Advice for rebonding two shy female rabbits

[Puurohiiri]

We adopted adorable rabbit sisters, Netta and Nelli, about three months ago. They are shy toward humans and do not like to be petted but are quite curious and like exploring. We spayed them at the same time soon after adopting them. They were close friends but unfortunately Nelli, the dominant rabbit, got ill and was hospitalized for two nights. Their bond broke in the process and now we have difficulties rebonding them as they start to fight when put together. Netta seems to have gotten a big ego boost during her time alone and refuses to be submissive anymore. How can we get them to sort their hierarchy without a fight? Quite many bonding guides advice to pet the rabbits side by side after the fight, but that does not work in our case as they don’t like to be petted. Any advice what we should do to end the session positively? Also, should we continue the session after the fight after waiting a few minutes or is it better to put them back to their pens and wait for a longer time?

It is often advised to put the rabbits in the same carriage box and give them a ride, but the guides do not tell how do you put them in the box so that you can be sure they don’t start to fight? Do you put the other one there first and then shake the box while putting other one there or something? What do you do if the start to fight in the car?

I am very stressed about the situation, so advice is very appreciated. This is our first time bonding rabbits. I wrote some more details about our bonding process below, so if you have any insight about how hopeful I should be about the getting them bonded it would be appreciated too.

Spay/Neuter

Yes, both two months ago

Housing

They are living in a pen & large dog cage side by side. They are used to free roaming, so we let both outside in turns.

Bonding background

The bunnies have lived with us three month and the bond was broken 1,5 months ago. We have switched their places in cage & pen every evening for about a month. We did a big mistake at the start when we let them to interact with each other through the pen’s fence. Nelli managed to bite Netta to a lower lip which resulted in a nasty wound. We took her to the vet and luckily it has healed well. After that we put plexiglass around the pen. Nowadays bunnies often lay side by side in their pen & cage. Nelli seems curious and is longing for company. Netta is trying to act like the boss of the place, often flexing about how relaxed she can lay.  About week after the bite incident, we tried our first bonding session in the shower, but it soon ended in a bunny tornado. We waited for two weeks and tried again, this time in the kitchen where they have not been. They both ate treats which were left on the floor and after a while Nelli approached Netta and started sniffing her. Then Netta, the previously submissive rabbit, tried to mount Nelli. Nelli did not like that at all and they started to bite each other, which my husband stopped short. Yesterday we came to my husband’s parents to try bonding. As the fights seemed to start when the other starts to mount the other, we decided to prevent the mounting this time. There were some good signs, they were nose to nose at some point, and at some point walked past each other. However, then Nelli was going to mount Netta and although we prevented it, they still started to bite. Later at the same day we tried again. This time Netta tried very hard to put her nose under Nelli (all the way under her belly), which we stopped as Nelli has sometimes mounted Netta from the wrong side when they were still together. However, it still resulted in biting.

We tried one stress bonding session today, although I am not sure if this is advisable method or not. Neither of the bunnies like being petted so we tried to use to use the usually recommended side by side petting as stress bonding. Both bunnies were very upset about this so we think we will not do it again, or do you think it would be a good idea?

[DanaNM]

Hi there, welcome!

How long ago was the face-biting incident? After a serious injury like that bonding can be harder, but not impossible. In those cases, it’s actually recommended to give the rabbits a longer cooling-off period where they are not interacting at all (somewhere around 3-6 weeks minimum, depending on the severity of the injury). Then you would resume with pre-bonding side swaps. That said, they aren’t instantly attacking each other in bonding sessions so things may not be too bad.

So, in very tough bonds where the buns don’t like to be petted, it has worked for me to start with super short sessions. Definitely try to end the date before there is a fight. Larger spaces work well for this, because the buns will explore the face first and have a few minutes before they find each other. I like to set a timer for even as short as 30 seconds or a minute. Try to prevent fighting, but if they do start to scuffle break them up but wait for them to calm down before ending the date (ignoring each other is fine).

Car rides may be helpful as well. The way I do it when I’m not sure if they will fight is to get a big plastic tote (nothing on the bottom so it’s slippery) and have someone else drive. Have the car running with your driver ready. Pop both buns in the bin and go straight to the car. Have some leather gloves on and sit in the back seat with them and monitor. Drive around for 10 min or so and stop any scuffling. Then return them to their pens when you get home. If that does well then I would repeat that a few days in a row. Then you can do things like start with a car ride and then spend a couple minutes in the neutral bonding area. If you are bonding at someone else’s house this works great because they can ride to and from the bonding session together in the bin.

If they immediately fight in the car, then I think you should do a long cooling-off period to help them forget each other and start fresh.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Puurohiiri]

Thanks a lot for your advice! The biting incident was five weeks ago. We will try the car ride as you instructed. About bunnies calming down after a scuffle, should we just prevent them going near each other for a little while or would it work to put them on their carrying baskets facing each other?

On last date on Monday (before reading your advice) they had multiple approaches, but each time my husband had to intervene. Each time they had a “face-off”. Nelli nipped Netta at least on at least two occasions as Netta refused to submit. Nelli also once totally ignored Netta’s demand for grooming, as she wanted to explore and was looking at something else. My husband didn’t end the session on the first nip, as the bunnies didn’t seem too hostile and he was able to prevent escalation. He ended the session after third or fourth approach (he lost the count), i.e. after the second confirmed nip

[DanaNM]

When they approach each other to request grooms, try petting them on the head when they go nose to nose. Even with buns that don’t like pets, this will still sometimes make them think the other rabbit is grooming them if you time it right. If not, then it breaks up the interaction so it doesnt escalate.

And basically to end on a neutral or a good note, you should keep them together  but wait until they are not actively trying to nip at each other or chasing. Having a larger space to work in can help with this because they have room to move apart from each other. The idea is that if you break up the session every time they fight or nip, they learn that nipping/fighting makes that “other rabbit” go away and reinforces the behavior. Better to start with short sessions rather than push it too far and be forced to end on a bad note.

For reference, here are behaviors that are OK and those that should be stopped right away. If you know a behavior on the OK list always leads to a fight, then stop it, especially in these early sessions.

 

Generally OK:

-nipping

-mounting (if face mounting happens, spin the mounting rabbit around so they are in the correct orientation). If the rabbit being mounted tries to get away, prevent the mounter from chasing

-grunting

-thumping

-following with ears forward, short and slow chases (1-3 seconds)

-grooming requests

 

Behaviors to stop or prevent:

-hard biting (lots of fur yanked)

-boxing

-circling

-fast chasing (ears pinned back, tail up)

-fighting (work very hard to prevent this, but if a fight breaks out be sure to stop it right away).

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Puurohiiri]

Thanks again! Today, the first car ride went without a hitch. We were wondering about what is actually the reasoning behind the car rides, I have read it makes the bunnies to seek safety from each other and that way to think more positively about each other, but does it help them to set their hierarchy somehow?

Just to make sure we understood correctly, if scuffling occurs and bunnies would still be eager to go near each other, should we stop them going near each other by hand?

And about nipping and biting, we might have just mistook the rabbits nipping as biting and too eagerly interfered in the fear that they start fighting. Do you have some advice how to know which is which? If not sure is it probably better to interfere rather than wait what follows?

[DanaNM]

That’s great the car ride went well! I would repeat that at least a couple more days in a row!

There are a couple of ideas behind why it works. One is that rabbit are social by nature due to fear… so providing a slightly stressful environment helps them realize “hey the other rabbit isn’t so bad” and seek them out for shelter. The other idea is that when they are distracted by the car ride, they are less concerned with the other bun so they don’t attack them, so they start to learn the other bun is not a threat. It is not humane to do extreme stressing with rabbit bonding, but I feel OK with car rides since rabbits have to go on car rides regularly anyway, like for a vet visit. And it’s not something you would do for the entire time bonding, rather as a tool to get past serious aggression or other tough spots. They won’t set up their hierarchy in a car ride, but they can start to learn that the other rabbit is not a threat, so they can learn to sort out dominance without it breaking out into a fight. Of course keep an eye on your rabbits’ stress level. If either rabbit starts eating less or takes a long time to behave normally after a session, then take a day off and ease up a bit. It’s totally fine to take a day off here and there as needed.

If they continue to try to fight in a session, yes get your hands on them and prevent the fighting. I usually will pin the rabbits down when this happens. You can also stick a dust pan between them (or both). If they seem calm while pinned down, pet them. Eventually they will give up and go to their opposite corners.

In early stages I think it’s better to intervene too much or too soon than too late. It’s very easy for things to escalate to a bad fight when you are still learning to read their behaviors, so for now don’t worry about having your hands on them a lot! As you get a better read on them you can intervene less and less.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Puurohiiri]

Status update about our bonding that has not gone very well. We tried to have shorter sessions as you suggested but today Netta got another wound on her lip in less than 30 seconds. My husband took her to the vet and luckily, it is not nearly as bad as last time. The bunnies were faces against each other a few seconds and then they started to fight. The wound is either from a bite or a scratch. A little bit of fur and a bit of skin came off near the lip.

What do you think is the best course of action after this? Should we have them completely separate for a couple of weeks or do you think it is enough to stop bonding sessions for a while? Or would it be the best just to give up bonding them? Neither seems willing to submit to the other…

If we decide to separate them, is it enough to have them in different rooms? Our apartment is not very big so they would still probably smell each other.

[DanaNM]

Aww bummer, I’m sorry! It’s really stressful when they go right for the face 🙁

I think a long break with full separation is the best plan at this point, I think two different rooms would be enough. It’s totally your call as to whether you want to try again or just call it quits. I would keep them apart for at least 4 weeks or more. There isn’t really a hard rule on this, but my sense is the longer the better. Rabbits hold grudges unfortunately.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Puurohiiri]

Thanks again for your advice! We are still wondering what does it mean that our bunnies seem to be so good friends in their separate cages (lying side by side and curiously stuffing their noses through the bars ears up) but they still start to fight when put together. Do they just start to get annoyed when the other bunny refuses to submit?

[DanaNM]

Some bunnies are perfectly happy as neighbors but that doesn’t mean they will get along face to face. Also laying side by side can sometimes mean they are actually just keeping a very close eye on the other rabbit… and stuffing faces through the bars could go either way (asking for grooms, trying to mount, etc.).

It’s often hard to know what goes on in those bunny brains, but in order for rabbits to bond, one eventually needs to submit to the other. But to do that, they need to trust that the other rabbit is not going to attack them. When there has been an injury, it’s harder to get them to that point of trust. Females in general are the hardest to bond because they are more territorial. So I think with your two the goals should be to help them forget their grudges so you can rebuild the trust. Working with them in a completely unfamiliar territory (such as a friend’s house) may also be very helpful!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Wick & Fable]

Though seemingly small, rabbits do have a clear understanding that a pen wall is a firm delineation of territory, space, and also safety, so being really close with friendly interactions across bars can make sense, while fighting when the bars aren’t there also makes sense. I actually have two rabbits who live separated and are fine across bars.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[DanaNM]

just want to say your bunny room looks amazing!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Puurohiiri]

Thanks for the answers!

[Author]

Messages