Bonding Advice and Etiquette

[BinkyBunny]

Hi everyone, 

This section can get heated due to differences about how bonding should be approached.  I think we can get rigid at times, but understandably, as we are trying to prevent injury and better “safe” than sorry is a common approach. I also think there is room to be flexible as each bond is different.    Please read the new post regarding this aspect 

https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/ta…fault.aspx (edited to add the correct link!)

The linked post is locked but I wanted to give members an opportunity to voice your opinion as I know many feel strongly about it.  I know some of you will agree and others will disagree. Be sure to keep things civil.  Please use this opportunity to create a productive dialogue. 
 We will most likely come to a point to agree to disagree but I think it is helpful to learn from each other and understand where others are coming from. 

[Nutmeg]

I agree BB – And I want to share how working with other members (DanaNM and A&B – who are awesome by the way) we took a different approach to bonding then what is excepted….

I started a bonding journal and it had been well over a month with bonding my bunnies …. I could not get past the hurdle of Face-Humping from Penny… BUT We are finally getting there Because I’m doing something that everyone would instantly yell “NOOOOoooo” Too…. Which is allowing the Face-humping.

But the decision to change up the technique – away from the standard of what should be stopped instantly – was worked out over a month of trying to do everything “by the book” as well as the other members helping me and learning about my specific rabbits personalities and watching video’s of them interacting.

It was something that we went in to very cautiously – but it WORKED. And it worked because we discussed alternate ideas when the “text book” way of doing things weren’t working. We took in to account their personalities and how the interacted. There was never any aggression or real fighting between them! Not even a nip and the only fur pulled was when they were gripping during a hump!

Because of this great forum and the way we worked together to bounce ideas and try something that normally would have been yelled about – they have now been in neutral territory since Tuesday straight and will be moving to their permanent home this weekend where I can watch them there with out being at work.

*** Note – I am NOT saying to allow Face-humping! I stopped it for a good month and you should stop it right away when you don’t know how they will react to being humped. What I’m saying is everything is different for every bunny. And while the standard may work 90% of the time, those of us in the other 10% may need help trying to look at things in a different way.

I love this forum!

[Asriel and Bombur]

I agree with Nutmeg (right back at ya sister at being awesome ). I think where the issue tends to be is when people seem to have blatant disregard for what numerous people are trying to say. When a new person comes and says their bunnies are bonded and are having some issues, but neither have been fixed… that’s when I think issues really start to happen. Because you have numerous people telling this person for the safety of their bunnies what needs to happen, but then they just say well they’re fine so I’m going to keep it this way. At least on my end, and I know for others too, we really want the hammer to hit the nail on the head because these poor creatures can die if it’s not done properly. And to me personally that’s frustrating, and it’s hard to take that step back and leave the situation.

I respect that people have differences in bonding techniques and even that some bunnies can’t be fixed so you will have potentially shaky bond. I think using some unorthodox techniques could work at times, and if all else fails for normal bonding then I 100% support that. It’s just when people are endangering an innocent creature that I find it hard for myself to ignore it.

[sarahthegemini]

Issues arise when people ask for advice and then disregard it completely because it’s not what they want to hear – i.e. people tell us their rabbits are bonded despite not actually going through the bonding process. Neither bun is fixed, new bun isn’t given time to settle in, no prebonding is done or very little, no neutral territory etc. The rabbits are just put together for a little while and are called bonded after a day or two. In this situation, as A&B said, we want to make it very clear that the rabbits in those circumstances are NOT safe. That’s why it gets a bit heated because we are looking out for the welfare of the rabbits.

Now I’m all for going against the norm. When it is appropriate. For example, my bunny’s first bonding session was 4 hours long. I marathon bonded them the day after and supervised them 24/7 for 2 weeks with the help of my partner. I had them sharing pellets and veggies, hay and water within an hour or so I believe and they even shared litter trays very quickly too. So being unconventional works. But it would be completely unethical to not say anything when somebody tries to say their buns are bonded when they haven’t acted safely (i e. they’ve rushed) I think in any situation (not just bonding) when rabbits are in danger or we think they are in danger, it would be wrong to ignore. If someone gets their back up because they don’t want to hear it, well that’s a shame. I don’t know how to combat that.

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