Stuck in a loop with bonding

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 1sd reply, 2 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 4 months ago by Mikey.

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- 10/28/2016 at 9:51 AM
  Slemge
  Participant
  1 posts
  Hey everyone.
  
  So we have two spayed, female rabbits, Daisy and Oakley, that we are having some serious bonding struggles with for about a year now.
  
  Oakley came first, we got her as a baby bun and had her for just under a year before we adopted Daisy from our vet (she was in need of a new home and we decided to take her in as a friend for Oakley). Daisy is about a year older than Oakley.
  
  The first meeting seemed to go well. We dated them twice and there were no major issues. There was even grooming (I think Oaks was really excited to be around another bunny for the first time and she was pretty happy). We thought all would go well.
  
  Then came the day we officially got Daisy. Our vet tech brought her to our house, we dated them again just to make sure they still liked each other–it was great! They were grooming each other and playing just fine. I (quite naively) thought they would be an easy bond. We separated them and left the house to go purchase some extra supplies a few hours after she came to the house.
  
  When we got back things were noticeably different. Daisy was very…Excitable? They were in separate x-pens and I could tell Daisy was “chasing” Oakley around as she would move in her own pen. Following her every move. Again, naively, we tried to let them spend time together but it turned to fighting and we separated them again immediately and chose to let Daisy settle in before trying again.
  
  Since then, it has been an uphill battle. They are finally at a point where when one is out, they lay next to the other one who is not out, and they groom each other through their pens, but when they are out together after a few minutes, Daisy will try to hump Oaks and it turns into a brawl. I know it’s recommended to let them “duke it out” so to speak, but we always have to pull them apart for fear of one getting hurt, which has happened a few times. They clearly like each other, but as soon as Daisy tries to hump Oaks all bets are off. I’m not sure what else to do at this point–we’ve been trying with them for a year. Neither one is ever aggressive except in this particular situation. Any suggestions/help would be appreciated!
- 10/28/2016 at 12:30 PM
  Mikey
  Participant
  3186 posts
  Dont let them ‘duke it out’. Thats not a safe option, and very good of you to break up
  
  Since youve tried only bonding them in the room they share, try bringing them into the bathroom for bonding sessions. The room they share isnt considered neutral, so thats why theyre starting fights. The bathroom (or any other small room they dont have access to) should be small enough that you can stop any scuffles as soon as they start, and neutral so they have no need to fight over territory. They may still nip, which is fine as long as theres no fur pulling, and hump, which is also fine as long as you pluck the top bunny off after a few seconds, but that is them figuring out their spot on the totem
  
  Since the fights seem to start with humping, i would try to avoid humping for the first few days of the new bonding sessions. When you see Daisy try to mount Oakley, quickly pull her off and set them side by side and pet them for a solid minute or longer. This should hopefully avoid a fight, and hopefully push Daisy to finding a different way to claim alpha, that hopefully wont start another fight
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