Bonding new bun with a Free Roam bunny?

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This topic has 5sd replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 6 months ago by Mirth.

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- 08/27/2016 at 9:38 AM
  Mirth
  Participant
  8 posts
  Hi All!!
  
  I’ve had Casper (male) for a year and a half now. I thought it was time for him to get a bun friend (female) so he went on a few dates at the adoption shelter. He got along very well with one of the gals and the bonder gal said they were already making great progress, though they couldn’t seem to agree on who was going to do the grooming, ha. Another date with Casper and Daisy that went well another day and I decided to adopt her that night.
  
  Casper is a free roam bun with reigns all over the house. He is high energy. Daisy – from what they have told me and from what I’ve noticed so far – is sort of a scared bun, but she is allowing me to pet her.
  
  I was told there are so many ways to try to bond and it’s harder to bond a free roam bun. One option was the Side-by-Side setup, so the night I took them back up I had them set up in the empty guest bedroom, which is a place he’s rarely allowed into. The entire time, Casper was looking for a way to get over the gates and out of the room, and in the early morning he was constantly thumping. There was poopies spread out all over the floor and not in the litterbox. Pretty sure he was a pissed bun, and I ended up just taking him out and giving him his free roam space back. And Daisy has found a corner that she runs to when she hears a noise or I enter the room. She hasn’t opened up to me yet.
  
  So now I don’t know what method to use for bonding these buns. I will be doing the 20 minute bonding session in a small neutral zone later today, but I’m not sure what to do for the rest of the day to get them accustomed to each other.
  
  TL;DR: My free roam bun was very displeased with the Side-by-Side bonding method so I let him back out while the new bun is still in her new area. What methods should I try?
- 08/27/2016 at 11:23 AM
  Benthebunny
  Participant
  550 posts
  Take them into a room they have never been in before, and get an Xpen. Put them inside and sit in thre with them. Break up any fights. Are they neutered, if they are not, neuter them before putting them together unless you want babies.
- 08/27/2016 at 12:34 PM
  tobyluv
  Participant
  3311 posts
  I have bonded free roam bunnies with new bunnies. The new bunnies stayed in a cage at first, while my other bunny was still free roaming. I would let the caged bunny out at times when my other bunny was in a different room. After letting the new bunny settle in for a week or so, I would start the bonding process. I did use an x-pen. Both my husband and I got in with the bunnies. We could pet them and comfort one if it felt intimidated by the experience, and we were there to break up any fighting if it happened, or to stop humping if it went on to long. We increased the sessions every day, taking the new bunny back to her cage, or placing them in separate rooms afterwards. After they were bonded, they both became free roaming.
  
  You do have to watch out for aggression through cage bars. With some bunnies, I never had that problem, but I could see that it might be a problem with my last pair, when my rabbit launched herself at the cage of the new rabbit, in an aggressive way. I made sure that I kept an x-pen around the cage, so that no one could fight or bite noses through the bars.
- 08/27/2016 at 1:32 PM
  Mirth
  Participant
  8 posts
  Thank you both so much for your replies! And yes, they are both spayed/neutered. It sounds like I did the right thing by letting Casper go back to begin free roam. I will do the neutral zone bonding a little later today and maybe open up her space a little more tonight, and more day by day.
- 08/27/2016 at 6:50 PM
  bpash89
  Participant
  307 posts
  Has Daisy had much time to get settled yet? A new environment/new human is pretty stressful for bunnies on it’s own. She might need some time before she’s ready to go through bonding. Also – let Daisy explore Casper’s space while he’s in a different room sometime (if that’s where the bonding buns will be living in the long run). He’s marked every bit of that space as his and he might have some territorial issues once she moves in with him.
  
  I haven’t started bonding yet (new little girl was just spayed recently) but i’ve been swapping out their toys and trying to get them used to each other’s scent too. My new little girl is in an x-pen in the same room though so they are forced to deal with each other a bit more (and i’ve been having litter box issues with the first bunny as a form of protest as well).
- 08/28/2016 at 5:09 PM
  Mirth
  Participant
  8 posts
  Thank you for the tips, bpash! As a scared-type bunny, I honestly don’t think she’s had enough time to adjust to the new setting yet, but the Bonding expert lady did say that I could start the bonding the very next day. And that sounds like a good idea, I’ll see if I can get her to come into his territory [which is pretty much everywhere ] within the next few days. So far I’ve done the litterbox swaps and blanket swaps, so slowly but surely.
  
  And good luck to you with your new bun and bonding efforts!!!
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