The point of contention seems to be Saly’s continuing desire to challenge Harley’s dominance by humping him. This may in part be due to some hormones still remaining in her system post-spay so she simply may more readily consent to his dominance in a couple weeks. But, question, which one actually weighs more? Even being spayed a long time, if she is larger, she may want to continue to exercise dominance. People often find that taking them for a drive in the car, carriers side by side, is helpful. For some reason, the car ride’s tendency to disorient them makes them more inclined to empathize and thus bond. . . . I don’t know if that’s any help. Don’t feel too rushed about things. Rabbits do things in their own time. I had three rabbits bonded relatively young but a smaller one suddenly realized she outweighed the other two and started squashing them. But most obnoxiously, she would pretend she wanted to lick their ears and then would bite hard enough to draw blood. That actually resolved pretty easily. They had been together long enough that when I put her in isolation in the bathroom, she totally understood it as punishment. I left herr there two days and she actually stressed, shedding extensively. I felt so bad I took her to PetsMart for a pedicure and the three of them never had anymore problems. They’re all a little unique. . . . Hang in there.

I don’t know a good answer to that. Larger rabbits will tend to hump to assert dominance; it seems to me as if maybe Sally is just trying to counter his dominance and get other assurances from him. . . . As you said, he grooms her a good deal. I would just watch them as closely as you can and try and imagine what each is trying to accomplish with the other in terms of a balance of trust and security. . . . It all sounds so easy, but every set of rabbits is their own mystery. Another thing that can become an issue is food dishes; have you thought that out or found any advice on it? I’ve had rabbits get along together for three days, each with their own dishes then, one of them eat from the other’s dish, and suddenly all heck breaks loose. That’s one I don’t always know how to negotiate. . . . .

Have fun and stay relaxed and confident; your confidence will make each of them feel more secure too. Yeah, the bowls is a funny thing. It never was an issue with any but these two. . . And I didn’t work hard enough on it and simply never bonded them. . . . But things worked out pretty well even so.

I think they will need to sort there dominance issues out by themselves. This was the most difficult part of the bonding process for Thane and Siha. Thane would hump Siha (He’s half her size lol) and then Siha would nip hip to correct him. They would circle each other a good bit. I wasn’t comfortable with that, so I would seperate them and calm them down.

The funny thing is, the dominance issue stopped right after the fire alarm incident in my apartment block last weekend! I stuffed the two in a carrier and ran! Ultimate stress bonding! But it did the trick (I think spaying Siha also kind of helped that issue.) So maybe some stress bonding wouldn’t hurt. I did make a thread about stress-bonding without a car, might be worth a look.

I don’t know, I wouldn’t really stop any behaviour unless it seemed aggressive and was obviously bothering the other buns. Siha used nip Thane all the time. She still does if he’s in her way. It’s not aggressive and remember, they can’t exactly ask the other bun to move, so I figure it’s just her way to asking him to move. She doesn’t hurt him and he doesn’t resent her for it either.

That’s good news, but my advice is to take it slowly. I thought Thane and Siha were bonded until I woke one morning to her tearing his fur out lol!

They will need to sort the dominance issues out. Thane doesn’t look for grooms anymore. In fact he nuzzles under her massive dewlap and he’s happy with that!

It’s good to see them chilled together though

Great! I put Thane and Siha together last night and I think they had a minor scuffle. Apart from that they’re doing well today!

I’m finally taking a peek at your thread!! Just in case any of those behaviors you mentioned before become a problem I wanted to update you on what they meant since I didn’t really see much feedback on that specifically.

First off, your buns are doing soo good! Proud of those two!!

Second, grooming is weird. Simba is quite obviously the “top bunny” of my group – but he LOVES to be groomed and he LOVES to groom everybunny and every other human also. The only time the grooming could become an issue is if one of them becomes extremely agitated over it. In which case I would suggest trying their favorite treat on the others head. Haha! I put Craisins in Simbas mop of hair and the Tans went crazy looking for them in his head and he loved every minute of it! LOLOL.

As for the humping, if Sally is still humping Harley then there’s a big chance they haven’t established a set dominance yet. But with hierarchy it can always be changing so unless it’s creating fights I would just let it go.

As for the nipping feet – my Tans do this when they’re annoyed at the other bunny. They will stick their heads really low (almost under his butt) and you can barely see him nip but you can tell because the other bunny jumps. It usually never goes any farther. If they do start chasing – then break them up (but don’t separate, do a stress bonding session or something of the sort) and let them go back to their area after that session is done.

I just remembered you said something about circling each other also (in a beginning post). Circling usually indicates the beginning of a fight. My buns ALWAYS get sprayed with water when I notice them circling because it’s always ended in fur flying in my experience if it continues.

Hope everything is going well still! Keep us updated!

Once they’ve been together for about 24-48 hours with no fighting you can usually consider them bonded! If something happens, don’t separate. Stress bond in a box or the laundry basket and just shake it around a bit, run the vacuum, whatevers and then put them back together. At this point, I think it’s important not to separate. You want them to work out any differences they have now that they can stay together long periods of time. And only constant interaction will ultimately achieve that.

You should be fine by then!

It can be really stressful but you definitely got lucky! I think it probably helped also. They were much more use to the others scent. My three Tans were constantly in view of each other, had the same play area, ect. and after their neuters/spay they were insanely easy to bond also.

WHOO-HOO HARLEY AND SALLY! <3 Lover buns!

Yay!!! Those first nights can be so stressful! Last night my two were fine and I woke up to two happy buns looking to get out for playtime!

Tanlover – When you home the buns together, is it common to see lots of territorial poops in the enclosure at first? Thane usually leaves 1 or 2 for me, but this morning there was lots from both buns. What can I do and/or how long does this last?

Oh god, yes. It’s VERY very normal. I swear when I put mine together it was like a poop tornardo went through the area. LOL. Sorry for that description!

It usually fades (at least it always has after adding a bun into my group) after a few weeks to a month. I tried to be very consistent with picking them up and throwing them in their litter a few times a day to help deter it. After awhile you usually begin to notice them decreasing.

Congratulations!
I’m not surprised these 2 bonded quickly, judging from that first impromptu meet they had. But you never know how things will go with hormones still at play a little.
Great to read its gone so smoothly.

Reading this thread has been a good refresher for me. Thank you!

Tanlover – thanks for that! I’ve noticed Siha doesn’t really mark that much with poop, it’s actually Thane even though it’s his area lol!

Congrats on your bonding!