Bonding going wrong

[Bunarific]

I saved bun from a meat farm. Ive had Ren aka “bun” for a little over a year. I felt like i wasnt spending enough time with him because i like to spoil him.. So i wanted to get him a friend. I saved kylo from a different meat farm a little over a month ago. Neither rabbit was fixed. I will admit i didnt realize they would be this aggresive. I thought it would be differnt because kylo was young (3 months). I should have done more research and i was wrong. Bunwould not stop humping him. Kylo let it happen at first. But eventually got tired of it and foight back. I thought it was just a dominancee thing because they were both males and bun would stop. He did not. I had bun fixed. Its been almost two months and im still waiting for his hormones to subside completely. Ive tried bonding again in neutral territory but its still not working. Kylo is getting fixed next week. Now after doing sooooo much more research i see i did it all wrong. And i need to wait till a while after kylo is fixed to truly try again. But when they fight kylo pulls hair. Its happened a few times. My real question is… Is it possible to even bond them anymore after all this fighting? Or is it now a lost cause? Ive started to fall in love with kylo and i would never want to have to give him up because of my own dumb mistake. Im teying every option i have. My mother is taking kylo when he gets fixed. Shes going to keep him with her for a while so his hormones can calm and hopefully he and bun forget about each other. Do u think i can still make them bond? Or did i make a huge mistake?

[jerseygirl]

Hi Bunarific

It’s not impossible. You can certainly give it a try. A fair amount of time will need to pass before you begin again, as you have realised. I think having Kylo recover at your mothers house is a good idea. It will give the boys a complete break before you commence bonding. I would even wait until Spring is over if you live in the upper hemisphere.

Mikey (who has bonded males) may have some more specific advice for you. I think there was some fighting or aggression initially, so they kept rabbits completely separate for several months before attempting to bond again.

If the boys never completely bond, they do gain companionship having another bunny roomate. It’s just a bit trickier for us as owners, having to keep separate habitats.
One of our long term members had her boys get to the point they would share a meal and come into a common area together, but lived in separate habitats. That seemed to work best for them.

[Mikey]

Thank you for saving them! They are very lucky to have found you

Jersey is completely right in my bonding adventures. I also started off with bad advice similarly to you and had two unfixed boys together. They had their own cages, but shared a play room. Thankfully with my two, there was some humping but never any fighting between them. There wasnt aggression when I added my third (Blue and Bombur neutered at this time), Badger, though. Long story short, Badger tried to fight through the bars and ended up losing. Blue fought back and it ended with Badger losing a chunk of skin from his paw. It was scary for all of us involved, and my partner and I had a long talk about bonding them as a trio again. Thankfully, thankfully, thankfully, with good prebonding, patience, and three forgiving bunnies, they bonded together within a month after prebonding again  

Backstory aside! I have some questions: Do they each have their own cages now? Are their cages in the same room, or are they in different rooms? When they see eachother, how do they react (tails up? ears forward or ears back? noises they make? etc)?

The best advice I can offer up before questions are answered is prebonding, maybe even longer than you originally thought. Prebonding for a month is usually the minimum requirement, but longer can only help. I think, overall, we prebonded our three for three to five months. Part of it was for healing from neuters as well as healing and calming from the bloodied fight. During prebonding, rabbits learn to share territory and learn to get used to one anothers scents (from swapping their items and allowing marking). In cases of mild fighting, it can also help the rabbits see that the other bun isnt a threat anymore. Some rabbits need more prebonding time than others, but waiting a little longer just to make sure is a good idea too

In the meantime, I also think its a good idea for your mom to take Kylo for a little while after his neuter. Full separation like this really helps rabbits forget about one another, thus forgetting about any fighting in the past as well! 

[Bunarific]

They have separate cages in the same room. I never let them out together because but wanta to run up to kylo ans kylo immediately goes on defense. But even more so, bun could be in the other side of the room and kylo so run up and fur pull. Bun doesnt show aggression but does want dominance. Kylo puts his ears back, tail up, and stands tall. Which I know are all signs of aggression. Right now I’m in between apartments and unfortunately only have one room to myself so its been tremendously hard. I love both the buns and want whats best for them both. Even if that means i have to give kylo to another home.. Which will be even more hard for me to do. I know coming into this I didn’t realize how much work having a bun was. But I fell in love and wouldn’t trade it for anything. I don’t trust anyone to care for kylo like I do I hope I can fix this stupid mistake..

[Mikey]

It really does sound fixable, to me My three went through a fight that ended in blood and were able to do it, so Im sure with some patience and extra care your two boys will be able to pull through, too!

I would work on prebonding when Kylo comes home from your moms house. Youll have their cages/pens next to one another, but six+ inches apart so that they can see and smell one another, but cannot reach (if they can reach, move the cages/pens farther back). Keep them in this set up for a good two to four weeks, then start swapping their items. When you item swap, youll swap everything possible (litter boxes, toys, water/food bowls, etc), or swap the bunnies into the opposite cage. youll do this every 24 hours, allowing them to pee, poop, and chin everything and anything inside of that space as they want to. Youll do the swapping for atleast one month, but longer can only help, especially if youre nervous about it. Of course, if theyre still marking or showing aggression through their space after the one month, wait another month. Before bonding, while in the prebonding stage, positive signs youll want to see are cleaning themselves close to one another, flopping on the side of the cage closest to the others cage, no more marking in the spaces, etc.

Through prebonding, you are more than welcome to make another thread to have others help you and give you support We will be able to offer advice on if youre moving too fast, or if you could consider moving faster. Different bonding tactics work for different buns as well, so others might be able to offer their opinions on what they did with their bonded buns.

[jerseygirl]

Moving into a new apartment will work to your advantage also. All neutral territory.

[Bunarific]

Its so good to hear there may be some hope! Finding this forum was a saving grace

[Bunarific]

Its so good to hear there may be some hope! Finding this forum was a saving grace

[Author]

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