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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 7sd replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 11 months ago by Piley.

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- 02/28/2016 at 10:16 PM
  Piley
  Participant
  4 posts
  I wanna ask for your expert advice. Im in the process of bonding my 2 male bunnies – Puffy is 3.5 yr old and Riley is 2 yr old. Its been almost 3 weeks now that im bonding them. 1st week in the bathtub Riley appeared to be the dominant one. Beside a little mounting, they spent time eating and snuggling. Then i moved them to my room (neutral space for both), again went good – snuggling, eating, lying down. Puffy continued to mount Riley and all the sudden, Puffy started to mount Riley and all the chasing but not too major. Riley ran away every single time. Finally there was some grooming from the both of them.
  
  So just this week, i moved them to the area where it will be their permanent home. All the grooming, snuggling, eating and lying down together but they seem to not yet able to figure out the hierarchy yet as Riley would mount Puffy then Puffy would wait till Riley is eating and mount him. Riley doesn’t like it and they start some minor chasing. They have been spending a whole day together and usually a good few hours every day in the previous weeks under my supervision. Im just not sure if i can let them spend the night together yet. What do u guys think? Are they bonded yet and should i let them spend the night? Its just so hard to tell.
- 02/29/2016 at 1:15 AM
  Mikey
  Participant
  3186 posts
  Are both boys neutered? Taking hormones out of the equation will help out a lot. Theyll mount to figure out who is the dominant one rather than mounting because theyre in the mood. Remember to remove the mounting bun after 10 seconds so the bottom bun doesnt get too stressed or irritated. I would not let them be together alone until the mounting and chasing dies down to once a day at the most; no mounting or chasing is always best
- 02/29/2016 at 9:25 AM
  Piley
  Participant
  4 posts
  Thanks Mikey. Yes they are both neutered a while back ago, i just didn’t have the guts to bond them till now lol. They get along very well during the day, just at night when i turned off my light and i could hear them chasing, ended up putting them back to their cages.
- 02/29/2016 at 6:54 PM
  Mikey
  Participant
  3186 posts
  I wouldnt leave them out together unless you are around to stop any scuffles. At night it might be best to keep them in their own cages until they get more used to eachtoher. You can also put their cages about an inch apart from eachother at night so they can sniff and see one another but cant nip or mount
- 03/06/2016 at 2:53 AM
  BinkyBunny
  Moderator
  8776 posts
  To help them get used to each other’s scent at night, you might try trading litterboxes or even trading cages each night when they are separated.
  I agree with Mikey not to let them alone until they are more bonded – less chasing and mounting. I know it’s been weeks already, but it can take more time.
  
  Sounds like you doing very well with your pacing and making steady progress…and they are adapting to the “new” location, but just need more time, hopefully just another week or so — but they will control that, unfortunately. LOL
- 03/08/2016 at 11:10 AM
  Piley
  Participant
  4 posts
  Thanks BB. I’ll start switching their cages tonight. One thing is Riley is potty trained and Puffy is not (he just kinda goes in the one area in his cage) – will that confused them if put one in the other cage?
- 03/08/2016 at 11:17 PM
  Love4Bunny
  Participant
  878 posts
  If Puffy uses one area in the cage for his business, it means he might actually be trained, to some extent. Have you tried relocating the litter box to the area Puffy frequents? I did that with my rabbit when I first moved him into his pen, and now he will just go wherever I place the litterbox. Of course, there is one spot in the kitchen that will always be the litterbox spot, and I assume it”s because he feels secure.
- 03/16/2016 at 10:12 AM
  Piley
  Participant
  4 posts
  Heyy,Puffy just kinda goes to the bathroom close to his hay feeder. End up I didn’t have to swap anything lol I was so sick last weekend and didn’t have the will to put them back to their cages so I left them out together at night. There are a little chasing 1st night that I had to wake up and make sure noone is hurt. They have been together since, been also a week now lol There are definitely less mounting and chasing, only still maybe 20%. Other than that the two of them are now partners in crime so cute together!!
  
  Thanks everyone here for the help.
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