bonding

FORUM

What are we about? Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules.

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 7sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 2 months ago by Lexiee.

Viewing 7 reply threads

Author

Messages
- 12/13/2015 at 6:00 PM
  Lexiee
  Participant
  14 posts
  My bunnies Casper & Pepper were soul mates when I first brought them home. They would cuddle, groom one another, and play together. For these reasons, I housed them together, and I was planning on getting them spayed and neutered.
  
  One morning I woke up to find their fur everywhere, and their cage a mess. I immediately knew what had happened, and I had to bring the female to an animal hospital to get stitches. After this, I got both of them fixed because I figured it happened due to hormones.
  
  Six weeks after they were both fixed, I tried to re-bond them, and I have come to a dead end. I currently have them housing next to one another but far enough that they can’t bite through the cages at each other. When I let the male out, the female tries to bite him, and sometimes successfully does but the male doesn’t respond other than jumping back really quick.
  
  When I put them together in neutral territory, the female bites at the male back end and most of the time he runs away, and on a rare occasion he will fight back. Neither of them try to mount the other, or show any dominance. I have taken them for car rides as well where they are fine in the carrier.
  
  I don’t know what else I can possible do. I have tried to put food in the neutral territory, but they are both a little under 5 months, so they have pellets 24/7, and are never hungry enough to randomly eat in a situation like that.
- 12/13/2015 at 7:54 PM
  vanessa
  Participant
  2212 posts
  It sounds like you are letting them out into eachother’s space,, or into a large space. I would start from scratch as if they never knew each other. The separation for healing, can cause them to unbond. The memory from the fight – could cause difficulty bonding. Their hormones should be settling out now, but start from scratch in a small area. Like half of the bathtub. Smoosh them, pet them, don’t allow free movement while they are still attacking each other. They have quickly learned not to trust the other bunny. They need to learn that they won’t get bitten, that the other isn’t a threat, doesn’t need to be bitten in advance, etc. Square one. I wouldn’t call it a dead end just yet. But I would start over – expecting that it may not be quick, it may be a good few weeks, maybe even a few months. Short dates – 10 or 20 minutes.
- 12/14/2015 at 10:45 PM
  Lexiee
  Participant
  14 posts
  Thanks for the reply and advise!
  
  I have recently separated my room so they each have a side to get their daily exercise for a couple hours without fighting. Neither one of them thump, or growl, or try to go after the other. They simply play, and non-aggressively follow the other when both are near the caged barrier. I also hung a chew toy with hay on the cage and they both went up to it ate the same time and ate off of it with no problems. The female still tries to nip at his nose when the male tries smelling her through the barrier, and he just kind of sits there, and doesn’t mind.
  
  I figured this would be a good idea so they can see the other bunny, and maybe get a sense that the other rabbit isn’t bothering anything, and I also wasn’t able to get any bonding time in today other than their exercise time.
  
  I just don’t understand. They don’t aggressively go after one another. She just nips his but and he usually doesn’t care, but sometimes she does it so many times that it’ll set him off, and she doesn’t like it. Also, neither of them are mean or aggressive towards me in anyway, they are both well behaved other than their lack of listening and responding which I’m working on with clicker training.
  
  I honestly think that I will be able to bond them back together, but I don’t know how to stop her from nipping, and I think that is the main problem.
- 12/15/2015 at 6:42 PM
  Lexiee
  Participant
  14 posts
  Today I had the chance to put the two buns in the tub to work on bonding. Before I did this they got their playtime, and were well aware of one another’s presence.
  
  During bonding time, they did pretty well, and I was pleased! I actually did a little longer that 20 minutes do to the good behaviour. The female, like always was nipping at the male, but I came to realize that after she does it and he turns towards her, she immediately puts her head down for him to groom her. Which he did, but sometimes he would put his head down as well asking for her to groom him. I am starting to think she just wants his attention 24/7 but he doesn’t want to give it to her all the time. During bonding, they did both groom one another, and both cleaned themselves in each others presence. They would also stay rather close to other, like they were snuggling, but maybe it was the desire to be groomed? There was also no circling, and no fighting. The male did thump twice when she nipped a little to hard but I just made a noise to get her to stop.
  
  If there is anything else that anyone knows that could help please let me know!! They will fight once one gets annoyed with the nipping, but I don’t know how to stop it.
- 12/15/2015 at 7:13 PM
  Lexiee
  Participant
  14 posts
  This was during bonding time today, they were snuggling close and he was grooming her head.
  
  White & Grey – Male (Casper)
  
  Black & White – Female (Pepper)
- 12/15/2015 at 8:23 PM
  vanessa
  Participant
  2212 posts
  Gorgeous bunnies. Sounds like she is demanding to be groomed. Keep it up.
- 12/15/2015 at 11:42 PM
  aBeautifulHope
  Participant
  170 posts
  I don’t have anything to add…but oh my gosh your buns are adorable <3
- 12/16/2015 at 7:31 PM
  Lexiee
  Participant
  14 posts
  Re-bonding Day 2!
  
  This bonding session went amazing!!!!! The female didn’t nip at the male once! She did happen to go under towards his private area when he stood up, and I am not sure what that means, but she did no harm. They both groomed one another an unbelievable amount! As the pictures show below, the male was very comfortable with the situation, and maybe it was because he was groomed the most and didn’t get nipped.
Author

Messages

Viewing 7 reply threads

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.