Cotton and Schroeder- not going well

[KatnipCrzy]

OK, so Schroeders few cuts had healed well and I was ready to give it a go again.  Their cages are side by side- and there is NO aggression- only attempts at salad stealing when we give them their salad (face to face).

I put them in the kitchen with some rugs down (no bunny likes the linoleum so they don’t go in there)- and Cotton tried for the first 10 minutes to get out of the kitchen- shoving and biting/head tossing the NIC gate- I physically had to hang onto the gate to prevent her from getting out- and I know she saw him- she turned her back and tried to leave.

They ate a sprig of parsely from their positions by the gate and a few feet away.  Once Cotton gave up on leaving the kitchen her a Schroeder had a few rump biting/jumping sessions.  Then they got into another rolling/biting bunny bundle which of course Schroeder got an ear bite and a knee bite wound.  I made them sit next to each other to end on a “positive” note- I even put banana on Cotton’s forehead to encourage licking- but no go.  They stayed frozen next to each other for about 2 minutes then Cotton moved first to get away from him.

Why does Cotton want to LEAVE when she sees him?  Scroeder seems friendly- like he would like to be buddies and a few times when she has turned her back on him and left he has thumped.  (Cotton has never thumped- never once have I heard her thump in the whole time I have had her- she has stomped her front feet, growled and lunged (cage cleaning) but has never thumped).

[Sarita]

I think she just doesn’t trust him yet – I see this with quite a few bondings. I tried bonding one of my fosters with another rabbit and she climbed the cage to get out – which I thought was strange since I thought she wanted a friend – she had been bonded to her mother before her mother passed away. Then she got adopted from the sanctuary and she bonded very easily with her new boyfriend.

I also tried bonding one of my fosters with another rabbit and she didn’t want to be bonded – they adopted her anyway and she is separate from her “mate” because she just either doesn’t like him or is just an independent woman.

[MooBunnay]

I haven’t experience this before with my bunnies, usually one is always trying to hump the other..or nip the other…or pull the other’s fur out

I would agree with Sarita, it sounds like Cotton might just be afraid of Schroeder, or is uncertain of what would happen. Have you tried the “bunny ball”? A fried of mine who is very experienced with bonding is a fan of this, she gets both bunnies in her lap in a big smoosh and just pets them both and really gets their scents all over each other, and also by the petting and comforting them tries to get them to associate each other with good feelings instead of fear.

[missSarah]

I don’t know if you’ve tried this already but loading my buns up in the back seat of my car and giving them a tour of the neighborhood got them to cuddle each other voluntarily. I also took them to Petsmart once (which is a good 15 minute drive) to get a few things and they rode around together in the cart. After a total of 30 minutes in the car and a few more together in the cart at Petsmart they were good and sleepy and very used to being next to each other. When I put them in their neutral territory they both flopped down across from each other which was the best progress we’d had so far.

My buns were never that aggressive (just a lot of chasing and boxing) so I would definitely have someone in the car with you to seperate the buns if they fight.

[KatnipCrzy]

I have been car bonding them- my husband drives and I sit in the back next to the carrier.  They seem to be doing well with that.  It is weird to think of errands that don’t require too much time and that I can stay in the car for!  One day we stopped by work with them, and today we stopped by the petstore with them.

I have switched their cages so it is all NIC run separated by a single NIC barrier- a step closer from a dog crate but against the NIC run.

They are getting there, slowly.

[Author]

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