RE-bonding?

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 5sd replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 11 months ago by MooBunnay.

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- 12/02/2009 at 6:21 AM
  Violet Crumble
  Participant
  1 posts
  Great website! I’m new to bunny ownership, acquiring my two boys in September.
  
  My two male dwarf bunnies (4 months old) got desexed last Thursday. Then on Friday night they had a massive fight, and poor Monty the dwarf lop had a small section of his big floppy ear bitten off by his brother Cadbury the Netherland dwarf.
  
  Monty’s ear is healing fine, however I’ve had to geographically separate the two, Monty at my house (which is foreign to him) and Cadbury at my partner’s (where they both ‘normally’ live).
  
  Yesterday we tried to reintroduce the two at Monty’s now residence, and things didn’t go as planned.
  
  My question is, how soon after desexing should I attempt to rebond the two? The two were inseparable before they got desexed (except for when Cadbury used to hump Monty) and I’d really love to see them both reunited.
- 12/02/2009 at 10:27 AM
  MarkBun
  Participant
  2842 posts
  Wait a month. It could be that they’re both just upset and off balance from the hormones and surgery. But it might require some work again to get them back together.
- 12/02/2009 at 6:22 PM
  jerseygirl
  Moderator
  22345 posts
  Oh yeah, wait at leat a month. Takes a while for the hormones to leave their systems. In the meantime you could give each bun towels or toys with the others scent on it. You might have to keep an area of your place neutral (as in neither have been there before) so you have that there to use for bonding if you do have to start from the beginning.
- 12/17/2009 at 2:06 PM
  Deleted User
  Participant
  22064 posts
  Young rabbits, even neutered ones, can be very competitive and testy. Rabbits remember a fight and yours might want to retaliate for the injury inflicted. I highly recommend at this point to take the bonding very slow. Wait out the required time mentioned and then start with short sessions in neutral territory under constant supervision. Prevent any fighting between them once you start sessions. Mounting is OK, if it doesn’t lead to a fight. As a rule, each time rabbits get into a fight it sets them up for another one. You will need to help these two shed that grudge.
- 12/19/2009 at 1:57 PM
  MooBunnay
  Participant
  3087 posts
  In addition to what everyone else has mentioned, make sure that when you do re-introduce the rabbits, that you do so in a neutral territory. It has to be somewhere that neither bunny has been before, so that one isn’t feeling the need to defend his territory. If a bunny has been all over the house, consider using the bathtub, since the tile is a little slippery, that also discourages fights.
- 12/19/2009 at 1:57 PM
  MooBunnay
  Participant
  3087 posts
  OH, nevermind, I see that someone already did mention neutral territory – I’m behind the times
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