Forum

OUR FORUM IS UP BUT WE ARE STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF UPDATING AND FIXING THINGS.  SOME THINGS WILL LOOK WEIRD AND/OR NOT BE CORRECT. YOUR PATIENCE IS APPRECIATED.  We are not fully ready to answer questions in a timely manner as we are not officially open, but we will do our best. 

You may have received a 2-factor authentication (2FA) email from us on 4/21/2020. That was from us, but was premature as the login was not working at that time. 

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

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.

What are we about?  Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

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 Old Male and young Doe 5 days bonded, now fighting! Help!

Viewing 2 reply threads
  • Author
    Messages

    • 2bunwunmom
      Participant
      2 posts Send Private Message

        Hello, This is my 1st post to the forum, my story. I have an old mini rex neutered male, who was fully bonded with a young  female rabbit (joined the family when she was about 6 mos. old) for approx. 4 years when she most unfortunately passed away last year from “Snuffles” (after an unsuccessful week long antibiotic treatment, changed to a new 1 which seemed to clear her nose finally, but I think the stress of losing a 1lb in a short period of time was too much for her!) Anyway, I digress! That was a year ago when we lost her, and our old guy, Gromit has been alone since then. 4 weeks ago, we acquired an unspayed 1.5 year old female mixed lop. She came to me from a 27 year old girl who LOVED her, but she was young, lived alone, gone all day and wanted her bun to have “friends” and more people around. She had taken wonderful care of her, truly loved her. She told me “Thumper” was an affectionate bunny who liked being held, petted, and “binkyed” a lot in the early evenings, sat on the couch with her so much so that she often fell asleep with her on the couch! Clearly a happy bun! I met the bun at her home before having her join our menagerie. She was not shy, allowed me to hold her, genuinely a nice rabbit.  She had been exposed to dogs which I was glad about since she was coming to a household with dogs and cats.  

        Anyway, the 2 buns met each other on the first day and were OK, no issues until her hormones got in the way, and then became a problem for her. (and him) The mounting from both and fur-flying began and we had her spayed that week. 8 days after the spay, I let them out together. All was great!!!  They snuggled together, groomed etc and I was a happy Bun mom. I kept them out together all day and put her in her cage at night.  Gromit has had the run of a room for the years and uses his cage for eating and toileting and sometimes just to hang out. This went on for 5 days, until 1 night, I told my night-owl son to go ahead and leave her out overnight.  I went to work early in the morning, all was well before I left.. They were together, no fur on the floor etc… During the day my other son texted  me to say he put her back i her cage because “the bunnies were scuffling a bit.” I came home later to find fur all over the place!  And that is where I am at now. Every time I let them out together they start “going at it”, rolling around fur flying, Gromit usually ending up with a mouthful of fur. They will start nose to nose and then the nose to butt and then the chase and rolling around. I guess I am most concerned about my old rabbit. I worry that this is too much for him at his age, (about 9 to 91/2 year old). I let several days go by before trying again, but the same thing happens. In between, I put Gromit in his cage so she can run around, so we have been taking turns. She will head over to his cage and they will sniff thru the wires. occasionally with a little lunge/grunt, but not always. There is no thumping going on. When he is out, he goes to her cage. He also has been urinating outside her home, and she poops all over the cushion where HE likes to sit. I know these are marking/territory issues.  It has now been 4 weeks since she arrived, and I know it is a new and stressful change for her. I have only seen a rare “binky” if any from her, and she no longer  likes to be held. I know her priorities have changed from human to her own species, but I hope that she will someday enjoy the humans again!! AND I want them to “love” EACH OTHER again. It has been over 3 weeks now since she was spayed. I was hoping that as each week passed, the hormones would dissipate and this behavior would end so that they could be friends. SO, my question is, What changed after those 5 days of bonding?? I don’t get it!! Any advise to get them to bond again would be great. I am concerned about my very old bun! But I made a promise to care and love this bun and we thought it would be 1 big happy family! Her former owner was sooo happy that they were getting along, and now it has all changed. I had sent her pics of the 2 of them snuggled etc…Then she came to visit her baby last week and was sad to know that things had changed. But I told her that it can take up to 4 weeks for the hormones die down and that hopefully things will improve after that…I won’t give up!! I also want them to be together and someday share 1 home, since her cage is the “Taj Mahal” of cages as my husband says! It’s huge and takes up a lot of my family room!!!  BTW, there are no issues with the other animals in the house. She has adjusted well to them. They are used to other buns in the house. SO, Is there hope in this situation? Do I just need to wait out the hormones? Please help! Thanks for taking the time to read my story! 


      • RabbitPam
        Moderator
        11002 posts Send Private Message

          Hi, first I would definitely wait out the hormones. That will help.
          In a way I’m sorry this person gave her up, because she would not have been lonely since those are the circumstances in which I had my two bunnies, and they were both alone with me and very happy, healthy buns. But, since you’ve made the change, it is better to let her adjust.

          Take things much slower for both bunnies’ sake. Your elder bun is not up to fighting, so if he does not eventually take to her the worst case scenario will be that they need to stay separated. It is hopeful since they got along well at first, though.

          I would let her spend the next 3-4 weeks getting used to being in your home, spend time with you daily to reform a bond with humans, explore and get comfortable with her surroundings and just generally settle in as her hormones die down. And there may be a last surge around the 4th week, so really wait the full month.

          Then re-introduce them with supervision, for short periods daily. Do NOT leave them alone together for several weeks at least. Take them on car rides together in a carrier. Put them together in neutral territory, like a separate room or hallway. If they still seem hostile, you can get a toy rabbit and set it in each cage, then swap them out to reintroduce their scents and let them take out initial hostility on the toy first. But really move slowly. Let them want to be together before you make it happen, and do not leave them unsupervised at all for a month or more after you are convinced they are fine and bonded.
          Your elder bun, and even your younger girl, could suffer some bad damage from one bad fight and be both hurt seriously and never bond after that, so I think the waiting and caution will be good for them in the long run.


        • 2bunwunmom
          Participant
          2 posts Send Private Message

            Thank you for your advice… He really loved his “old girl friend” they were together for about 3 1/2 years, and bonding was never a problem! She came to us however, as a much younger rabbit, probably not sexually matured and they bonded easily. We then got her spayed and they were best bud’s till she passed away.  I had hoped this might be the same!  This bun was very attached to her human. I hope she will attach to me someday! The young adult who gave her up, really did love her, but felt she could not give her the time she needed. She was away a lot on business, having to find caregivers during those times and it was becoming more difficult.  she recieved her as a birthday gift from her brother, (as a baby bunny) but my thoughts were that it was unexpected, but she kept her and gave her a good home. My house always has someone in it! plus other pets, cats, dog, guineas! So even in her cage, she is rarely alone.  Anyway, ideas as to why they suddenly became un-bonded? Things seemed great for a few days! Also, do you put them together in the same carrier/box in the car? Thanks for your help, You are the only responder to this. Appreciate any advice I can get!! I want her to be able to have more freedom in the house someday!! 

        Viewing 2 reply threads
        • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

        Forum BONDING Old Male and young Doe 5 days bonded, now fighting! Help!