FOR MEMBER USE: Bonding Help Template

[DanaNM]

These questions are intended to give background information that will help guide bonding advice. Please copy and paste this form into your thread and fill in the answers. It will greatly help others to help you! 

The answers provided in this forum 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.

Spay/Neuter
Are your bunnies spayed/neutered?
If so, for how long (for each)?
If not, why not?
Are you aware of reproductive cancer risk in females? If not, please read about it here.

Housing
Please describe your bunnies’ current housing set-up (living together, as neighbors, etc.).

Bonding background
Did you allow the bunnies to “settle-in”?
How would you describe your bunnies reactions towards each other (answer for each bunny): shy, scared, curious, calm, aggressive, excited, affectionate, etc.?
Have you done any “pre-bonding” (cage or litter box swaps, etc.)?
If so, for how long?
Have you started sessions yet?
How long have you been working on bonding your bunnies?
How frequently do you have bonding sessions, and how long are they?
Have you tried any stressing techniques?

. . . 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.  

[Hotot]

Hello!

A bunny was dumped in a parking lot near us. We picked him up and he’s a beautiful young unneutered  male. Can you ID him for me—-Cinnamon?

Anyway,  I have a rescued Netherland Dwarf (3.5 pounds) just neutered 16 month old. He is very territorial and fairly aggressive but that seems to be changing as time from neuter increases.

Is there a chance of bonding two male rabbits? What if one is unneutered?  We have many rescued animals and this guy would have to stay in the bathroom while we got him settled and then eventually neutered. If the chances of a successful bond are low, I would probably try to find another home for this sweet boy rather than put us all through that.

Thanks for your input!

[DanaNM]

Hi Hotot!

I think you’ll get more responses if you start a new thread with these questions! The short answer is two male rabbits can be usually bonded, but both should be neutered first. 🙂

Let me know if you have questions on how to start a thread and I can help you with that.

. . . 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.  

[viv]

Wondering if I can get some advice regarding bonding. I have 2 young males …one neutered three weeks ago [lop] and other neutered 5 weeks ago. I did place them together just  once when I first got them at  12 weeks of age but the harlequin one immediately attacked. They have been living in adjacent but separate enclosures since. I was told that the lop was a female when I got her/him,  as I understand mixed sex bonding’s are generally easier but turns out I now have 2 males. I have been switching their enclosures once or twice a day as one of the enclosures opens to my livingroom. This way, when I am home,  they can take turns being out of their enclosures  for at least a couple of hours daily.

They are 6 months old now and I really hope to get them into one enclosure and have them roam together eventually.  They sometimes lie near each other and I always give them their greens and treats together [there is about a 4 inch separation between the enclosures] and they don’t seem to have an issue with this.

Yesterday, for the first time since neutering,  I put them into a neutral area [bathroom]  along with lots of treats, a friends help, spray bottle and oven mitts handy.  The lop immediately started eating [he is really into food] and after about 30 seconds the harlequin attacked pulling out fur [no blood] I squirted and separated and  this happened  three times, …more fur pulled and on the third encounter the lop retaliated and bit back…again no visible injuries to either other than fur loss. My friend and I then sat with the buns on our laps [six inches apart] and had a long patting session with both buns who appeared relaxed. They then were returned to their enclosures.

So I am wondering where to go from here?  I won’t  have a friends help on a regular basis as I live alone.  How much hair pulling out is usual??  The lop seems totally non aggressive…more interested in food. Would it be advisable to put a harness on the aggressive one to prevent him lunging at the lop? Would it help to just sit and pet the aggressive one in the presence of the other rather than letting him run loose?  I am mainly wanting to avoid injuries or make the bonding less likely to occur by doing anything wrong. I am also  concerned that I may have one overly aggressive bun as someone told me that at age 12 weeks most buns don’t attack another young one as this one did.

Appreciate you reading this and would love any specific advice….I have read all the general  information on this site, and a few others, regarding bonding. This is my first time with 2 buns but I have had many years of single bun ownership.

[Wick & Fable]

Hi Viv! You will get more responses and more engagement if you create your own bonding topic, as opposed to commenting on this template topic. Please copy and paste the template and add any information you’d like people to know regarding your situation into your own topic, and our BB members will be happy to provide their thoughts and feedback!

Immediately, what comes to mind is that there is a post-neuter “crazy” that can occur after neuters, so it is generally recommended to not try bonding until both rabbits are at least 1mo post-neuter. Interactions before that time may be heavily influenced by hormonal fluctuations, even though the neuters are done. For example, a neutered male can still actually impregnate a female up to  6 weeks after a neuter, so we know biologically hormonal “things” can still be active and at play a couple weeks after a neuter.

Again, I recommend creating your own post so all replies can be relevant to your unique situation.

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.

[FluffykissandBinky]

Hello! First time bonding- need some advice. General background: FluffyKiss (FK) was my original rabbit. Had her for a year. Last fall I got a geriatric rabbit from a friend so I took him in. He hummed her right away and they were bonded perfectly. I was staying at my moms house and he passed while I was there about a week ago. I came back to my house and she was alone for one night and I decided to adopt a second bunny (Binky) the next day because we were at my moms for 2 months so I thought my house would be neutral territory so I adopted the new one right away.

 

Answers to questions:

Both are fixed. He has been fixed for several weeks, her for almost a year. (He is only about 6 months old she is a year and a few months old)

Housing: I live in a tiny studio apartment. I have a 4 foot hutch with an attached fenced in area. Ideally when they are bonded they would be in the hutch together with access to the fenced area during the day when I am gone but free roam together when I am home (many hours per day). However, since they are not bonded yet I am currently leaving one in the fenced area or free roam while the other is in the hutch and basically swapping who gets the hutch about twice a day. There is a litter box outside the hutch as well and they have no problem sharing the litter box or food bowls when I swap them.

 

Bonding background: the rescue advised me to put them together from the get go because they got along when I adopted him. However, there were a couple brief fights so I separated them right away and started doing more research on bonding. I have had binky for a week and he seems comfortable in the hutch and in the apartment. I have been bonding them in the bathtub doing the table bonding technique for about 10 minutes at a time once or twice a day. I want to start doing 3 per day and then maybe move up to longer sessions. They both seemed aggressive at first but FK calmed down and seems more or less indifferent but he thumps his foot sometimes and they both refuse to groom each other. Tried peanutbutter trick for the first time and it seemed to work a little bit on FK but he won’t budge.

Regarding stress techniques I brought them home from the rescue in the same carrier because binky went in there with her and wouldn’t come out. I was thinking about doing 10 min car rides over the weekend but not sure.

 

Overall I’m just nervous that they won’t ever get along. I really want to be able to leave them together safely eventually. I am not sure if I am going to slow or too fast. Also, when one or the other is in the hutch the other has full access to the fence and they have briefly sniffed thru the wire and even mirror a little sometimes or flop right next to the cage. I feel like they or at least FK want to be friends but he still seems scared. Also during bonding they’ll lean they’re head in. Not sure if they’re trying to stealthy nip or if they’re asking to be groomed. I am super paranoid about them nipping or fighting so i am overly cautious during sessions.

 

Is all this normal? Any tips?

 

We are so grateful for any advice!!!

[DanaNM]

Hi @FluffyandKissBinky,

I saw you started another thread so I’m going to paste this info there. You will get more engagement on your thread that way! I’m going to close this thread to avoid further confusion.

Please see this thread:

FluffyKiss and Binky

. . . 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.  

[Author]

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