Help Bonding Rabbits?!

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 7sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 2 months ago by Katrina.

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- 08/29/2013 at 11:58 PM
  Katrina
  Participant
  30 posts
  Here my situation; I adopted a rabbit from a shelter on Wednesday. Him and my rabbit Iris ‘kind of’ met. One of the women working at the shelter held him, I held Iris, and we both sat on the floor nearly next to each other. They seemed fine, but obviously this was just a very, very brief encounter. It was mostly just to see if they would be very aggressive towards each other right away. They were pretty neutral, didn’t care much. So we brought him home, and I currently have him in a pet store cage that I placed in front of Iris’ cage. She seemed okay with it all, but the next day she seemed a little bothered by the fact that he was there and tried to scratch at his cage. She didn’t look at all angry, or aggressive though? I haven’t had them meet in neutral territory yet. I feel as though I should get her more used to his scent. I’m not really sure how to go about this, or the whole bonding process. I have read a lot about bonding and know the different ways & stages of it, but I don’t know where I should start, or how I should progress.
  
  Also, I’ve heard that during the bonding process you should have them in semi-neutral territory, which is difficult since Iris is in one room nearly all the time? Oh, and is it safe to have him run around my room while she’s in her cage and can watch? I don’t know if seeing him running around would make her angry. Plus if he went up to the cage I’m scared she might try scratching him through the bars?
  
  I know this is really long, but I just need the help!
- 08/30/2013 at 1:58 AM
  LongEaredLions
  Participant
  4482 posts
  Indifference is good. To start, put them both in a bathtub, lay them side by side, and pet them. Then, let them run around, breaking up fights. Do this everyday, and increase the time each time until they don’t fight in the bathtub, then repeat these steps with semi-neutral and permanent home. The binky bunny info section has more info on bonding.
  
  Could you put an x pen around Iris’s cage when your other rabbit runs around so they cannot bite each other though the bars?
- 08/30/2013 at 9:21 AM
  Katrina
  Participant
  30 posts
  Yeah, I’ve read the info page about bonding on this website, as well as several other websites! I just wasn’t sure where to start. My only problem is that Iris doesn’t really have a semi-neutral territory. I take her downstairs into the living room sometimes, but she’s always shocked when I do and doesn’t like it all that much. Plus I have two cats that roam around, and I don’t feel she’s too fond of them!
  
  I don’t have an x pen around to use, but I’ll definitely be able to block off her cage from him!
- 08/30/2013 at 12:31 PM
  tanlover14
  Participant
  3617 posts
  Hey there Katrina.
  
  If you want your buns to get used to the others scent – I would suggest swapping towels between the cages. My buns love to dig into towels so once they had played on the towel for a few hours, I’d swap it into the others cage. This is also a good technique because if your buns has aggressive feelings he can take it out on the towel rather than the other bunny. Another simple solution is sprinkling a few handfuls of the others used litter into the other buns litter box.
  
  Sometimes I worry about putting their cages next to each other when bonding as I’ve helped multiple people bond and sometimes that actually just creates aggression and agitation between the two so usually I try and stick to the swapping items, not keeping them directly next to each other. Although others have used that technique with success so it’s really just a choice between which works better for your buns and their personalities.
  
  I would introduce in a completely neutral area (if you don’t have somewhere neutral a box or x pen with a sheet on the floor can quickly and easily create a space no one has been in!). If not, you really risk one becoming territorial which is exactly what you don’t want. Some vicious fights can really break out when one bun is afraid another one is going to try and steal his “area”. I actually try not to interfere too much in the bonding process. I get something loud and distracting and when they fight – I bang on pans or turn the vacuum on. The loud noise distracts them from fighting but also isn’t you interfering. I could spend all night when I was bonding my five pushing one away, separating but as soon as you’re not there they’d go right back to fighting. The loud, stressful noise usually made them rethink the fighting themselves rather than you constantly having to push them apart or intervene.
  
  I actually would completely eliminate the ability to see each other when one is having play-time. Put a sheet over part of the cage so they can’t see each other or move the cage to another room. You really want them having ABSOLUTELY no interaction outside the bonding time. I’ve found it typically just creates tension between the two.
- 08/30/2013 at 8:33 PM
  Katrina
  Participant
  30 posts
  Yeah, I did switch towels actually! I see what you mean with having the cages next to each other causing agitation. I moved his cage up onto my dresser, which is still pretty close to her cage. She can still tell he’s there, but hopefully that’ll prevent her from getting annoyed. I also get what you mean with covering the cage. I did feel like it would make Iris upset if she saw him running around on her carpet, and running through her tunnel (she really loves that thing!).
  
  I put them both in the bathtub today. I wore heavy gloves and had my brother sit next to me, ready to turn on the vacuum in case anything happened. Thankfully they didn’t have any real fights. He is the sweetest. He never tried to bite her or anything, and a lot of the time he would hide his face in her fur. Iris kinda turned to him as though she was maybe going to lightly bite him like 2 or 3 times (she didn’t look aggressive though, she looked totally normal) but when I just said “Iris” and kinda put my hand towards her, she would stop. I left them together for around 15 minutes.
  
  I put them both in the bathtub again around 5 – 5 & 1/2 hours later. They both didn’t like being picked up to be put in the tub, so they both went into one corner of it, and Iris stayed still with her head nearly touching the ground for a little while, and he would alternate from hiding his face in her fur and under her head, to pressing his face up against hers, to putting his face above hers, like he was hiding her. After a while she hopped to the over side of the bathtub, and then she went back and the two of them continued to sit there with their faces together. Again, she only quickly turned to him as though she might lightly bite him (it looked like when she turns to nibble me when I’m trying to pick her up sometimes) about 2 or 3 times, but she quickly stopped after I moved my hand close to her. They were pretty much just cowering together the whole time. They were together for around 20 minutes.
  
  I’m glad they at least haven’t gotten into any big fights so far! He is the sweetest though, I doubt he would even try to hurt her unless she did first.
- 08/30/2013 at 9:01 PM
  tanlover14
  Participant
  3617 posts
  Being nervous and stressed for bonding is really good – it helps them learn to rely on and trust the other bunny!
  
  Sounds like your bonding sessions have been going great! Keep us updated on how the next one goes!
- 08/30/2013 at 9:24 PM
  Katrina
  Participant
  30 posts
  Yeah, I was kind of thinking that too. I’ve read over and over of people suggesting to take the bunnies on a car ride to help them learn to trust each other by comforting one another. That’s kind of what they were doing today! Oh, and I was wondering about how many times a day I should be doing this, and around how much time in between each time? I’ve also read that once they start getting along more it’s good to have food available to them, since eating together can help them bond. Would it be good to try anything like this before I eventually move them to a bigger area? (not really sure how to move them to a ‘semi-neutral’ area since Iris isn’t very familiar with most of the house)
  
  Sorry for all the questions, I just want to make sure I know what I’m doing!
- 09/05/2013 at 8:31 PM
  Katrina
  Participant
  30 posts
  Well the next few times I had them out, Iris was only a little bit aggressive (she tried to scratch his head a few times in total). Iris even groomed him twice! They both had been cleaning themselves, Iris had flopped down multiple times, and he even lied down one or two times. Since everything was going pretty good I decided to move them into a bigger area (still neutral territory) so I isolated part of my kitchen off, set up two litter boxes, and left a dish with some food. I’ve done this about three times now. The first time I left them in for a while over an hour (I had them in the bathtub for around an hour the longest time) and they were mostly ignoring each other. The second time I had them out for 2 and a half hours. Iris was being kind of mean to him, and they had two little fights. Neither of them actually bit the other or anything, they just weren’t getting along. They both did lie down, though not extremely close to one another. This last time I had them out for around 3 hours. They only had one mini fight (even less serious than the other ones) and they cleaned themselves.
  
  There has been no grooming since I moved them to the kitchen, nor have either of them been lying down as much. It just doesn’t seem like they’re getting any closer. Is there any way I can help?
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