Tricky bonding

Forum

OUR FORUM IS UP BUT WE ARE STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF UPDATING AND FIXING THINGS. SOME THINGS WILL LOOK WEIRD AND/OR NOT BE CORRECT. YOUR PATIENCE IS APPRECIATED. We are not fully ready to answer questions in a timely manner as we are not officially open, but we will do our best.

You may have received a 2-factor authentication (2FA) email from us on 4/21/2020. That was from us, but was premature as the login was not working at that time.

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

What are we about? Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules.

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 2sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 6 months ago by Deleted User.

Viewing 2 reply threads

Author

Messages
- 05/03/2018 at 9:51 PM
  Chris
  Participant
  1 posts
  We have had a mini lop named Caramel for about a year now. He is a desexed and free roam bunny. We only put him in the cage at night while we sleep. We recently thought of bonding him with another female mini lop for companionship. Her name is Tara and is a rescue bun. She had a bad experience in the past showing bite marks on her ear. She is about 9 months old and is also desexed. We tried to bond them for a week or so now and since begining we realised that that she wants to be with Caramel but he keeps growling at her and bites and pulls her fur every chance he gets. She occassionally thumps but mostly just sits there shaken so we have to hug her and pet her to calm her down. They are in two separate cages put next to each other so they can get used to each other. We dont know what to do so in our effort to leave no stone unturned we are asking all the buny bonding parents to give us some advice.
- 05/04/2018 at 7:06 AM
  Heaven
  Participant
  256 posts
  Hi Chris,
  
  I’ve not bonded my bunny yet so I don’t have any first hand experience to share, but I do know that it takes a LOT longer than a week for rabbits to relax around each other! Have you tried prebonding (swapping their litter trays or items in their cages so they can get used to each others scent?) … maybe other members could chime in here
  
  I’d also say that since Tara is a rescue bun with a possibly traumatic past, I’m not surprised she’s nervous around him. I’d definitely say give it time – how long have you had her for?
- 05/04/2018 at 7:12 AM
  Deleted User
  Participant
  22064 posts
  How long have you had her? I think you need to let her settle alone, away from him due to the negative encounters, that way she can not stress out and get used to her environment. Buns can go into stasis when they’re stressed. Let her settle for at least a month, and then start prebonding them, as Heaven suggested. Like she said, her past is probably contributing a lot to her anxiousness, so she’ll really need a lot more time than normal to settle in without fear of being attacked. After letting her settle in for a month, you can put their cages next to each other again and start prebonding for another month. After this begin doing short 5 minute sessions in neutral territory.
Author

Messages

Viewing 2 reply threads

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.