There’s some good bonding tips here, though keep in mind bonding is not one-size fit all and different methods might work better on your pair (such as, some people prefer sitting in the bonding area, others don’t): https://web.archive.org/web/20160104195024/https://www.thebunnychick.com/2013/11/19/7-ways-hurting-rabbits-chances-bonding/ ; https://web.archive.org/web/20160104201506/http://www.thebunnychick.com:80/2013/08/25/complete-beginners-guide-rabbit-bonding-everything-need-know/

One thing I’d do is make sure you and your friend have oven mitts or a pan or shoe or something so if you have to interfere in a fight, one isn’t going to accidentally take off part of your hand.

You really want to let them explore each other. You can pet them to calm them down, but you really want them to kinda have free run of the pen to either ignore or explore each other.

Definitely let them explore one another. Lunging is acceptable as long as its not followed by fur pulling, chasing, or biting If chasing happens, block their path using oven mittens (on your hands) or a dust pan. Nipping, ignoring, thumping, mild chasing, mild lunging, and mounting are all acceptable. Youll want to stop excessive chasing, excessive lunging, mounting that lasts more than ~30 seconds, fur pulling, any and all boxing. Positive signs are ignoring each other, flopping, and cleaning themselves (and each other!).

Some advice is that you start with really short sessions and slowly progress to longer sessions. Such as, 2 to 3 minute sessions once an hour, every hour for the first day of sessions. The next day, do 5 to 10 minute sessions once every hour. The day after, 10 to 15. Etc. If at any time you get nervous, they get nervous, or they start to act out, cut down on how long they spend together again.

Have you read the bonding section on here Cocoa? I think its a good idea to give that a read over in its entirety first, so you can understand what the whole process looks like from beginning to end.

Take note of Mikey’s lists of good and bad behaviours – those are really important things to monitor.

And again, I agree with short sessions, building up to longer ones. One day, something will hopefully just click between them, so while the beginning can feel hopeless, suddenly they’ll seem to start being nice to each other a few weeks into the process!

Just block her and maybe pet her, then when Cocoa has settled somewhere, let Lily go past you again. You could try a smaller space if big ends up in chasing. How big is the space you’re using at the moment?

30 inches times 8? or just 30 inches?

Start with two minutes, and try to do at least three of those today. If they go well, then try five minutes tomorrow. If they don’t, take it back to one minute.

I’m going to guess 8 30″ H x 24″ W panels, assuming Cocoa got the x-pen from Amazon. If you want to make the space smaller you can just overlap the panels.

Honestly, I’m so bad with the imperial system I can’t visualise what either of those would be at all!

But I would agree, it sounds quite large so overlap some panels, at this stage, a smaller space is better. You could also try the bath tub.

30 inches is tall enough to make it hard for an adult to step over. 24″ is close to an adult’s knees

You might want to try a big box if you can’t use the tub. When I first started with Guinness and Bleu, the x-pen was too big since they’d just start circling at a point so we stuck them in a cardboard box and that encouraged less fighting. It also made stress bonding easier since we’d just pop the box on the dryer and let it run for a few minutes . 

A laundry basket should work the same too.

Posted By Cocoa on 3/26/2018 11:14 AM

I got it on chewy.com. It is a pretty big pen so I will overlap. They can’t go inside at all so I can’t use the bathtub. This is the one I have
https://www.chewy.com/frisco-dog-exercise-pen-step-through/dp/125049

Wait, they’re both living outside now?? What are your plans when it comes to cementing the bond? because you’ll need to supervise them non stop for 24-48 hours.

I would suggest more prebonding since there is growing and immediate attacks. Thats usually a sign of fear which makes it sound like they didnt get enough scent swapping with prebonding. To be honest, its very hard to prebond outside as they smell so much more than their own smells. Sounds can also set them off.

The garage could be better since its more isolated than just being outside Glad to hear quick sessions are working better!

Personally if the chasing is at a slow pace I let it continue, but if both bunnies are sprinting then you need to stop the aggressor.

Remember not to go too long in a garage of leaving them there, as garages can get really cold and really hot!

Try petting for longer after stopping the chasing. Has someone mentioned the squish method of petting yet? Gently by firmly press the bunnies together between your legs and pet them. Since theyre calm when youre petting them and only start to chase afterwards, it could be partially attention driven (“I want more pets, but I cant get them if youre here!” My Blue is like this). When you squish them gently together, youre showing them that the other bunny is not a threat and petting them both helps keep them both calm. When I was using petting methods in bonding, I would often have to do pet methods for several minutes at a time in the beginning.

I would focus on petting them both every time they feel nervous to help calm them down. If Cocoa shows too nervous, take a week or two break and work on prebonding again

Personally I think you should pre bond for a little longer. Hormones might still be making them aggressive too so waiting another few weeks might really help

On another note, do you have someone that can help you bond? Bonding can be very stressful, so having an extra pair of eyes (and hands!) can make it easier on you. 

Nipping is fine and not a sign of aggression. Nipping is how rabbits say “I dont like what youre doing”. So when Cocoa hopped away, Lily nipped to say “I dont like that you left”.

If I remember correctly, wasn’t Lily the instigator before they were separated?

If you let Lily go after Cocoa what usually happens? When I was doing short weekend sessions with my boys, Asriel would hop away rather fast, and Bombur would follow, but when he caught up they would just sniff each other, which is totally fine.

Assuming they don’t fight over the food I would imagine food is a good thing. Rabbits enjoy eating and they might associate being together with getting fed.

I agree, you should take a break from the bonding sessions and just swap cages/hutches until you move. Have you tried leaving stuffed animals in the cage? Lily might realize she doesn’t have to chase off Cocoa if she hangs around an animal that smells like Cocoa.

Hi Cocoa,

For difficult bonds, the space you use is very important, so I think waiting until you move is a good strategy, so you will have all neutral space. I would go back to pre-bonding until you move.

Once you move, I would try a very large space, with lots of hidey boxes (with at least 2 entrances, so no one gets cornered) and tunnels. When they chase, wait a couple seconds to see if they stop on their own. A little fur pulling might be necessary for them to establish dominance, but you will want to make sure it doesn’t escalate to a full on fight. Vienna had a very tough bond with her two, and she needed a large space for them to “chase it out”. I did read that Cocoa did ask for grooms at one point, so that means that she hasn’t submitted to Lilly.

If Cocoa always runs from Lily, and doesn’t try to fight back, then I would expect that eventually Lily should eventually accept that she isn’t a threat.

Does it seem like they always chase at first, and then settle down? How many sessions have you had?

I haven’t read through everything you’ve tried, but a car ride together might help as well.

Ok, and then what space have you been using for bonding sessions?

Ok, but not the same area where they live, correct? Just making sure the area is neutral….

You might try starting with a stress session, then moving them into the larger bonding area together. Putting them in a bin together on top of the washing machine while it’s running works very well.

I really think you should halt bonding sessions for a little while. It isn’t fair for Cocoa to be terrified. A terrified bun isn’t going to trust the bun that they are scared of. If you pre bond a little longer, hopefully Lily won’t feel the need to chase Cocoa when you introduce them again and Coca can relax a bit.

If you think a stress session is going make Cocoa even more scared of Lily, of course you shouldn’t do it.

To be honest, if you haven’t got neutral space, you shouldn’t be bonding them. Wait til you move.

Agree with Sarah, if it isn’t 100% neutral, wait till you move. It can really make a huge difference.

Let them settle in their new home for a week or two and then pre bond a little more. Say, a month? Then you should be good to start again

I would yes because your two fought (well one was attacked) They both need to get used to the other’s scent without being scared or feeling the need to fight.

hmm. I would definitely let them each settle in to their environment for a week. You could try to resume bonding in neutral territory, but if Lily is aggressive with Cocoa then you’ll need to go back to prebonding.

Personally I would do a little prebonding, at least 2 weeks. But I guess you could go ahead and try. Do be cautious though, cause if there is still a lot of initial aggression you could make things worse by continuing those negative sessions.

It is imperative to take this slowly and not rush it. Although it is very stressful for the owners and you just want them to become bonded so they don’t do this anymore, they must take the time to get used to each other more. I think it would double the stress on Cocoa if she’s in a whole new environment with an aggressive rabbit at the same time. They both need time to get used to their areas. I would give two to four weeks just prebonding and letting them get used to this area. It would just be a waste of your time if they continue to fight in the new home and you’d have to start completely from scratch. But if these positive signs show when you put them together without seperation of bars, then you can continue bonding. It seems that they have finally started to accept each other, but still be very cautious. If any more negative sessions occur, you will want to prebond a little more. It could be that having each other while they have been moved to a completely new area has helped them bond more. I’m glad that things are turning up.

It honestly all depends. If you’ve been attempting to bond them for almost a year, I’d give up and rehome. Bonding can take months though. Most bunnies can be bonded if you don’t rush and you do everything that needs to be done.

There’s really not an accurate way to predict the ease/difficulty of which rabbits will bond. Things can be going well and then take a turn for the worse, or things could be bad and then suddenly they have a breakthrough.

Personally, I advise to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. I had a bond that I thought was going really well, but then things started getting worse and worse. I was inexperienced and I didn’t really have neutral territory, so I blame myself for even taking on the task. I was so heartbroken to rehome the other bunny. No amount of preparing will make it less painful, but you might at least be able to reconcile when it comes time to make that decision.

Best of luck

It’s very hard to say whether they will or will not bond. I’ve read accounts of people finally bonding their bunnies after a year, and many consider 3-4 months to be average (I’m currently at the 4 month mark with my two…. it’s hard, I know). I’ve noticed people on this forum tend to have quick bonds (maybe those here are really experienced with rabbit behavior?), whereas if you go on other forums (like reddit), many folks there take longer and several months seems to be the norm.

I think in your case, it is important to remember that they were happily living together before, so I think there is hope. I know they were babies and didn’t have their hormones yet, but I think that relationship can be rekindled. Imagine a childhood friend, that you have a fight with them as you get older. If you can remember the good things, you can move past the bad things and rekindle that friendship. A change of scenery is especially helpful, as you might associate that person with a particular place, but in a new place, they don’t seem so bad.

You job will be to help them move past the fear so they can trust each other again. While you are re-building the trust, try to identify which behaviors lead to fights. Is one rabbit acing scared? Is one asking for grooms and being denied? Is it over food or litter box? Once you can ID what triggers fights, try to prevent them from happening in the first place. When one asks for grooms, pet them both. If they are scared, provide lots of tunnels and places to hide (with two exits) so they can take a break when they need one, etc.

Some pairs are deemed not worth the stress on the rabbits, because another pairing could be easier, but that’s not always the case, and sometimes you really want a particular pairing to work (like in your case). In those cases you’ll have to make a call as to whether to keep trying, or rehome one (or keep separately, but I think you mentioned that’s not really an option in your house).

I read a few cases recently where moving really helped the bonding process, so don’t lose hope just yet. Females are more territorial than males, so being in a very new space should be helpful.

Hmmm. It’s interesting that Lily will groom Cocoa, but is also the aggressor (if I’m reading this correctly). Please make sure they cannot nip each other through the bars, as that can really hurt the process.

We might have been over this already, but if you anticipate Lilly is about to start nipping, (like, Cocoa just moved or she is approaching her), pet both a lot and kind of flatten her into the ground as you do it. Start building the association that when the other rabbit approaches, good things happen. Do this when you stop chasing as well.

You can also try putting lots of yummy food everywhere (like pellets, or cheerios, or a favorite herb) to distract them from each other.

haha that’s great

Although grooming through bars is great, they shouldn’t be able to touch one another at all.

They shouldn’t be allowed to touch at all regardless of whether you’re supervising or not…