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Forum BONDING Bunnies disinterested in one another?

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    • MyPets1031
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        Quick introduction: I have two bunnies, both fixed, one male (Marlow) and one Female (Sophia). I got Marlow almost a month ago, and Sophia is here on trial to potentially bond with Marlow. It’s been many years since I bonded bunnies and I’m struggling. Here’s a quick recap of everything that’s happened. Before I started bonding, I spent a week swapping things back and forth between their pens so they could get used to each others scent, and they lived side by side for 2 days.

        Day 1 – Session 1: I introduced them for 15 minutes in the bathtub immediately followed by a 5 minute stress bonding session in the carrier. Neither had any interest in each other. No humping, biting, chasing, smelling, nothing. They sat on opposite sides of the tub completely disinterested in one another. 

        Day 1 – Session 2: The same night I did a 30 minute session in a slightly larger area. Same results. Marlow was comfortable enough to flop and groom, but Sophia stayed on the opposite side of the pen, completely disinterested. 

        Day 2 – Session 1: Hour long session in a 1.5 ft x 1.5 ft pen, this was the smallest area they’d been in together besides the carrier and I provided them with hay. Sophia kept presenting her head, she wanted Marlow to groom her. He couldn’t care any less about her existence. He just kept eating. He didn’t sniff her a single time, approach her, nothing. Marlow just kept trying to size up the pen and figure a way out.

        Day 3 – Session 1: Hour long session in the same small pen with hay. First half an hour was uneventful, both were completely disinterested. Half an hour in, she started presenting her head to him again for him to groom her, he didn’t care and ignored her, so she started nipping him. It was very mild. She would present her head, he wouldn’t respond, she would nip him once. They would move, and do it again. Then randomly she started grooming him. He would tolerate it for about 10 seconds, then run away from her. 

        Day 4 – Session 1: Hour long session back in the bathtub. I gave them a big salad to see if that would get things going. They both just seemed really curious about where they were. Complete disinterest. Sophia didn’t present her head, no chasing, nothing. They both groomed themselves, Marlow ate the salad, Sophia didn’t. 

        Day 4 – Session 2: Same day, hour session, back in the small pen with hay. First 15 minutes were uneventful. Both were eating their hay, disinterested in one another. Then Sophia started presenting her head again, Marlow had no interest. They had a good spat after that. Sophia started nipping his butt repeatedly, pulling fur, Marlow didn’t nip back, he just kept running frantically in circles trying to get away. I broke it up, both seemed pretty startled. I pushed them together and did some forced cuddling and I pet them for about 2-3 minutes to calm them down. Then I put some apple pieces all over Sophia and had Marlow eat them off of her. After that there was some occasional thumping from Sophia, but both bunnies went back to eating hay, ignoring each other, and eventually they both flopped on either sides of the pen. 

        Every bond I’ve experienced before has either been love at first sight, or they are really interested in each other’s scent and they hump and chase until they figure out the hierarchy. I’m really confused about Marlow’s genuine disinterest in her. It’s almost like he doesn’t even see, or smell that she’s there unless she is biting him. Is he trying to tell me he prefers to be alone? Or am I headed in a good direction? I’m really confused. Help!


      • Sirius&Luna
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          Honestly, this sounds pretty positive. Ignoring is a good start! Flopping in each other’s presence is a positive sign, especially since it happened after they had a small fight. It shows they’re not scared of each other or holding grudges. For day 4, I wouldn’t stress at the lack of progress. It seems to take most people around a month to bond bunnies, so you’re still pretty early in the process.

          You could try decreasing the space so that they’re forced to interact, or increasing the time. But I think it sounds like it’s going fine – obviously Sophia is getting frustrated that Marlow isn’t grooming her, so perhaps you could pet her head when she presents it to Marlow and he refuses to acknowledge her to stop it escalating to a fight again.

          Also, we would normally recommend longer prebonding, but since they don’t seem to be fighting, and Sophia is a foster on trial, it may be fine. Can they see each other when they’re not being bonded? That might help them get used to each other in a non-stressful situation. You should also continue cage swaps during this time. 


        • Doodler
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            I agree with Sirius & Luna. This sounds like a good start to me. Even when it looks like nothing is happening and there is no interest there is still most likely a lot going on that you can’t see. It’s really early so they still need to form their opinions about each other. Coming from someone who had immediate fighting when I started bonding what was going to be my first pair I would be very happy with this!


          • Bam
            Moderator
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              I agree with the others. It is considered a very good sign if two buns are ignoring each other. They actually arent ignoring. They are observing each other closely, and showing each other that they mean no harm.

              This can change in a split second though, so keep keeping a close eye!


            • MyPets1031
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                Day 5 – Session 1: 3 hour session, I put the bunnies in a large x-pen with a litter box and hay. They were ignoring each other for the most part, every 10 minutes or so, Sophia would present her head to Marlow and he would either ignore her, or turn away. An hour in they got into a bit of a scuffle. Sophia was chasing Marlow around pulling his fur out and he was just running in circles trying to get away. I broke it up and did a stress session in the carrier for a few minutes followed by some forced cuddling before putting them back in the x-pen. They went to opposite sides of the x-pen and Sophia flopped, Marlow just looked like he wanted to get out. After a few minutes he loafed but he wasn’t comfortable enough to flop. They kind of just sat around for an hour, disinterested in each other, not doing much of anything. Then Sophia started occasionally coming up to Marlow, he would thump, and then run away. Then she would usually flop for a few minutes before coming up to him again, not even getting close enough to touch him, and he would thump and run away. This continued until I ended the session.

                I know they’re just trying to work it all out, but I feel like each session we keep taking more and more steps backwards. I really want this to work out. Is it just a process they have to go through, or am I doing something wrong?


              • MyPets1031
                Participant
                107 posts Send Private Message

                  Day 5 – Session 1: 3 hour session, I put the bunnies in a large x-pen with a litter box and hay. They were ignoring each other for the most part, every 10 minutes or so, Sophia would present her head to Marlow and he would either ignore her, or turn away. An hour in they got into a bit of a scuffle. Sophia was chasing Marlow around pulling his fur out and he was just running in circles trying to get away. I broke it up and did a stress session in the carrier for a few minutes followed by some forced cuddling before putting them back in the x-pen. They went to opposite sides of the x-pen and Sophia flopped, Marlow just looked like he wanted to get out. After a few minutes he loafed but he wasn’t comfortable enough to flop. They kind of just sat around for an hour, disinterested in each other, not doing much of anything. Then Sophia started occasionally coming up to Marlow, he would thump, and then run away. Then she would usually flop for a few minutes before coming up to him again, not even getting close enough to touch him, and he would thump and run away. This continued until I ended the session.

                  I know they’re just trying to work it all out, but I feel like each session we keep taking more and more steps backwards. I really want this to work out. Is it just a process they have to go through, or am I doing something wrong?


                • Sirius&Luna
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                    It seems like there’s a specific thing triggering scuffles – Sophia presenting her head, Marlow ignoring it, and Sophia getting annoyed. Personally, at this early stage, I would be intervening to stop scuffles starting, especially since Marlow seems to be learning to be scared of her. If you think Sophia is about to get annoyed, pet her, or distract them both with some veg or pellets. You want them to learn that they can trust each other, then grooming will come later. If putting apple pieces on Sophia worked before, then do that.

                    You could also go back to prebonding for a bit. Have you still been swapping them between pens since you started bonding?

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                Forum BONDING Bunnies disinterested in one another?