Hi there,

Oh man, I could’ve written this post! I have a 2 year old bunny (I’ve had him for 1 yr). He is free range and has been for several months. Exactly 2 weeks ago I brought home a 2 yr old female bunny from a shelter. I had introduced them at the shelter and the intro seemed to go well enough that I was comfortable bringing her home. I had them in cages side by side for 2 weeks – during that time I had to keep extra barriers up when my little guy was around her so he didn’t bite her through the bars. I also had to wash my hands after I touched her before I touched him so he didn’t attack me! Today was the first day I introduced them in my house in neutral territory. It did not go so well. Lots of chasing, fur pulling, and territorial behavior from my male – even in neutral space!

I’m sure there are others on here with more experience from me, but from what I understand, having both bunnies spayed/neutered is important before beginning bonding to minimize the impact of hormones on the process.

Secondly, ignoring is a good thing! I had moments today when my 2 ignored each other and I was pleased, lol. I wish my male had done a little more of that, but whenever he remembered that the female was there he lunged at her.

I contacted the local house rabbit association in my state (they have someone on call which is fabulous!) and she suggested that I let the chasing go on a little longer than the 10 seconds I did before I sprayed my little guy with water. As I said my female lost a chunk of hair in the process- but no skin attached, which apparently, is also a good thing. The woman at the association said that as long as both rabbits were not fully ‘engaged’ with one another it was less likely that a significant attack would happen.

Tomorrow I’m going to give it a shot in a slightly larger space, with more to do (more veggies to eat, things to explore) as I left the playpen completely empty today thinking that it would leave less to be territorial over.

So now they’re back in side by side cages – my male scent marked the ENTIRE room where their cages are with poos before he went back in, ha. He never does that!

I am very curious to hear what others have to say about this post (and maybe my thoughts as well) – some of the things I was told on the phone were ‘new’ to me compared to what I’ve read.

I’m right there with ya, feeling like ‘did I do the right thing?’ I feel especially badly because the new bunny is so stressed out, and who knows what she was through before she ended up at the shelter! However they are both happily munching on hay right now in their respective cages, so maybe that’s a start.

I’m no expert either – but if the bathtub worked, I would go back to it. I’ve heard load noises (turning on vacuum) when the buns start to act up is helpful – as they will settle down when scared.

After a few months of controlled, short bonding sessions – we let the chasing go on in larger areas for longer sessions – as Baxter could never catch Boo (Baxter was always the aggressor)….and eventually he just learned to accept Boo in his space.

Even once he accepted Boo – he would still boss him around…like not allowing Boo to be in the living room. So we used to Xpen them together in the living room, until Baxter learned to accept Boo there as well.

Socializing buns is so interesting… Best of luck!