bonding two females

[meganz44]

 I have had my holland lop, vinnie, for a year. she is 14 months old. about three months ago i introduced her to another rabbit because i felt she needed a friend. i introduced her to an older male rabbit who was neutered and it was love at first sight. the two were inseperable. a few days ago my male rabbit, opey, unexpectadly became sick and unfortunately passed away. not wanting my bun vinnie to be sad anymore i decided to get her a new friend. as to try and bipass humping issues i decided to try another female rabbit, (bad idea i now know from research). the new bun is also a holland lop but she is only 4 months old. she doesn’t mind vinnie at all, but vinnie tries to bite her (through the cage since i am NOT allowing them out together at the same time until the little one can be spayed). the amount of agression i see coming from vinnie makes me nervous, and i’m wondering if it would be a waste of time to try and bond them. i don’t want any added stress on either bun. the baby is carefree now and doesn’t seem to be affected by vinnie at all. vinnie, on the other hand, does not show signs of ever giving the little one a chance. i would hate to grow attached to the baby and have to give her up 6 months from now because it’s just not working out. someone please help! any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Elrohwen]

It’s really impossible to tell when you have an unfixed baby – the baby might just be going through puberty which could make her extra annoying to your other rabbit. Also, many rabbits will bite through the bars, protecting their territory, but be friendly in a neutral space. I don’t think you’ll really know if this will work until you get the little one spayed and really try bonding in a neutral area. I’m of the thought that any rabbits can be bonded if you work hard enough at it (and it might be really hard).

[Monkeybun]

Humping isn’t always for making babies. With bunnies, it’s also a dominance thing. Make sure both girls are spayed, then you can start bonding. Do small sessions at first, in very neutral territory. The aggression you see now is likely a territorial thing. Keep in mind that bunnies can pick up on our emotional state, so if you act nervous and scared in bonding, they will act nervous and scared too. Need to be confident

I have a pair of girls, so I know it can be done just fine!

Also…. I do hate to point this out, but in adopting another bun, you made a commitment to it. It would be very unfair of you to give it up in 6 months if bonding does not work. They would need to have separate living spaces, but it can work out fine like that if need be. Please reconsider the option of giving her away if the bond doesn’t go exactly as planned.

[meganz44]

 thank you! i noticed tonight that vinnie was cleaning the little one’s eye through the cage. i was nervous at first but then realised what she was doing. she loved to clean my other bunny’s eyes when he was still here. not sure if this is a good sign or not

[Elrohwen]

Any grooming is a good sign!

[meganz44]

tonight i introduced the buns in a neutral space. it was very interesting. vinnie started grooming the baby’s eyes but then they started to have a stare-off. so i started petting vinnie to prevent any trouble and she trying to nip the baby bun. after separating them they both did their own thing. they kind of ignored each other for about 10 minutes. then vinnie hopped over to the baby and i think my heart stopped. vinnie sniffed the baby and started to clean her eyes again but the baby was too nervous and tried to hop away which upset vinnie and vinnie chased her nipping at the baby’s butt. but it wasn’t hard to separate them when this happened. i just shooed vinnie away and she would direct her attention somewhere else. this happened a couple more times, where vin would go over to clean the baby but the baby got nervous and tried to hop away so vin would chase etc. it never seemed too aggressive (as i’ve seen fighting before and this was nothing like a fight). just not sure what to make of this behavior? it’s almost as if vinnie is interested in the baby, but the baby’s nervousness makes vin nervous too. any suggestions??

[Elrohwen]

Most rabbits are pretty nervous during their first encounters – they don’t trust the other rabbit and often aren’t good at reading bunny body language (your baby is only used to other babies and her mom, while your older rabbit probably doesn’t remember being with other rabbits). It just takes time for them both to be comfortable enough to interact. Initially Hannah was very interested in Otto and just wanted to be near him and interacting with him all the time, but he wasn’t sure of her at all (especially since she humped him a couple of times). It got to a point where he’d run whenever she came near, but eventually he calmed down and was ok with her advances. I’m sure something similar will happen with yours when the baby gets more comfortable.

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