Bonding breaks? Any advice appreciated

[Inkblot]

Hi everyone!

We recently adopted a second bunny to bond with our girl, Rorschach.  They are around the same age, the first bun we’ve had for about 7 months and she is around 9 months old.  The second bunny is approx 8 months old, adopted from a rescue that had her since she was 2 months.  Our girls met on a bunny date at the rescue about a week ago, and they were both docile and seemed indifferent to each other on the first couple of meetings. We took that as an encouraging sign.

Once we brought our second bunny home, we set them up in x-pens side-by-side.  Day 1 of bonding went well, no aggression.  On Day 2 however, our 2nd bun started nipping at the first and took out some tufts of fur.  Despite this, Rorschach groomed the new bunny (Sherlock) on the forehead for about a minute, no reciprocation from the second bun.  Today is Day 3 of bonding, and Rorschach decided to fight back after some nipping from the new bun.   We ended the session early, because it was getting disconcerting to see our first bun’s tufts of fur lying around.   My question is:

1. Are these signs that the two girls might not be compatible for bonding?

2. Should we attempt a “stress bonding” technique?

3. How long should we let the girls “duke it out” before we intervene?  Should we take a break (like a day or more?) between bonding sessions to help them ‘forget’ their fights?

4. Does it hinder bonding if we spend time with the bunnies individually?  My boyfriend and I like to go in each pen and pet the bunnies concurrently, but we are not sure if this might lead to jealousy or other issues?

Thanks in advance

Any advice on bonding 2 females would be great.

[BB & Tiny]

I would not let fur be pulled out at all. At the sign of a scuffle coming on put a barrier between them to head it off. This may need to be repeated many times during the date until they realize the behavior is inappropriate. This is what worked for us, anyway.

I would suggest the x pens be a few inches apart so no fighting through the fence occurs. Have you been switching each rabbit into each x pen so the territorial issues are less ? Are the bonding dates taking place in neutral places ?

[Inkblot]

Thanks for your input!

The pens are definitely a few inches apart so they can’t bie each other. They seem to show interest in one another though when they happen to “meet” with the bats in between them. I can’t really tell if that’s a good thing or not, but it seems like they try to smell each other.

We brought them to the neutral area again today and didn’t allow them to really interact besides sitting side by side and being cross-pet. Then we put them back in their pens, hope that is a good thing!

[BB & Tiny]

It is okay to let them explore each other but any sign of aggression needs ( in my opinion ) to be interrupted. It takes a little practice to know which is which behavior. It helps to have a piece of cardboard or something similar to place between them. Sometimes they will break up only to run around the cardboard and go back at it. Persistence is essential !

If they are sitting side by side being pet I’d chalk that up as marvelous

[Inkblot]

Thanks again BunLuv. When they were sitting side-by-side being pet though it was kind of an enforced situation (we were using the smoosh) method. When they are in their respective pens they will sometimes sniff each other through the bars… no growling or honking or anything. Our second bunny is not as used to humans and being pet, so maybe her current reactions are out of fear? We hope they can be bonded once she calms down a bit more.

[BB & Tiny]

Oh. Okay, I wasn’t aware of that method when mine were on dates. Truth be told I wasn’t in the forums either, lol. I just let mine move at their own pace on dates. Even if they only sat and groomed themselves or flopped in separate corners of the bathroom.

Once it was evident they had no intention of fighting through the pen bars I let one out and never failed whichever one it was would go flop outside the pen by the one inside That is when we started having pen dates ( with cardboard in hand ! ) instead of the bathroom ones. Though I kept switching them daily into each others pen so their scent was in each pen.

I’m not sure if two females that are altered would be much different than altered male/female. Perhaps some members with female/female can be of help.

[vanessa]

Bonding 2 females isn’t any different from bonding a male/female. I would let them live side by side for a few weeks to get to know eachother. Then I’d do bunny smooshes in a small area, throw in a stress bonding, and add a plate of veggies to their bonding time. I wouldn’t let them duke it out so early. I’d control their behavior so they don’t learn to dislike eachother. After I can trust them enough to let them move on their own, then determine if the nipping is aggression or just communicaiton. Communication can be left for them to sort out. Don’t be disconcerted. It takes time. My recent pair took 3 months, including a 1 week break, and then a 4 week break. Giving them both attention will be good. That way they can see that the humans think the other bunny is ok. A while ago, a member told me that her bunnies finally clicked when one got jealous that the other was getting human attention. It was like – “well that bunny must be ok since it is getting human attention, so I’ll go ask that human what she is doing with my new pal”. Done – they were bonded. My female Guin – is somewhat jealous too. When Lancelot comes over to me for attention, Guin rushes up to make him leave, so once she gets within arms reach, I smoosh her head, and she learns that when Lancelot gets attention, so does she. Then she ends up grooming him out of pure joy of all the attention, Silly bunnies…
Good luck, and let us know how it is going.

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