Hi,

I’m sorry to hear that you are having such trouble bonding chance. I have a doe exactly like her. Sometimes rabbits are so territorial that spaying just will not help when it comes to hormonal aggression. I had tried my doe with numerous rabbits and she set out to kill them all until one day she met a bunny called Teddy. Teddy is a very submissive rabbit that just doesn’t react to much so was very tolerant of her dominant behaviour. It was the first time I have not seen her react to a rabbit with aggression….until I got them home that is 🙂 As soon as they were in the house she started to chase him and lunge at him. If he sat perfectly still she would leave him be, if he moved she would attack. The same day I put them out in the yard and this worked for them. There was enough space for her to be on her own and within four days they were friends. She was never one to groom but more that happy to flop down next to him. It was always clear she was boss though and he couldn’t even eat without her running over and getting in there first. She was aggressive towards me too, actually attacking my ankles as I walked through the house and even managed to bite me on occassions. After a few weeks of livingly together Teddy had to have a hernia operation, after which Milly just would not tolerate him. They were in a cage together and after one day I found so many bite marks and bald patches on him that I refused to keep them together and had to split them up. I kept them in the same room together seperated by bars and continued to attempt bonding for four months. During the whole process Milly would allow Teddy to be out in the same space but would attack him if he tried to move. Eventually I decided I couldn’t continue with the bonding because Teddy was so depressed at being unable to cuddle up with her, despite the way she treated him he was still devoted to her and never was bit back. He was barely eating the whole time so I let him bond with another bunny. They live in their own room but Milly has a huge pen in there too and that seems o work for her. She is more than happy to live alongside the boys providing the leave her be and the presence of them seems to be enough in terms of company for her. I would hate her to live a solitary life but the way things are seem to work for them. She still spends a lot of her time out in the garden sitting by the wired fence that seperates them and tries to bite them but they just seem oblivious to it.

Most people will say that all bunnies can be bonded, but I truely believe there are the rare few that do not want to be with another rabbit. There is no guarantee that your bunnies will ever truley bond, but it may help to take them to a neutral place for a couple of weeks so they can re-establish their relationship before bring them back home. Maybe the rescue you got your buck from could help. To me it sounds like Chance is very possessive over her ground and your mistake was putting them in the cage (exactly what happened with Milly and Teddy – I couldn’t bond them in the beginning in a small space and when she was put in the cage with him it tipped her over the edge) I hope there is a chance for your bunnies but you need to go back to square one where bonding is concerned, and the bigger the space the better rather than the bonding in the bathtub scenario. If you do manage to get them back together I would be very wary of putting them in a cage together.

Good luck!

Angela

EDIT I forgot to say. Milly was also a rescue bun who came from a home where they had kept five un-neutered rabbits in one single indoor cage. When she came to the rescue she had many scars from repeated attacks (whether she was the instigator i’m not sure) and had been ripped open down the inside of both thighs. I think she has been permanently damaged by that, and the only way I was able to curb her aggression towards me was to give her more space. Giving her unlimited freedom seems to aggrevate her aggression yet keeping her in a typical cage does the same. I found a resolve by keeping her in a two level 7 foot by 3 foot pen that I built myself. (she is the only caged bunny I have)  She is out in the garden all day so gets plenty of exercise and enjoys having her own bunny pad. I think maybe Chance is also aggressive to the other bunnies due to her background experiences.

Poor Chance had quite a hard life before she came to you! I have to wonder if Chance wants to have a friend too. Perhaps she is happy by herself. She may just not trust other rabbits due to her prior circumstances.

However not to discourage you from trying to bond her with Andre – I think you will need to start the bonding process all over again with short bonding dates and see how Chance reacts which it sounds like you are doing. I don’t know if you’ve tried the car rides or not either but it does sound like you’ve tried everything.

Angela I just read your post and I totally agree with you about some rabbits not wanting to be bonded just like your Milly. They like seeing the other rabbits and being in the same room but just want to have their own space.

Thank Sarita,

A lot of people give you stick for keeping a rabbit on their own but I have definitely learnt that it isn’t always what’s best for the bunny! I felt guilty about Milly for a long time, but she’s proven that she can be just as happy having her own space and still doesn’t have to feel lonely by having the others presence around her. 🙂  She’s a minx but I love her!

Dramaqueen and Charlie-What stories!!!
I cannot believe your bunny was fixed three times poor little girl-I mean guy, I mean girl That’s quite an incredible story!!
Charlie, I agree some bunnies just cannot be bonded; It sounds like you’ve really found the best thing for your Milly! That’s so great you are the kind of person who worked hard and loved your bunny enough to find what works-even if she is alittle minx Some people would just give up!! I’m glad Teddy found someone too, sounds like he’s the type who needs some bunny-lovin!
Oh and Welcome both of you!!!

It is possible that the buns weren’t sure of themselves in the neutral territory. As things began to return to nomal locations and routines, Chance began to get territorial about his old territory. It is something that you will need to work through. It isn’t uncommon for things that are going swimmingly in neutral territory to suddenly go all the way back to step one when you enter the old bun’s home turf. You just have to start up again. However, the time bonding well in neutral territory will help this process go by a bit quicker.

As for the difference between a nip and a bite – usually that can be seen with the amount of fur that is removed in the ‘attack’. My Maryann nips all the time but she rarely gets any fur in her teeth when she does that. When she bites though, she takes about a cottonball size of Dono’s fur with her.

I also, at times, feel that Maryann just wants to be a solo bunny but, IMO, if she is being snuggly with him on the car rides, she will want to be snuggly outside of it.  She just has to be helped through her natural territorial instincts.  Bonding can take months of work with a great deal of confrontation all along the way.  I wouldn’t think about giving up on the bonding process until after 90 days and seeing no improvement.

Thanks,  I never once thought about giving up on Milly because I know not many people would tolerate her behaviour. I love her to pieces. It’s taken a year to build up her confidence when she is around me. She will always be skittish but she no longer tries to attack me! I like that she is naughty! Teddy is a gentle soul, he came from a ‘backyard’ breeder  that kept them on an allotment and rarely fed, watered or cleaned them out. He was from a group of five also and all of them have the same disposition. It’s hard not to fall in love with him when you see him (he is a pure DM lionhead). His partner is a big lop I took in from a family who said he ‘wasn’t a lap bunny’ which is what they wanted….couldn’t be further from the truth!!  I think it upsets me more when I have bunnies come to me that have had such sad backgrounds yet can still be so trusting and loving of people.

dramaqueen_msc – it sounds like you’ve really been through a lot with Chance and she’s been very lucky to find you! That poor sweet girl, I’m so glad she’s safe with you.

I think it’s worth still working on, but it is possible that she just doesn’t want to be bonded with another bunny. My Hareiette is like that, she seems to really like other bunnies – but get her home in her own territory and she’s a tyrant. Sometimes I wonder if all the past trauma makes it hard for them to trust another bunny, especially after a broken bond like the one you described.

I hope the bonding is going well! I think you are doing the right thing in not giving up right away, but also don’t be afraid to admit it just isn’t working out if things don’t improve over the next few weeks. I tried to bond Cadbury, my 7-month-old mini-rex and it didn’t go well at all. I did everything by the book – bringing her to the rescue to let her “date” all the buns, keeping her and the chosen bun in neutral territory, taking them for car rides, etc…they got along fine at the rescue, but once I brought them home, they fought right away – even in neutral territory. I’m not talking little nips, I’m talking flat on their sides kicking and biting – it was incredibly hard to separate them. It was actually pretty terrifying and traumatic. I then kept them in separate cages next to each other, but they tried to fight through the bars (even after I moved the cages out of fighting distance from each other). They even started scuffling in the carrier! I finally had to take the rescue bun back, which I hated doing and felt incredibly guilty about, but Cadbury was having none of it. She’s now an only bun and seems pretty happy. (She has my golden retriever for company.)

I guess my point is to keep on trying, but don’t be afraid to admit it’s not working out if that’s the way you feel deep down! Best of luck, and keep us posted!