Hello and thank you for your reply.

Yes i think i did rather rush it, Bonnie ended up with a slight mark on his ear, i actually came off worse trying to separate them (nasty gash on hand).
I have them separated again now, they have both been neutered for 8 & 6 weeks.

Today when i came home from work Bonnie god knows how managed to separate and sneak through into Clyde’s half of the x-pen, i do not think any fighting had occurred (no fur etc) and they seemed fine again together, really confusing how they get along one minute and so aggressive another.

When you mention swapping cages for about a month on alternate days, what do you mean when you say they stop reacting?

What do i do regarding daily exercise, at the moment i have been letting them out separately in the bedroom were their home is.

Thanks for your time.

Thank You, i will keep you updated on their progress.

Is it not good if they see each other exercise? 

Thank You, will be back in a month or two with my progress.

Your bunnies are so cute btw

Hello

This is the beginning of my 4th week with Bonnie & Clyde completely separated, exercising alone every day with no contact through the x-pen, i have blankets and plywood so they cannot touch each other.

Everything was going great until this morning i was in the bathroom and heard noises, Bonnie had jumped the middle partition of the x-pen and was fighting with Clyde, luckily i was near by and managed to get Bonnie back in his half of the x-pen, it was only about 30 seconds, plenty of fur but no serious injuries, i had made a mistake of putting his litter tray too near the partition and i can only guess he used the extra inches to jump over.

I am so annoyed and upset after 3 weeks of things running smoothly this happened, have i wasted 3 weeks and have to start over from scratch again? 

Thanks

Hi and thank you for replying.

I was going to start swapping the cages after 4 weeks but was worried this had set me back, Bonnie is so playful when he comes out, jumping on the bed and trying to get into every nook and cranny, Clyde is much more placid, but the aggression Bonnie shows towards Clyde when he sees him playing isn’t so great.

I am not sure if i have done the right thing by letting them see each other during play times,(the bedroom hopefully will be their home) although they cant touch each other they seem to get very jealous seeing each other play especially Bonnie, i could try using blankets on the outside of the x-pen but Bonnie will climb anything he can and i am worried he will scamper up into Clydes half.

I never thought bunnies could be so stressful 

Thank You

Hello, hope your fine.

I started swapping litter trays for a few days with no aggressive behaviour, and have now just swapped cages, Clyde is just his usual placid self, Bonnie is exploring everything, jumping in and out of the litter tray and rolling around on the floor, is this angry or happy behaviour?

Shall i swap cages everyday for at least a month?

Thank You 

All sorts of behaviour last night and this morning, constant running around cages, stamping feet, trying to jump out the cages (when one has his exercise time), when out a mad 5 minute flit and then a few hours relaxing on the bed.

Will carry on as you said.

Thank You

Hello, Happy New Year and hope all is well.

I am coming up to nearly 2 months now of swapping Bonnie & Clyde’s cages every other day, sometimes no reaction has occurred but  recently (past week ) especially Bonnie has been very hyper on the cage swap, running and jumping around like crazy, sniffing everything, rolling around ( this after nearly 2 months), its like its the first week and not 8 weeks.

I still see signs of aggression (mainly Bonnie), when i stroke Clyde, feet stomping etc, trying to get nose and paws through the bars at Clyde, i am not looking forward to the next stage at all, should i begin with the Bonding or wait longer?

Also how do i get hold of them, they absolutely hate being picked up, last time was a nightmare trying to grab them, i have gained the trust  by stroking them and don’t wont to ruin  that trust by having to pick  them up and scare them.

Thanks

Hi, they have never been in separate rooms (not really possible tbh),the x-pen is split for them, aggression seems to come with playtime and when Clyde gets attention from me, I do have a pet carrier btw.

Thanks

How long do you think I need to carry on? I’m thinking this is going to be a long process

They can see each other and do sometimes sit next to each other alongside the bars (can’t touch though), I actually have one of those baby cams so I am always checking on them while at work lol, never seems any aggression. Should they not be seeing each other do you think?

Hi, so i have gone 3 more weeks now swapping cages and have not noticed any aggressive reactions, do you think i am ready for the next step? As i mentioned before   they do not  like being picked up at all and the use of maybe a carrier, this would be fine just the once, but using it all the time to transport them to the bonding place i feel will be impossible, i just cant see them being enticed into the carrier for every bonding session ( they are not stupid and know the reason why).

Thanks

Hi, so I managed to do 3 sessions of 5 minutes, I did as you suggested and used their litter tray to transport them to bathroom.

First session they just sat next to each other with little interaction, the next two sessions an hour or so part and again 5 minutes bonnie most of the time had his head under Clydes tummy and cheeks, near the end of the session Clyde would stomp.

Are the signs encouraging? , and should I carry on with 5 minutes or increase maybe.

Thanks

Sorry for your recent loss, thanks for input much appreciated.

I had two 10 minutes sessions last night, first session was sitting mostly face to face, second session they sat alongside each other cheek to cheek, pretty stressed out I thought, but as soon as they come out they are within seconds back to their happy selves.

Thanks

I only had chance for one session last night, I managed about 15 minutes with Clyde spending most of the time licking Bonnies head, hopefully that was very positive.

Should I have kept the session longer because it was going well or still remove them?

Thanks

Hi, another good session last night for 20 minutes this time, bonnie was cleaning himself in front of Clyde and then licking his head for most of the session, Clyde did look funny with his head so wet with the licking.

Bonnie is already getting wise to being carried in his litter tray, jumps out every time I try and pick it up.

Clyde during the sessions is the only one who has stomped, is this because of the stressful situation ?

Thanks

Yesterday it was bonnie doing the grooming, the night before the other way round, will do another session tonight, is longer better or more short sessions? I don’t always have the time until the weekend for more sessions

Thanks

Another great session last night, 30 minutes this time

First 20 minutes bonnie was grooming Clyde as well as cleaning himself, the last 10 minutes he put his head under clydes tummy and got groomed himself.

I did notice the time bonnie separated he started licking a bit more aggressively around clydes bum area, stomps again from Clyde again, but hopefully a good session

Not so great today, they were bit more hyper than the previous sessions, Bonnie suddenly just flopped in front of Clyde which Clyde did not seem to like and a small scuff took place, i separated before any harm or real contact took place, they then just sat face to face so i ended the session.

Was i right in ending the session because i keep hearing try to end on a positive note, i did not feel comfortable the way things were going, the only thing i did different was to give them some food from my hand between them when i stared the session and again clyde was stomping.

Hopefully a good 40 minutes today, lots of grooming from Clyde with Bonnie not doing much at all really just enjoying the attention so it seems.

Clyde did on a few occasions try humping which only lasted a few seconds, he did attempt to hump bonnies face which i stopped immediately, should i always intervene with humping?

Towards the end of the session this time Clyde flopped next to Bonnie and started grooming him from that position (no reaction at all this time), hope this was a positive Date   

Good 45 mins today, mutual grooming for the whole session and 3 flops from Bonnie.

Great thanks, would I be able to use another bonding area such as my living room if I make a small enclosure, I could concentrate more hours with them, I find sitting in the bathroom for nearly an hour is hard work

I made a small enclosure as mentioned in my living room (probably the length of my bath), i was slightly worried because it was the area they had that bad fight last year, but i blocked off the sides as you said and neutralized it as best as i could.

 They had a really good 2 hours together, i gave them some hay which they both shared, put in a bowl of water and also gave them some veg which they shared and didn’t even fight over.They did plenty of mutual grooming and flopping and even had a little sleep together, no humping in the whole session.

Do i keep increasing the time each day? also when they have their playtime in the bedroom i have always blocked off the other ones side of the x-pen so that their is no interaction and touching through the bars when one is having his time out, do i remove the covers or still keep covering the pen, the same for the middle partition of the x-pen which has plywood dividing each half so they can not touch.

Thanks

I started last nights date at 5pm when i arrived home, everything went great again, mutual grooming, plenty of flops, sharing food and relaxing side by side.

I had forgotten to ask you regarding using a litter tray, wasn’t sure to use a new one or one of their own, so i just put in one of their own (it had been cleaned as i did both the cages as soon as i came home), it didn’t cause any problems, they both ate from it and used it without any aggression.

It was now 10pm and they had got along fine so i decided to try overnight, i slept on the sofa (well i tried to sleep i woke up every hour), when i eventually woke up at 4 they were both sitting side by side just watching me through the bars, i hope nothing happened during the times i was sleeping (pretty sure it didn’t),

I worry about exercise during these dates, i could only give them an hour each this morning before going to work.

So they had a good 11hrs or so together, hope that was fine and i didn’t get a bit carried away.

“Dinner and a movie”, i like that, but in my case “Dinner and Football”

Thanks for the link very interesting, but i also found it very confusing……..using a bath for bonding is pretty much a no go, and the neutral bonding area is as large as possible, unless i read it wrong i don’t  quite understand. 

As they both live in the bedroom with the x-pens and use the room for the playtime and exercise, could I maybe use the landing as semi-neutral?, I always leave the bedroom door open during exercise time, so they do run into it every day.

Do I have another overnight in neutral or go straight to semi-neutral?

Thanks

I decided on another overnight and will wait for weekend for semi-neutral so i can watch closely on them.

Another really great evening and night together, so cute when they sleep next to one another, makes you wonder how they could ever fight from now on (but i am not getting carried away).

When i start on my landing for semi-neutral do i give it a good clean? and shall i let them have all the landing or use the enclosure i have  been using for the past few nights in my living room? sorry for all the questions

Thanks

Last night was a bit more active, bit of humping woke me up, with just a little scuffle and then back to mutual grooming, this early morning was the same, they both like to be stroked together which today seemed to make bonnie want to hump more, again after that they groomed again and settled down, the humping only lasted seconds so I didn’t need to intervene.

Will maybe do a few hours in semi tonight and then the whole landing at the weekend

Not a good weekend for me at the moment, Friday was another overnight in their  enclosure in the living room which again went really well.

Yesterday morning i put the enclosure on the landing, i decided to keep them in it for most of the day instead of a few hours and then  letting them roam free on it, i could not possibly sit on the landing for hours on end (i would have froze to death), so i had a huge mirror directed at them from my living room door, 9 hours of total bliss, grooming, relaxing, digging, then a fight breaks out which i separated immediately, i managed to stroke them both and settle them down while giving them some pellets.

Bonnie seems to be the aggressor, i never felt comfortable leaving them so put them back in their cages overnight, at the moment they are having their separate exercise time.

I am in limbo now, shall i put them back in the living room for a couple more nights or try again on the  landing?, i have no idea what started the fight( no injuries btw, just plenty fur), so disheartened that after nearly a week of great progress i feel back at stage one. 

Yes maybe I got carried away!

I went back to neutral for a 3 hour session, very tense at first, Clyde flopped in front of bonnie which he took exception to and lashed out, I stroked them and tried to relieve the tension, the rest of the session was very standoffish, the odd bit of grooming and resting apart from each other.

Will switch back to semi tonight for a few hours

Thanks

Hi, Monday i gave them just an hour in the enclosure in semi, it went well with no aggression and just a little grooming, plenty of stomping though

Last night i did the same kept them for an hour then let them have free roam of the landing for about 20 minutes, plenty of exploring and sniffing, at one stage Bonnie took a lunge at Clyde so i calmed them both down and a little bit of grooming took place, Bonnie was really hyper the little bugger even bit me which he has never done before. I sat between them most of the time so i could try and stop any aggression, not sure if i should sit away from them or do as i did, what do you think?

When they had their separate exercise time they both went straight to the landing area and ran around and were very reluctant to move, both really hyper running  and jumping like crazy.

Not a great session again:, just about managed 40 minutes, first 20 was not much contact with just a few seconds of grooming, then the next 20 minutes was constant lunging at each other, pretty sure it didn’t escalate because I intervened at every opportunity.

Not sure whether to persist or go back to neutral for a few days, why don’t folk just use neutral as the home if this is the place they seem to bond together

Yes I was thinking out loud really! It wouldn’t be impossible for them to live in living room area, but ideally I prefer bedroom area.

I will switch back to neutral for a few days then give semi a go at the weekend, do I ever give them free roam in neutral or stick with the small enclosure I have?

Well i gave them a good 2 hours in enclosure in living room again, you would think they were 2 different bunnies, mutual grooming again with no aggression at all.

Never got chance to try semi, but they had fri,sat,sun in neutral for a few hours and all went great again, will start off this week in semi and see how it goes.

So I gave them another hour in neutral which again went great, I cheated a little bit and moved the enclosure to the landing doorway so that it stayed in the living room but the opening led to the landing (semi) which I split in half for them instead of giving them the whole of the landing like last time.

It went well, no aggression just exploring really, Bonnie was wanting to be groomed but Clyde seemed too busy eating, although this was more in the enclosure area more than the landing.

They also know what to expect about getting them into the carrier to transport them, much less fuss now which makes things so much easier.

What should I try tonight do you think.

Good session tonight, 1 hour in neutral then i gave them 30 minutes in semi, this time i allowed them just the landing with no access to neutral. They were sat together for some stage so i stroked them both for around 5 minutes and then mutual grooming took place.

I did half the landing area for them just to reduce the space slightly, the other half is the bedroom door area (where they live) so i thought i would let them get use to one half first.

A good hour last night in semi, increased the size of the landing area to about 3/4, first 15 minutes or so was exploring and pretty much ignoring each other, then mutual grooming and some flops and a little sleep alongside each other

My Bunnies just after grooming needing a rest

I cant help but feel really tense when i put them together, i am always expecting a fight to occur, i can only ever relax when they start grooming, i know they say that they can pick up signals if you are tense but i just cant seem to settle

Gave them an other hour this morning with the whole of the landing, mutual grooming again and a couple of flops, bonnie for me has always been the aggressor and he is the one who is always shoving his head under clyde to be groomed, clyde always ignores him at the start of every session and its only about half way through the grooming takes place.

Happy Days

Thank You, the little bugger Bonnie is at the back.

I have been off work today so have managed 4 sessions of an hour or just over, been really good with plenty mutual grooming and what always looks like kissing each other, climbing all over me, cheek to cheek with plenty stroking which they love.

I will keep going tomorrow and hopefully increase the time at the weekend.

I read recently (not sure which site) that some people seem to go straight to the living area from neutral and miss out any bonding in semi, have you heard that yourself?

thanks 

You think i can have another session in semi tomorrow and then try living area at the weekend?

Any advice on cleaning the permanent living area, are we talking every single nook and cranny , plus my bedroom is pretty much a fixed furniture arrangement (attached to walls etc) the cage and x-pen can be rearranged and small things no problem, and all this takes place before i even attempt a session?

Thanks

Really positive past few days, had them in semi most the weekend and did a long stint (8 hours), no problems at all.

Decided to go for the big one and give their permanent home a try, managed to move the cage in my bedroom to a different position after a very thorough clean and have split my room in half at the moment, i have completely hidden the bed half of the room(place they love to sit and sleep) with plywood and let them have the other half with the cage, this half has been thoroughly cleaned, i will do the bed area the next couple of days (took me all day yesterday just to do one half).

They have had 24 hours monitored  in the cage half of the room and have been really good (fingers crossed), they wont even leave each others side, i just seen Clyde jump about 3 feet in the air , i am really happy with the progress so far.

Yes thank you all going good so far, atm had 36 hours together and seem  happy, did notice the first bit of humping before but it did not escalate and  they seemed to just either get away from each other without fighting, and a little bit of a nip, but then groomed not long after,

 I still find it very stressful 

Oh i really hope so, not sure i can call it official just yet! 

I opened up the other half of the bedroom (thorough clean) and they have had the night together which again has gone great, poor bonnie had around an hour of clyde being really excited with quite persistent attempts at humping, again no aggression just bonnie getting out of the way, in fact every attempt by clyde would end with bonnie tucking her head under clyde for a groom so i have not witnessed any antagonism as yet.

I just worry when i am not around it can continue and lead to something a bit more nasty, is this clyde trying to be the dominate one and will it calm down?

Thanks

Plenty of grooming still and flopping, both like to be stroked together with their heads touching and relaxing side by side, just want to be in a position I can totally relax leaving them all the time.

They are doing great thank you, so pleased and this site has helped me so much, great help, i hope you have good fortune with your bunnies

My Bonded Bonnie & Clyde

I would like to thank you so much for all your help ( and everybody who has had an input on this thread), could not have done it without this site and your help, much appreciated it really is

I am actually going away for a few weeks and so much wanted them bonded before so it would be so much easier for family to care for them, so this is a massive bonus for me.

So back to B&C, been over a week now and all is great, follow each other around all the time, plenty grooming, sleeping together,eating together, and playing having fun. Bonnie is always rejecting Clyde’s advances (which happens a few times a day) but just shrugs it off and it never lasts more than a few seconds and never turns to aggression.

I have noticed that they show me less affection now and don’t seem to like much contact as before.

When do you think i can introduce them to my living room area baring in mind they did have a few bad fights in there last year, would all that be forgotten now?

Thanks 

Hello, so back from hols and everything went great with family looking after B&C, no problems at all and i nearly lost them as family wanted to take them home.

I have removed the cage now and just given them a corner with litter trays etc so the bedroom is now their official free roam home.

I have noticed Clyde still getting frisky with attempts at humping but again never any aggression, just confuses me really because i thought the whole point of a neuter would completely stop this kind of behaviour!

I would like to try and introduce them to my living room area now (under supervision as its not really bunnie proof ) if you think that would be ok to do?, they have had a good month together or should i wait just a little bit longer?

Thanks

Hello just thought i would update everybody if they followed my bonding thread.

I Got in touch with Sirius and Luna who helped me a lot during my bonding process so if anybody has had similar situations their input would be much appreciated.

so sorry to contact you via message but the forum is down and i need your advice please. Clyde was poorly over the weekend so a visit to the vet was needed yesterday, i had to separate them for 24 hours with Clyde in the living room with me and Bonnie in their home (bedroom), i put back Clyde with Bonnie this morning and everything seemed fine, grooming etc, Bonnie then came into the living room where Clyde had spent the night (they do both have free roam of the living room when i am home), back into the bedroom and they had a pretty bad fight, i intervened and tried to calm them down and another fight started, plenty fur and aggression. They are now separated Bonnie in bedroom and clyde in living room, i do have a grid door which attaches to the bedroom so they cant come out at night, i have let them see each other through the grid door and they have tried to bite each other. I dont know what i should do, do i leave Bonnie in the bedroom (i dont want him to get territorial ), or do i put them both on the landing separated so they are both sharing a semi neutral space together. Thank You

I’m sorry to hear Clyde was ill! Hope he’s doing better now. Unfortunately this is pretty common with taking just one rabbit being taken to the vet, as they smell different when they come back. Sometimes just one rabbit being ill can cause fights too. If I was you I would keep them where they can see each other but can’t touch for a couple of days on the landing, then try them in neutral territory again. Hopefully it won’t be a long rebounding process, as they should remember each other. Sorry this has happened, you worked so hard on that bond!

I am really stressed out at the moment and feel i have lost them both, can not believe after only 1 day they are fighting, i am unsure about giving them exercise, do i use the bedroom(their home)or the living room where they are both at the moment.

Thanks

thanks