Bonding Advice for new owner

[asnow]

Im looking for some advice on bonding my rabbits. We got a girl bun about 2 months ago and she quickly became free roam. About 3 weeks later we brought a boy bun home. We were lead to believe that it would be easier to bond them and unfortunately did not do enough research. At first our female was being territorial chasing etc but the boy always ran away and no fights happened, we thought she was asserting dominance. It tuns out she was pregnant. She had 2 kits that didnt make it, and we actually had to take her to the vet because the second one got stuck. We seperated them after because shortly after this we got our boy fixed. We kept him n a seperate room to heal. 2 weeks later we got our girl spayed. Shes been spayed for 2 weeks now and our boy has been fixed for almost 4 weeks. We’ve kept our girl in a bedroom to heal from surgery with a grate in front of the door so they could see each other. Both buns interact through the grate and seem interested in each other and I feed them on either side of the grate so they get used to eating next to each other. I think our girl is getting bored in the room, shes nipping more when we go in I dont know if shes mad becauase she sees the other bunny roaming around the house. I dont know how to go about bonding at this point, either in increments or 24/7 bonding where we dont seperate them unless they fight. Our boy is about 5 months and super friendly our girl is about a year old and more skittish, we dont know what her situation was before we had her. Any advice would be appreciated.

[DanaNM]

I’m glad you got them spayed and neutered, that’s the most important first step!

I would wait another 2 weeks or so for your girl’s hormones to settle down. They can experience fluctuations for 4-6 weeks, but usually waiting 4 weeks is enough. Her hormones could also explain the increase in nipping you are seeing.

First I would alter their set-ups so they are living in side by side pens, with a buffer of about 6 inches between them so they can’t nip through the fence. Then swap who is in which pen every day or two. This is called “pre bonding”, which you have already done a little of by feeding them near that grate, but having them switch homes really helps this them be less territorial. I would do side swaps for 2 weeks to start, and longer if you see they are still very tense or aggressive through the fence. The goal is to see them behave in a relaxed way towards each other through the fencing.

Once they seem good with pre-bonding, I can do some dates in neutral territory. Neutral territory is really important in this, I don’t tend to use a set approach where it has to be all short dates or all long dates. Really the most important things are to prevent fighting, and allow them time to interact safely so they can sort out their dominance. Given their history and your experience level with bonding, I would find a very neutral location in your home (where neither rabbit has been), and set some short time goals for first dates (2 – 5 minutes tops). During these dates don’t be afraid to pet them a lot and have your hands on them (but wear thick gloves!). The goal is to prevent fights from occurring, and try to end the session on a good note (so both buns are calm or at least ignoring each other).

I often like to do shorter sessions for a bit until I get a sense of how the buns will be, then I start increasing the time they spend together as much as I can once they are able to spend 30 min together without fighting. Marathoning (24/7 sessions) can be extremely stressful for all humans and buns involved, especially if you are newer to bonding. I like to wait to do marathon bonding until the buns are close to being bonded (spending 6 -8 hours together happily) and just need that final push.

Keep us posted on how the pre-bonding and first few dates go and I can advise on next steps!

. . . 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.  

[asnow]

Thank you for the advice! we did swap them out in living spaces yesterday and while waiting for a reply we decided to do a play date. we put them in a bathroom that neither had been in before. our boy bun tried grooming our girl but she wasnt too into it yet. He kept going up to her but she would do a little nipping/ lunging to get him to back off which he did. We did 15 mins and they were eating near each other at the end. Should I back off for 2 more weeks? or see how short dates go if our girl isnt acting aggressive? Im pretty sure shes going to be dominant and our boy seems ready to be friends already lol.

[DanaNM]

Since the short date went I think you could keep doing short sessions, along with side swaps.

I’m guessing his grooming attempts were likely him trying to mount. Buns will usually do a bit of grooming before they mount, so I suspect your girl was onto his tricks. 😉

I would keep the sessions at 15 min or shorter for a bit, just to avoid pushing things to the point of a fight. One thing you can do when he approaches to groom is to pet them both to keep her calm.

Also as tempting as it is, I usually try not to assume or guess who will be dominant. In my experience it can tend to make things take longer because we are expecting one rabbit to do one thing, and then we try to force the issue (thinking things like “if only she’d groom him they would be bonded!”). Really it’s hard to know what’s going on in those little bunny brains, and they often have reasons that we aren’t picking up on for their behaviors.

In your case, he very well could be grooming as a mounting precursor, which is a dominant behavior. So who knows how things will go! In any case, sounds like a pretty typical first date. 🙂

. . . 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.  

[asnow]

Thank you so much for the advice! Im doing research but its always helpful to hear from people with experience. I did take your advice and put them in a room with a double divider so they cant bite each other and they both seem pretty relaxed, laying next to each other on either side of the divider, grooming on either side etc. I think Im going to keep them like this over the next couple of weeks with short play dates and side swaps and see how it goes. I dont want to rush and make it any more stressful for them

[DanaNM]

Sounds like a good plan! Glad they are acting relaxed through the divider!

. . . 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.  

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