Hi Sarita

Ok – I’ll be back with an update tomorrow after the vet

Bunny date:

Cage set-up:

Day 1:

Neutral area – they hung out in there for 5 hours without a problem

At 8:30, I put them back in the cage for dinner and when I came back I saw that they drew blood. Bailey’s (dutch rabbit) eyelid is swollen red . Oliver’s (fuzzy lop) is bleeding on his side and chin.

After I saw that, I separated them, and brought Bailey upstairs actually so that there would be 0% chance of them hurting each other again.

I’m going to vet tomorrow at 7:30am.

cries

Thanks for all your support! I guess I won’t give up yet even though I’m really scared.

We came back from the vet with oral antibiotics (which they don’t like the taste of) and an eye paste… Luckily they are doing ok, but each of them has a pretty gnarly injuries right next to their eyes I separated them for now, with space in between the cages like you all suggested. I guess I’ll just have to take it really slow. After they heal I guess I can try taking them for drives in the carrier or walking around with the carrier and shaking it up a bit. Thankfully I can work from home today and keep an eye on them.

The rabbits are healing really well, and I had a successful bonding session today. I put them in their carrier and slid it back and forth for a few minutes and watched them cuddle close. After that, I configured my x-pen into a tiny area and placed them inside. They laid there and nuzzled a little. I gave them some food. Bailey ate it and cleaned herself. Oliver seemed pretty scared.. he didn’t eat.

I’ll try this again tomorrow and everyday for the next few days. When would it be appropriate to move on to the next area? And should I try my small bathroom floor (where they’ve both been before) or in a small x-pen outside on the lawn?

Another successful bonding session today. I put them in the carrier again and tilted it back and forth for 5 minutes. Oliver humped Bailey inside the carrier so I had to tilt it over on its side to make him stop. Then I sectioned off a small area in my bathroom with an x-pen and put them inside along with a bowl of spring mix. No one really ate. Oliver munched on a tiny piece that fell on the floor. Bailey was so cute.. she stood up on her hind legs and looked about. Not much room to move. Oliver just kind of laid in the corner panting with excitement/fear like he normally does whenever he’s around Bailey. He mounted her a few times and this time she allowed it! After a few seconds of mounting, I pushed him off so that Bailey wouldn’t be too upset. When he attempted to mount her face, I held him back and this time he actually eased off instead of dodging my hand and lunging at her with frustration. Bailey looked like she wanted to mount him once, but when I pet her she eased back. I’m starting to think Bailey isn’t the dominant bunny after all. The first time they were together, she was the one who did most of the mounting! He tried to mount her as well, but he wasn’t able to catch her that often. When he did mount, that’s usually when the fights would break out. I guess I’ll keep doing sessions in the corner of the bathroom, and after that I’ll try a bigger space on the lawn which is another neutral area.

I put them together in the bathroom again for 20 minutes and there was hardly any mounting. Then I put them in an x-pen on the lawn for another 20 minutes. They ate together, cleaned themselves, and chased each other a little. After a while, both rabbits took turns mounting each other, but not as aggressively as the first time. Bailey got more humps in than Oliver and he seemed frustrated by that. Can there be two dominant bunnies in a pair? I’m not sure who is going to win this. Luckily, there was no fighting but there was still some hair pulling, chasing, and mounting that kept me on edge the whole time. 

I also noticed that Oliver kept spraying everywhere. He would pee while running and then flick his feet back. Or he would jump over Bailey while peeing and drops would land on her back. He also ran over my shoe while peeing. I’m not sure why he’s doing that. Maybe he feels possessive of Bailey towards me? Should I have let him settle into his new surroundings for a couple of weeks before starting with the bonding? He probably doesn’t feel very secure in his new home yet.

After a few great sessions, they fought again. Oliver bit me in the hand when I tried to separate them. I ended up pouring water on Oliver and that made him stop attacking. I was able to separate them pretty quickly this time and neither of them seemed to be injured at all. I separated them for 5 minutes then put them back together in a smaller space, and they were fine. They are so great in small spaces, but whenever I try to give them more room they start chasing and mounting within 20 minutes and eventually they will probably fight. How will I be able to tell when it’s time to move on to a bigger space?

Small spaces:

Bigger spaces:

In a 6×2 x-pen, they plopped down right next to each other.. lots of progress these past couple of days

Should I try to keep them together all night?

They seemed really comfortable in that x-pen set up so I kept them in there at night and slept where I could see and hear them. They didn’t fight. Bailey is relaxed and independent and Oliver is more insecure and will follow Bailey around close for the most part. He seems to be the dominant one now. I’ve seen him circle her if she’s away from him for too long. I don’t think it’s aggressive, but I still tell him no because he doesn’t seem relaxed when he’s doing it. She groomed him once that I saw which was great to see I haven’t seen him groom her even though she will present her head to him sometimes. Whenever she lays down, he will lay down next to her and they will take naps together. I am a lot more comfortable now around them but still keeping my eye on Oliver who acts like a needy, obnoxious child although he is older than her. I hope they will be bonded soon.

Oliver is not great with his litter box. He is ok with peeing in the litterbox, but I will sometimes find a urine stain outside the box next to it and have to clean it up and move the box over it. He will leave pellets everywhere. Should I work on the pellet training after they are finished bonding or during?

Bailey has groomed Oliver on several occasions. No fighting. When would be a good time to try cementing them?

I’d really like to try cementing in their permanent room tonight. Do you think that’s a good idea? They will have spent nearly 3 full days together. The past 2 days they’ve been extremely well. They act like they’re in love, eating, laying, napping, and playing together. There has been no fighting or mounting. Oliver is the dominant one as he will nudge Bailey if she is sitting in his spot and she will move. She has also groomed him, but he has never groomed her.. I hope this won’t be a source of tension between them later. Right now it doesn’t seem to be a problem for Bailey. 

What I’m worried about is that the permanent room was Bailey’s old room and so she might decide that she wants to be the dominant bunny in her old territory. I am planning to remove the legs from my bed so that they can not go underneath the bed and fight. I will also use brand new sheets that don’t smell like Bailey. I will also wash my own sheets in case they have any lingering Bailey smells. In the beginning I will keep them in an x-pen until I can get Oliver’s marking under control. Then I will slowly give them free-roam which is what Bailey had before. Should I spray my room with Febreeze or something? My room has carpet.

Please share advice! I think I’m almost there

Here are pictures and videos of them together over the past couple of days. Bailey binkies everytime I open up the pen for exercise time. She usually jumps much higher than in the video.

I forgot to add, Oliver did some flops next to Bailey so I think he’s pretty happy.

My bunnies have different personalities. Oliver is more cautious of people but is very food-motivated. He still likes some attention at times. He likes to flop. Bailey loves people and loves being pet and being massaged. She likes to binky.

I also noticed that Oliver has a bony lower spine? Is that common in all small lops? Or should I feed him more.

So they’ve been in the same pen together for 4 days non-stop. I was able to leave them alone unsupervised without a problem. So I finally brought them home tonight and set them up in my room, which was where Bailey used to live. Bailey humped Oliver! It didn’t lead to a fight, but now I’m worried that I should separate them? I thought they were fully bonded but now I”m not sure..

Oliver groomed Bailey, but then he tried to mount her though not aggressively. She jumped away. Should I separate them tonight or let them work it out? I am sleeping right next to them.

Thanks. So I should separate them and rebond? They’ve been at my moms house (neutral territory) the past 4 days and have been together all day/night. They were doing everything together with no aggression or mounting whatsoever. They basically were bonded.. I trusted them that I could leave the house with no one watching. Now I am back at my place where there is no neutral territory. Please let me know how I should continue the.bonding process here

Thanks Hokankai.

Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving!

So last night after I set up the x-pen, they each took turns mounting one time which is when I last posted. There was never any aggression or fighting so I decided to let them work it out while I supervised. There was some hovering throughout the night but no more mounting. By morning, Oliver was cuddling by Bailey as much as possible and she has groomed him.

My bunnies are bonded There has been no more mounting since last night. They are both grooming each other.. it’s so cute! I’m so happy because it started off rough.

Thanks tanlover! That makes a lot of sense. I’m really glad that everyone encouraged me to go through with the bond since I think they were actually an easy match. The injuries could have been totally avoided if I knew what I was doing at first.. but in the end they were okay and it took less than week

What I wish I did differently
1) be confident with separating the bunnies.. i found towards the end that pouring water on them worked really well at breaking up a fight and also calming them down
2) don’t take your eyes off the bunnies for a second during the first few days
3) use 2 separate cages the first couple of days

What I would recommend to others based on my experience
1) try to take a week off work or work from home so you can put them together more frequently/for longer periods of time in a brand new area (family member’s house) – it seems to be the fastest way to get them used to each other
2) just accept that there will be a lot of tension and mounting in the beginning.. it fades away over time so stay calm and know how to separate them when a fight breaks out
3) by watching them you will just know how much you trust them together, and that helps you decide when to push forward with bonding