I hope it will!  He has yet to groom Rupert but maybe with time and he is also a piggy so maybe a smudge of bannana on the head will help.  We shall see what happens, we are taking it slow, they are all living next to each other but due to our work schedules we are only able to get them out in pairs is about every other day but we are doing our best. I will keep the forum posted on our progress but I feel very good about these bondings.  it’s like they know that this is their last chance for a friend and smokey is just “in love” with monster…all she wants to do is be next to him and he really doesn’t care either way so…lets keep our fingers crossed!!

Sarita, what are Agouti colored rabbits?  Is that like a wild looking coloring?  Just curious!  Thanks for all the compliments!  I love my furry babies!

So far so good!  I’m very impressed with Dug and Rupert!  They  have spent quite a few days out and about together with no issues at all!  So this evening we removed the piece of plywood separating their cages and there have been no issues either!  They have explored each others cages at the same time and there has been no jealousy or anger issues at all.  Rupert is still a little “nippy” when he wants to be groomed but Dug will just back down from that situation and walk away.  He’s a lover not a fighter after all.  I’m very happy with their progress and we will give them a few days and take them to the next level, maybe taking ou tthat gate between the cages (supervised, of course) and let them explore.  We shall see.  Anyways, that’s all the news for now.  We are kinda putting Monster and Mokey on the back burner while we work on Dug and Rupert, then we can dedicate all our time and energy into the last two if Rupert and Dug bond easy enough.  Keep us in your bunny thoughts!  Send good vibes and binkys!

Hi Petzy!  We have not moved them in together.  We are still giving them time out in the apartment together with their cages open.  They investigate each others cages and usually when the owner of the cage hops in the check the other one hops out.  Not rushed just like “Whoops, this is your house…i’ll go”  there isn’t any aggression or territorial issue.  They have just had a few scraps but nothing major because Dug will just leave the situation.  Rupert is in LOVE with Dug, will follow him everywhere and just wants to be groomed.  Dug can give or take Rupert. He has groomed him but Rupert is a bit too demanding when he wants to be groomed, a little too persistant and loving for Dug.  We had a barrier up for a little while between their pens because when we first brought home Dug and Monster there was some issues with the “new bunnies” but things have since relaxed and we took down the barrier between Rupert and Dug.  No issues at all through the bars.  Do you think with Rupert still being demanding about grooming it’d be a bad idea to move them in together? 

As for Smokey and Monster, things were going really well for awhile.  We were initially worried about how Smokey would act because she is pretty domanient and aggressive towards other bunnies.  Monster is a laid back bunny, who according to the APL was housed with other bunnies before, so we decided that they would be the best fit.  Plus they are about the same size, I know it doesn’t matter about size but it just seemed logical with all the other things too.  The first few visits were good, it was like Smokey  knew that if she didn’t bond with Monster, she had exhausted her “friend pool” and would be alone.  She was a bit pushy and would nip but we would break that up, maybe a bit too soon though.  But Monster started to be a little agressive back towards her.  We kind of put their bonding on hold until we finished Rupert and Dug since they seemed to be the easier bond.  They still have the barrier up between their cages to have them completely separate so there was no fighting. 

We have six rabbits right now, we’d ideally like to get all six together but i’m afraid we are a bit over our heads with all the personalities.  We’d love to have 4 and 2 or 3 and 3.  Flo and Benny are already bonded and happy as clams, they are the pic of the first two.  Rupert and Dug are almost there and Monster and Smokey have been introduced.  Any opinions or tips would be greatly appreciated!  One of the bigger problems we have is that we both work pretty demanding jobs full time so we don’t have tons of energy to devote to fueding buns.  Thanks Petzy!

Well, we are kinda limited on space as we live in a 2bdrm apt. All the bunnies are in pens in one bedroom and we really don’t have alot of space to move them to. There isn’t any real fighting, Rupert just nips at him a little and Dug runs away. Yeah, we were doing the 2 sets of 2 and successfully bonded the one pair and Rupert and Smokey just didn’t quite hit it off. After seeing your thread I think that if we would have stuck it out it still might have worked but there really didn’t have too much of an interest in each other and Smokey was pretty aggressive with Rupert. And as weird as it sounds, I think Rupert, a neutered male, prefers the company of male bunnies! I say this because i’ve tried bonding him several different times in the past with females, 3 to be exact, and none of them took. We then tried to bond him with another neutered male we had and it was almost a complete bond. Malcolm taught Rupert how to groom other bunnies and was a very calm and sweet bonding buddy for Rupert. However, Malcolm developed an abscess in his jaw which required surgery. He had the surgery was great for 3 more months and then the abscess came back at a different location and went septic and unfortunately he passed away in my arms. After that we tried bonding him with Smokey and they just didn’t seem to click. But when we brought Dug home, it was love at first sight with Rupert! He follows Dug with his head down like “please groom me!” And Dug is a big groomer, to everyone except Rupert. He grooms me, my husband, the carpet, the pillows, the stuffed animal we have on the floor as a toy in the living room. He has groomed Rupert just not as much as Rupert would like. Do you really think a new, neutral pen would help the bond? Cause the only place i would have room is in the living room but the other bunnies do come out and socialize with my husband and I out here.

I will try to come up with something, but if I may ask, why is it important to keep them separated from the other bunnies? Couldnt bonding them separately without the other buns and bonding them, then bringing them back into that environment make them resort back? And how secluded are we talking about…I can put them in the living room like I said but I really don’t have much more space then that. How long would they have to be secluded for? Thanks again for the tips! Much appreciated!

thanks for the advice, we will try that this weekend. I will keep you posted on how it goes! Keep your fingers crossed!

So today, being snowed in and all here in Ohio, we set up a pen for Dug and Rupert.  They have been together for several hours (5hrs maybe?) now with no issuses!  Rupert is a fan of the new arrangement but Dug is a bit less enthusiastic as Rupert is pretty amorous.  I’m debating on sleeping close by and leaving them all night but i’m a bit nervous as this is there first day actually together that it’s too much.  I’m afraid I won’t wake up in time to break up a fight in time.  Am I being too cautious?  Should I just trust them?  There hasn’t been any aggression throughout the whole process other than a little nipping when Rupert wants groomed and Dug doesn’t want to.  I’ve included pictures of the pen the are set up in.  Please excuse the dirty litter boxes….that’s tomorrows task!  They are pretty much sticking to opposite sides of the pen.  Not too much interaction.  But from what I understand, no attention is good!  Showing little interest in each other shows some trust and friendship.  Someone please let me know if I’m way off base!

Well, we did just leave them together.  I did sleep in my my own room but we are 3 steps away from the pen in the other room if something came up.  Which it did at 7:30am this morning.  Nothing bad, no blood, no pulled fur.  Just a little tustle that was broken up pretty quickly.  We rushed in inspected each rabbit to make sure of no injuries, calmed them down and put them back together.  My husband stayed a little longer and sat in the pen with them for another few minutes to watch how they interacted.  Dug came over and groomed Rupert a few times and then they settled down and have been fine since then (6hrs later.)  They are just sitting at opposite sides of the cage comfortably.  Still don’t know if I would trust them completely alone in the apartment while my husband and I am at work but I thinkn we are making progress.  We are just going to put an old cage piece between them so they still have contact but where they can’t fight.  I think this would be safer but should I just let them go?  I am off work tomorrow but I do have school at 6pm and my husband won’t be home till 6.  Then what on tuesday?  I guess we will take it one day at a time.  I just wonder what the issue was that started the fight.  Well, I will keep posting!

Thanks Jersey!  I love Ruperts color too, it’s what drew me to him.  Well, we just had another tiny scuffle.  We were in the living room and heard the noise ran in there and broke it up.  Just one tuft of fur from Dug so I think Rupert may have initiated it but I went in there and yelled “hey!”  and hit the side of the pen which stopped them for a second and then Dug lunged at Rupert so I went into the pen and separated them.  Again, no one was hurt but we still don’t know what its about.  Depending on how the rest of the evening goes is if we will separate them for the night.  I think definately when we aren’t in the apartment they will be separated.  I’d hate to see the result of the fight that isn’t broken up.  I think we are going to continue to house them together while we are home, separate when we are not and maybe do some stressful car rides or something.  Maybe some stress bonding and making them be together in tight quarters will help.  Any other tips are welcome!  Is this normal to have little fights like this or did we maybe move too fast?  Its just very different from our first bonded pair, there was never a fight at all!  It was a perfect fit!  Very little effort on our part, it was all them.  Wish it was always that easy!  Anyways, we’ll see how tonight goes!  They  have been together for over 24hrs at this point.  So far, so good!