Bonding-male aggressive

[Brady2017]

Hi everybody!

I adopted Brady 2 months ago. Brady is a neutered 2 year old male lop. He has very good litter habits and is free ranged in our entire apartment. We decided to try to find a friend for him. After a couple bad “speed dates” we had a good one. In a neutral area Brady had a good first meeting with Penny a 2 year old female mix. Penny was spayed 2.5 weeks ago. Their first meeting was very good. Brady did try to mount Penny and Penny would become frustrated but we would seperate them quickly. They were nose to nose rubbing noses at one point. Since they had a good first introduction other then some mounting and frustration that we would quickly intervene we decided to adopt Penny. We adopted her 6 days ago.
We set up an ex- pen in our living room for Penny. We made a 3 inch space between them so they can’t touch by attaching baby gates to the pen. Brady immidiatly tried to aggressively charge Penny though the gate. We kept them seperate but then tried to do a face to face date the next day. We set up an ex-pen outside since no where in our apartment is neutral. The meeting was horrible. It all happened so fast but Brady charged Penny and they ended up fighting while we tried to seperate. We have not had another face to face meeting since.
We ended up splitting the apartment in half with the ex pen and baby gate. We swap them over the ex pen every 6 hours or so. We want them to get used to the scent of one another. Things have been going really well! They lay on either side of the gates and both will binky around. I decided to move the gates a little closer to eachother. They still wouldn’t be able to hurt eachother but possibly brush noses. Right when brady brushes pennys nose he instantly tried to attack. I pulled the gates back apart by 3 inches.
-I am wondering if anyone has advice or if you see anything I am doing wrong?
-Does this mean they won’t be a good fit or is it still too soon to tell?
-how long should I wait until I do another face to face meeting?

Thank you!

[Bunnybuzz]

Hi!
Iv’e had the same problems with my rabbits! First time went well but then it just went down hill. Right now you are doing nothing wrong and changing cages so they can get used their scent is a really good idea. One thing that helped me is a bunny sleepover. I put two x-pens together put lots of hidey houses and toys and then put my buns in. I watched them every second and of course there was some fighting and chasing but as long as it’s not really bad you need to let this happen. They will stop at some point.

Another thing that might help is you taking one rabbit and someone else who knows how to hold a rabbit take the other. Then, making sure they can’t attack or run away, place them next to each other in a place they have never been or at least not lot, then start petting them. If they aren’t trying to get at each other then let them go but keep a close eye on them. If they don’t fight, give them a treat. A good place to do this might be a bath tub or some where small.
I hope this helps!

[Brady2017]

Thank you for all of your advice! Do your bunnies get along now? If so How long did it take for the aggression to stop? I know every pair is different just trying to get an idea.
Thank you!

[Mikey]

To be honest, there are a few things youre doing wrong. Easily corrected, though. Its also too soon to tell if they can or cannot be bonded. Theyve had positive moments, and negative moments, but the negative moments easily couldve come from trying to move too fast.

1. It takes two to six months after a rabbit is spayed to drain their hormones. Youre moving to fast and really need to slow down. You still need to wait about a month and a half before you can attempt bonding sessions.

2. Youre swapping too fast. You should swap once a day, either at night or in the morning. You can continue this swapping through the next month and a half while you wait for Pennys hormones to drain.

3. You need a neutral space. Many users use their bathrooms or even their bath tubs since bunnies dont often like to roam into there on their own. If you really do not have a neutral space, you need to create one by deep cleaning everything in that area and not allowing either bun into that newly cleaned area. It will be considered neutral in a month and a half when you can start trying to bond again.

Also, not to be rude, but the advice BunnyBuzz gave is very dangerous. Scared and angry rabbits will often fight to the death. Putting two bunnies together and “hoping they work it out” can very quickly end in emergency vet visits. Rabbits who are afraid or angry at one another are also very less likely to bond together. I really dont recommend you take on this tactic. It is much better (proven) to go at a slower pace with bonding rabbits, with as little aggression allowed as possible. Yes, every bond is different, but unless youre comfortable losing a rabbit, paying for surgeries and stitches, and possibly ending up with two single bunnies who hate one another, you shouldnt put them together for a “hopes for the best” marathon. 

[Bunnybuzz]

Hi again!

Yes it worked out just fine. The “princess” who needed to rule realized that this bun was real nice and they became best buds. Will it did take quite a while at least 2 months for them to be be fully bonded but it helped with giving her treats when she was nice to her and switching cages Let me know how they do!

Also mikey, I don’t understand why you are saying this. I never said to just throw them in together and “hope it works out” I just suggested that later into the bonding process a bunny sleep over might be a good idea to try. Also yes I meant to say that about Penny

[Brady2017]

Thank you for your response! This is my first time bonding so I am still figuring it out. I am not planning on putting them together anytime soon. I am mostly posting just to see what works for others in the process. I was following the advice of the shelter by having them date in an ex-pen in our yard (only neutral area I could think of) the day after adoption. I learned the hard way that it was way too soon. My apartment is very small as to why there is no neutral space. Bradys original litter box and water bowl was in our bathroom. We now have a litter box and water in the bathroom and a litter box and water bowl in the living room since we split the apartment in half.
We have a garage that I am thinking we could set the ex-pen up in when it is time for bonding sessions. Not sure if that is a good idea?
Thank you!

[Bunnybuzz]

Hi! Of course no problem! I love helping people out

That’s a fine idea! Yes bonding in a neutral is good=) Yeah bonding in a small area tends to be harder.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

[Mikey]

A garage would work well for neutral bonding

@BunnyBuzz, you also said to allow them to fight it out, which is where the danger comes in. For safe, proper, higher chance of successful bonding, you need to stop all aggression (biting, chasing, lunching, fur pulling, excessive mounting, ect). Most rabbits do not “stop at some point”, the majority of them will continue until there is a bloody match. Just because you were lucky, does not mean you should advise the same for others to try. All aggression must be stopped, always.

[Bunnybuzz]

@Mikey, that’s not what I meant. If there is little nips or mounting that’s just dominance behavior and you need to let it happen Of course if they mean to rip their skin or cause damage stop it

[Brady2017]

I actually have another quick question! If I were to have to go away over night would it mess up the process if I shut a door between them? Since they do not have cages I wouldn’t want to leave them overnight with just an Ex-pen between them Incase one were to jump over. My sister would be in her apartment upstairs to come check in on them, feed them and give them attention. I just don’t want to shut a door between them if it’s going to take us steps backwards.

[Mikey]

That should be fine

[Bunnybuzz]

No worries that should be fine!

[Author]

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