Bonding

[RavenFluffOz]

Hello, up until Sunday, I had two very happy bonded bunnies. They are about 3 1/2 years old, male (Fluffy) and female (Raven) both neutered. On Sunday, I brought home a male Flemish Giant Rex, Ozzy. He is not quite 11 weeks so he cannot be neutered yet. I have read everything about bonding. I know it may be difficult and slow. It took me about 2 months to bond the two when I brought Raven home. Now, because they came from a shelter, they were already altered when they met. I’m worried I may be going about this wrong. Would like to hear opinions. I have Ozzy in an x pen right next to the other two who are in a c&c cage, 3×3, with 2 levels ( they are not caged much, out from about 4pm till I go to bed, and roam in the morning too). Anyway, when I brought Izzy home the other two were not happy. Lots of growling. Fluffy keeps attacking Raven. Lots a chaos I the cage. When they’re out, I have to put a blockade to prevent them from biting Ozzys nose. I put a piece of cardboard in between the cages so they would see each other a freak out all night. Now, by today, that seems to have gotten better. Fluffy has seemed to stop attacking Raven. When they’re out, they still try to get to Ozzy and growl when I “encourage” them to leave him alone. I do not plan on making formal introductions or bonding sessions until Ozzy gets neutered. So, did info the right thing putting them next to each other? Should they be in separate rooms? Just don’t want to make the situation worse. But after two days there at least is no more attacking of each other. It’s already difficult retrying to make sure all rabbit get time out of the cage. Lucky for me, Ozzy is a cuddler and will sit next to me on the couch while the others roam in the evening. This is going to be a long six weeks. Any advice?

[Bam]

I think it’s good if they are in the same room, if you can put a barrier between them so they can’t reach in and bite. Rabbit bites can be nasty.

During pre-bonding it might be useful to exchange litter-boxes between the new and the “old” rabbits, so thy get used to the scent of the other rabbits droppings and pee. You can also use 2 stuffies in the form of rabbits that you “rub” against the new rabbit and the “old” rabbits and then put the stuffies in the opposite cages. That way the rabbits can take out aggression on the stuffies if they want to. Use stuffies that have embroidered nose and eyes, stuffies for dogs are the best.

It’s very wise of you not to do bonding until new rabbit is neutered and about a month has passed. That vastly increases the chances of success!

[RavenFluffOz]

Thanks. Aggression between my two bonded rabbits has seemed to have ended. Last night they behaved more like themselves, lounged more, and weren’t completely obsessed with trying to get to Ozzy. Lots of marking in front of his cage, but I expected that. The hardest part now, while waiting to get Ozzy fixed, is letting all the rabbits have a good amount of time out of their cage. I knew about the litter boxes, but thanks for Stuffies idea. Hadn’t thought of that. I have a piece of cardboard between the two cages so they aren’t taunted all night. But think I’ll remove it in about a week as they get more tolerant. Ozzy is a real sweetheart. I’m hoping I’ll have three happy buns in a few months!

[Author]

Messages