Bonding Oliver and Ruby

[Mp2014]

Hello. My name is Melissa, and my bunny is Oliver. He is almost a year old, neutered, and about 7 pounds (don’t know a breed). Oliver has been the only rabbit in his house the entire time I have had him. He is cage kept, but has his door open anytime I am home and is allowed roam of the house. I am moving into a new apartment for college, and found a house that allows him to be there with no problems! I got a roommate that is totally cool with having him there, because she also has a bunny named Ruby. Don’t let the name fool you though, Ruby is a boy but was named before he was sexed, so he has a girl name. He is 5 months old, and very small. He has an appointment to be fixed set up in October, as he was too young for so long. The thing is, Ruby is also allowed free roam of his house whenever his mom is home. The thing is, we don’t want to have to work out special bunny schedules so they don’t roam together. But bonding them feels almost impossible. We had Oliver over to her house last week to stay for the week. Their cages were put right next to each other for the whole week. Ruby seemed to not care that Oliver was there at all, and acted as if nothing was happening. Oliver on the other hand, would try to be as close as possible to him. He dug at the side of the cage the entire week. He stopped using his litter box as well, and threw all of the toys from Ruby’s cage that we put in Oliver’s. Then on the last day we let Ruby out to get closer to Oliver. Oliver was still in his cage, and Ruby came up to investigate him and I’m not sure how but managed to bite ruby through the cage (I was out of the room at the moment) and Ruby was bleeding so it was not a nip. We took care of Ruby and calmed the situation down, but Ruby wouldn’t come out of his cage for a week (even though I took Oliver home) and was very afraid to leave his house for a week. Oliver was also not happy when he got home, and would not come near me or show me any affection for four days. We move in together in three days. I read that we should stress them in the car together, but I’m too afraid to put them that close to each other at all. I really need some advice from an experienced person. Can anyone help us out?

[Gina.Jenny]

My first thought is they need to be kept apart until at least three weeks after Ruby is fixed. Also, the cages need a bigger gap so no more biting can happen, when you start house sharing.

Meanwhile, I would go for the bunny schedules, even if they are annoying, and I know how they are, as I have two rescue buns who were spayed almost three weeks ago, but so far only want to fight each other. I give them floor time straight after each other, morning and evening, in the hope that over time, they will get used to the idea of sharing the place together.

Bunnies have long memories, and because blood has been drawn, you may find that they will never get on.

[vanessa]

Definitely give them a few weeks to recover from being fixed, and let them live close, but not close enough to bite, for a few weeks. I had my 2 cages 6 inches apart for the first few weeks. That was after my female attacked the male. Left 4 open wounds. After letting them get to know eachother, I found it easiest to do a bunny smoosh. I put them next to eachother with someone else helping me, kept stroking them, for 10-15 minutes at a time, every day. My little male is still nervous. So yes, those memories are long. But no intros before a few weeks of being able to see eachother. I can now have mine in a small pen for 4-5 hours, with me checking in on them periodically. I’m npt yet at the overnight part – because she doesnt’ let him move freely. But they snuggle alot. So it is possible, even after a serious bite. But it will take lots of patience on your part. You need to create an initial environment that Ruby will feel he is not in danger. Make them positive sessions. Look up bunny bonding techniques on youtube. there are 6 videos. I found them helpful. Oliver scratching at his cage – he was trying to get to Ruby all along. You’ll know that it’s time to start a bunny smoosh (or car ride), when Oliver is using his litter box again. Initially, he will stop using it, and mark (poop and pee) everywhere, especially at the side of his area that is closest to Ruby.

I must say – I have never bonded 2 males. I’m on my 3rd pair of male/female. Each rabbit is different – and one of my bunnies is on her second bonding, and it is much harder than her first. Read a lot, look at other peoples bonding posts, find something that works, and stick with it. Go slowly.

[Ness]

I have heard that hormones can reside for up to 2 months following alteration so as you are trying to bond rabbits that don’t have a common owner I would keep them separate for a good while.

Males can be difficult – I just bonded mine and I’ve been trying for 8 months – although we did have a 2 month break from it.

As Vanessa says each set of rabbits are different and what works for some doesn’t work for others. I tried stress bonding mine in a cardboard box but it was hopeless. Mine were successful by being in very small cages next to each other so they had to interact through the cage bars. I did this for about an hour every day and the first few times they were both up on hind legs trying to fight through the bars. Then I progressed onto being in the same pen and smushing together. Eventually they stopped fighting aggressively and then it was just a case of establishing who was boss.

Also consider that if you aren’t going to live with your roommate forever then maybe the buns shouldn’t be bonded. Rabbits can get very attached and get very upset when they lose their bonded friend. Just a thought.

[vanessa]

Good point about the room mate. I read that sentence again. If you do get them bonded, and you and your roommate move apart, and each takes their bunny, you will be splitting up a bonded pair. Bunnies grieve when they lose their partner. My Guinevere was first bonded to Merlin. He became very ill and we lost him. Guin mourned. She avoided me, stopped doing her binkies, stopped doing the bunny flop, she was visibly upset. She waited for him to return, and he didn’t. If you do want to bond these bunnies, perhaps have an agreement with your roommate that if you move apart, you don’t split up the bunnies.

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