Bonding trouble – one rabbit ignores the other

[Angela]

Hey everyone,

I’m new here and have been endlessly reading information on bonding rabbits but have not found any one’s situation similar to mine..

We have just recently adopted a neutered male bunny (Moomoo) from the shelter, and we have an existing spayed female bun (Penelope).  The whole purpose of getting a new bun was so that our current bunny had a companion.

The bonding process has been quiet good, however it seems that the Moomoo is completely obsessed and inlove with Penelope, while Penelope shows no interest in Moo… at all!  Moomoo started off humping her a lot however that has died down.  He now grooms and licks her face/ears, and even flops next to her occasionally.  Penelope on the other hand just pretends that Moomoo does not exist, however she will eat in front of him and groom herself in front of him.  There have been no aggressive fights or displays of aggressive behaviour from other one of them.

It has been about two weeks since I’ve started this process and not sure how to move forward.  It seems that the bonding has been successful, but only on one side.  How can I encourage Penelope to become more comfortable and friendlier to Moo? 

[sarahthegemini]

The fact that she’s ‘not bothered’ by him isn’t actually a bad sign. She just needs a bit more encouragement You could try putting some apple juice on the top of Moomoo’s head to tempt Penelope. Or mushed banana.

Edit: Sorry just realised your boy’s name is Moomoo, not Moose! 

[joea64]

Concur with @sarahthegemini. From everything I’ve read, when one bunny carries on with their regular activities and appears to be ignoring the other bun during a bonding session, that’s really a good sign – it means bun #1 is reasonably comfortable with bun #2 from the get-go, and #1 is, as suggested, actually very aware of #2 but pretending to ignore them. That there has been no sign of aggressive activity by either is another very good sign. Basically, just carry on what you’re doing and continue to keep an eye on them in case either one should get feisty; with luck, Penelope will start warming up to Moomoo soon. (Literally sweetening the pot, as Sarah suggests, may also help “bribe” Penelope!)

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