bonding nippy bunny

[Floppy]

Hi! I need some bonding advice. I have been bonding two bunnies for about two month but I’m not sure much progress has been made.

I am bonding a holland lop boy, floppy (free roam house bunny) and a lionhead girl, audrey (adopted from a rescue, was probably abandoned), both fixed and between 1-2 year old.

They currently live in side-by-side x pens separated by a water bottle. Their spaces are swapped daily. Initially there were some marking but it has since stopped. Also now they would comfortably sprawl out / flop next to each, still separated by the pens of course.

Bonding sessions: I do them on the bathroom floor covered with a blanket. Because I live in an apartment and floppy free roamed most of the apartment, there wasn’t a lot of options. I also tried a smaller space, and in the bathtub, but they didn’t go well and audrey would nip/bite more often.

Audrey’s behavior hasn’t really changed. She doesn’t appear aggressive and seems to be comfortable enough with him around. She would just roam around the space and sometimes eat hay if I put it on the floor. She doesn’t approach him face to face, but sometimes when she is walking and he is in the way, she would nip his sides / butt. But if he approaches her and gets really close she would nip/bite him and sometimes grunt. I’m not entirely sure if it is a nip or a bite because sometimes some hair would be pulled out.

Floppy’s behavior has changed though. Initially there was some apprehension and defensive behaviors, then there was about week where he would hump her a lot. She would initially accept it but on second try she would try to turn around and bite him. This only lasted a week and he has stopped humping. Then he would approach her a lot, trying to lower his head and put it under her body, but she doesn’t groom him and nips instead. Sometimes he doesn’t mind and would go back again, sometimes he gets frustrated and tries to nip back at her.

Sometimes if I hold a longer session (1 hour) they would both get tired and would flop but not touching each other. But her nipping behavior never changed. Also I have tried the banana trick, but after they eat the banana they would just stop, so they never groomed each other, and also it seems to trigger her nipping. I also have done some stress bonding when I was on a road trip and they seemed ok and would snuggle together, she would occasionally nip but less often and he wouldn’t nip back. But I don’t have a car and not able to do these stress bonding sessions now.

I got tired and took a break for a week and now have been doing only table bonding sessions for about 2 weeks. When I pet them both next to each other they are fine, but if I stop petting or let them get up for a bit, Audrey would turn his head and nip him. He doesn’t react to the nip most of the time, but I don’t feel I am making progress with this method either.

How should I proceed with the bonding? Is there a way to get her to stop nipping? I am still hopeful I can get them to bond, but I just don’t feel like she is making any progress. Floppy actually seems to be quite interested in her. Maybe I should try to get him to groom her instead?

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[BrunosMama]

Bunnies can be so stubborn sometimes! I think it sounds like there is definitely potential there, though.

Do your buns have stuffed animals? Sometimes I’ve found that if I rub a stuffed animal on one bunny, then give it to the other, they will groom the stuffie. To me, this helps simulate grooming each other so that when they are actually together, it seems a little more natural. I could be be wrong about this helping, its just something I usually try to incorporate when I’m bonding new buns. 🙂

During the bonding sessions, are you able to sit on the floor with them? Sometimes if you can be down with them and even offer a couple treats, they will both become curious and come investigate together.

I will never understand why bunnies can be the best of friends when there is a simple gate between them, but as soon as its gone, it’s World War 3 lol!

[Floppy]

I have a stuffed animal in each of their pens and I swap them everyday, they both groom the stuffed animal. I tried to add a stuffed animal to a bonding session and they would both groom it, kind of like to “claim” it which I don’t know if is good so I didn’t include it anymore.

I used to sit with them on the floor during bonding sessions but I think it made floppy seek more comfort in me instead of working on their hierarchy. I do include treats on the floor, but sometimes it could cause a bite on the face (from audrey) if they were interested in the same piece of treat.

[DanaNM]

I see this thread is pretty old now, how are they doing?

Your sessions in the bathroom actually didn’t sound too bad too me! If you are still working at it, I would focus on increasing the length of the sessions. Sometimes once you get to the tolerance phase they need longer sessions to make progress.

Changing up the space can really help. If you are short on space, you might see if a friend or relative would let you do some bonding sessions in their kitchen or garage. 🙂  A car ride together on the way to the new space can also really help!

For the record I consider fur pulling mostly to be biting rather than nipping… but a little fur pulling is not terrible. You want to keep an eye out for things that escalate to fighting and try to prevent those or stop them quickly.

. . . 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.  

[Floppy]

I’m still working on the bonding, but I’m still not really seeing much progress. I realized that those nips are mostly bites and some nips. But I can’t ever anticipate it happening! It just comes out of nowhere and there isn’t any ears pulling back or other body language change. So I used to just pet them immediately when she approaches him because it may result in a bite, but I don’t know if it is very productive for bonding. The table sessions also didn’t really change much although I saw some nippy grooming from floppy.

Recently I started holding longer sessions (2-4 hours if I can) in the same space. I hope more time together would make them calm down a bit and progress. Right at the start of the session there may be some biting/nipping, and sometimes he would thump sometimes when she gets close so she can’t bite. She would roam around more eating hay on the floor while he stays in a corner and watch. Later on though they just lie on opposite sides and he would relax and eat some hay and do some cleaning. Do you think if I keep doing these longer sessions eventually she will stop biting and he will be less scared?

Unfortunately I don’t have much other space for bonding as I live in a small apartment, and also don’t have a car.

[DanaNM]

I would keep going with the longer sessions, the fact that they eventually relax around each other is a very good sign. I would try to ease off the petting now if you can, especially once you get into the session and they’ve calmed down.

I would try to block out some time to do some very long sessions, like 6-8 hours if you can. It sounds like they are in the stubborn phase and need some longer sessions to really finish sorting things out. Personally, when a pair is able to spend 2-3 hours together without fighting or a lot of intervention I start doing the longest sessions I can. If they do pretty well in a 6+ hour session then I would try for 24 hours including an overnight, or plan to start marathon bonding them. For that you would need at least 2-3 days where you can supervise. If you don’t have help, it’s OK to separate them when you need to take a break, but ideally they would be placed together and not separated again.

When I marathon, I usually get a pretty good idea after the first overnight whether it’s going to work out. I like to get them some new things to chew (twigs, branches, etc.) to keep them busy. I put pee pads on the floor, no litter boxes at first. Pile of hay in the center of the space. No water bowls at first, but I will have them share wet salad greens. Be close and ready to intervene if they get too feisty by but try not to hover.

 

. . . 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.  

[Floppy]

thanks for the reply! I’ve been holding bonding sessions daily 2-4 hours for the past week, in the bathroom in a pen about 1m x 1m. After the first few day, Floppy doesn’t hide in the corner anymore. They eat greens and hay on the floor when I spread them around calmly but don’t really go near each other much. Since I’m doing these sessions in the afternoon after work, they actually spend most of the time loafed sleeping even flop but not touching each other. I don’t really need to hover over them, but Audrey still bites at Floppy’s butt or face when they face head to head directly, and sometimes Floppy thumps or hops away before she bites. She also seems to have “claimed” two corners and sometimes grunt and lunge/bite at Floppy when he is at or near one of her corners, then I intervene and stop her. I tried adding two water bowls (brand new) some times but it seemed to make the situation more tense and they never drank from them.

my questions for longer sessions / marathon bonding

• How can I know when they are ready for 24h/marathon bonding? I did a session for about 6h on Sunday, and they spent lots of time sleeping and ignoring, there were still grunts and lunges and bites from Audrey (see above), and they never sat/lay next to each other touching (at most the two corners on the same side of the pen).
• You said “I usually get a pretty good idea after the first overnight whether it’s going to work out” By working out do you mean just for the marathon bonding or for the pair to bond? Also, what signs should I look for? Should I expect neutral/positive interactions (at least touching if not grooming). What if they still ignore or Audrey still bites at him?
• Should I start the marathon session in the same smaller bonding space? Then gradually increase space during the marathon if things go well? When can I introduce things like litter boxes or hideouts, and do they need to be completely neutral/brand new?
• How long should I be prepared for the marathon to last? If they are not making progress, should I return to regular bonding sessions?

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