Bunny bonding advice for a new bunny owner?

[Leah]

Hello everyone. I need some help.

I got my first rabbit, Enya, about 4 months ago. Just recently, I rescued another bunny. Her name is Keaira. Enya is approaching 5 months old, however I do not know how old Keaira is. Both are unspayed (they have an appointment to be examined next week so I can move forward with the spaying process. I understand that the bunnies need to be spayed before they can properly bond with each other.) 

To give you some background on Enya, she’s a mix between a rex and flemish giant. She’s very curious and always getting into everything. She’s extremely smart and enjoys being groomed when she’s not being a wild little thing. She also loves food and is always getting into the treats that I give her.

Keaira is defintely way smaller than Enya, but I don’t know what breed she is. She’s full of energy and loves to bolt across the room when she’s not in her cage. She’s quite mischievious and loves to crawl underneath the couch. She also seems pretty relaxed when she’s in her cage by herself (always splooting and napping). However, I think her previous owner was keeping her outside. I believe she’s by far more territorial for this reason (spraying pee everywhere, pooping everywhere, and rubbing her chin on everything.)

I made the mistake of letting both of them out at the same time in my room (it’s not a neutral space because Enya has been living in my room since I got her), and Enya is absolutely terrified of Keaira. She’ll thump and grunt when she’s around Keaira. Enya will start breathing rapidly and grunt as she’s breathing (almost sounds like she’s honking but in distress). It even got to the point where Keaira began to mount Enya. I separated them immediately and they are now living in separate rooms at the moment.

After I get them spayed and they are completely healed I plan on attempting to bond them again. My thing is, what would be the best approach to bond them? I know that sometimes even after two females are spayed they can be hard to bond. I don’t want to stress Enya out any further than she already is.

I feel discouraged and sad because I want the best for my bunnies and I don’t want to stress them out. I originally rescued Keaira because I want Enya to have a friend while I’m at class and work. As a relatively new owner I feel overwhelmed and I would appreciate any advice anyone has to give me.

Thank you!

[OnyxMoon]

Hey there! Kudos for asking for advice about bonding and the process, its always nice to see someone doing their research and trying to put the best foot forward! 

I am also fairly new to bunny parenting, but my experiences and research has taught me tons! So my advice with the bonding process is to definitely wait until after you get both of them spayed like you said! 

 But also, wait until about a month after their surgeries. Hormones will take a while to leave their systems. So about a month or so should give their bodies an opportunity to rest, heal, and drain of wacky hormones! 

After that, begin the pre-bonding process. This is like the second step to bonding, its very important. Pre-bonding would consist of swapping litter boxes, cage trays, or giving them a fluffy sock or small stuffed animal to get their scents on and then switching them. (just make sure that the stuffed animals dont have any glass/plastic eyes that could be a hazard!) 

So for example, lets say you give Enya a fluffy sock and give Keaira one as well. After about a week, switch socks. 

Switching litter boxes, cage trays, and items/toys, gives both of them an opportunity to get used to each others scents so they aren’t such strangers! It tends to make them less aggressive or scared of each other because they seem familiar. 

After about a month of this, try introducing them to each other in a neutral space. This could be a coffee table, or just somewhere both of them haven’t been before. Start out small! Introductions should be no more than 10 minutes, i would suggest about 5 minutes. 

The neutral territory will help with spray peeing or mounting issues, because bunnies are so territorial they wont feel as if their space has been invaded.

Continue this until you see positive signs. This would be (but not limited to) eating next to each other, loafing, flopping down, cleaning each other, and nobody is seriously upset. After the five to ten minute sessions have been successful, you can try giving them more time together. I suggest increasing at about five minutes every few sessions. 

Every bunny is different, so just be patient and give them lots of encouragement! I hope i helped!! 

[Deleted User]

Onyx is spot on! Seriously, this was perfectly said.
Bonding can be stressful and take a lot of time. The key with it is having an unlimited supply of patience. Your buns will thank you for it.

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