. I’ve given them each w stuffed animal to live with to get their scent on it and then I’ll switch them so that each bunny has the other Bunnys scent.

        Day 34: Friday October 30, 2015
        Didn’t have time for a session today

        Day 35: Saturday Ocotber 31, 2015
        This session was late at night so I think that affected things, because it was a little tense. It only lasted 10 minutes.

        Day 36: Sunday November 1, 2015
        This session was pretty much them ignoring eachother, they stayed on separate sides of the room. Except they would occasionally go to eachother and toffee would hump her and she would run and I would start petting them. I separated them at 20 minutes because they were lying next to eachother and I wanted to end it on a good note before they fought or something.

        Day 37: Monday November 2, 2015
        This bonding session went well in my opinion. Toffee didn’t hump her once, he left her alone for mostly the whole time, he did chase her once but he stopped after she stopped hopping. They were eating hay literally face to face no problem, until it ran out than caramel gave him a little nip on the forehead I think because he wouldn’t lick her. That’s basically the problem now, toffee won’t lick her and she won’t lick toffee. But, she did flop on the floor and lie down for a few minutes until the dogs barked. It lasted 25 minutes, I separated them because I wanted to end it on a good note.

        Day 38: Tuesday November 3, 2015
        I’m not going to lie,this is getting kind of frustrating. Caramel clearly wants him to lick her, she will literally shove her head under him and he just wants to either sit there or hump her. I’m starting to question whether he’s humping for dominance or something else. It lasted 20 minutes.


      • Kokaneeandkahlua
        Participant
        12067 posts Send Private Message

          Very detailed journal!

          Humping isn’t always dominance -as long as they aren’t fighting (i.e. the one getting humped doesn’t get mad and bite, the one humping doesn’t bite) I wouldn’t worry about that.

          Can you do longer sessions? I don’t see fights happening, I think you could -in a large enough space-build up to a few hours out. If you still aren’t seeing fighting you’re basically there


        • booboobunny3
          Participant
          8 posts Send Private Message

            Could you keep them together for longer? It sounds like they are having to do introductions again each time they meet because they keep being separated. Of they stay together for a long period of time then eventually one of them will be able to establish dominance and then that phase will be over with. Use a water spray bottle to discourage any behaviour that looks to be getting out of control or if a fight start then intervene (wear thick gardening gloves!) to get them apart from each other.
            I’ve put mine together and don’t plan on separating them until they are bonded. For the first hour they had some fights, then the female would just nip the males back and chase a little but now, just over a day later they spend nearly all of their time cuddled up together.
            Try giving them a big pile of hay in the middle of the bonding area to give them something to focus on and do together. They need to spend long enough together to establish who is the dominant one.

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        Forum BONDING Bunny Bonding Journal