Dead end feeling with bonding

[The bakery buns]

I’m having trouble bonding my 2 boys after starting off wonderfully.

Clyde my dutch, was here first and has been a spoiled only child till Waffles came with us. They’ve lived next door to each other but not together since day one and have both been fixed now.

Clyde has never been happy about sharing a space with Waffles and was aggressive towards him through their pens, Waffles was a scaredy cat and would avoid going near where Clyde was.

Before getting them fixed I started swapping their living spaces, Clyde would be in Waffles and vice versa. After getting them fixed and waiting just over 4 weeks I put them in the bathtub and it went well.  A bit of nipping from Clyde but nothing major and it ended with flops from everyone.

2 sessions of that went by and at the 3rd one I put some banana on their foreheads to get some grooming going and Waffles started licking Clydes face and all was well then the 4th day Clyde started instigating fights and fur was flying. I pulled them apart and ended it petting them together and banana and called it a day.

I tried again the next day and the fighting was bad right off the bat, I gave them a few days break and tried again in a small neutral area supervising the whole time and we had flops and Waffles grooming Clyde. But by day 3 again we were back to fighting and getting progressively worse.

Again gave them a break and decided to start staking them for car rides before trying to make nice and the fighting has gotten souch worse, now Waffles has had enough of Clyde and will attack unprovoked and beat the snot out of him understandably. My last sessions were trying other things like giving them a big space with plenty of room to stay away from each other if needed, but Waffles would go after Clyde who’s not doing anything to him.

I can’t get a session to go past 3 days without going downhill and I try to make it fun with lots of treats and petting. The last time I tried bonding them was literally petting them constantly and keeping them from going at each other which I know is stressful and not a productive situation, I ended it very shortly thereafter.

I’ve been trying to work with them the past 3 months with no real results besides going backwards and unhappy buns, I’m not sure what to do at this point, I want them to live together and be buddies. I’ve been on a work trip for the last 4 weeks so I told my husband to not even bother and just let them be and maybe that’ll be a reseat.

Thanks for reading my wall of text, I’m just out of ideas.🖤🐇

 

[DanaNM]

I’m so sorry bonding isn’t going well. I just went through the same ordeal but with my two females (was trying for a trio). After months of trying many different tactics it became clear they were just not a good match.

Same-sex pairings tend to be the most difficult. Since you’ve already tried car rides and larger/smaller spaces, the only thing I can think to try would be super super short sessions with lots of petting to break the cycle of aggression. But some rabbits are just a bad match, and after 3 months I would expect to see at least some progress. It’s really up to you how much you want to keep trying. If you do keep going, it’s important to be really consistent and try to work with them every day. Going to a completely new location (such as a friend’s house) can also help. If they still fight badly in that context then I would personally be inclined to call it quits.

Do you have space to keep them separated? Many buns can live happily as neighbors even if they don’t bond.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[The bakery buns]

Thank you for replying!

I do have space to separate them for good if it comes to that, they already are neighbors where they live now.

I haven’t thought of going to someone else’s house, that might be a good idea. Now they’ve had a month break but are still next to each other, I’m hoping that’ll be enough to make for a fresh start.

I was wondering too, would it be a good idea to have them separate to where they couldn’t see each other for awhile and have just a total let down from each other? I’m not sure if they would be lonely doing so, which is why I haven’t tried that.

[DanaNM]

regarding full separation, it depends on how bad the fighting has been. If one bun was actually injured than full separation for several weeks could be a good idea.

I do think trying a friend’s house could be a good plan. If you are still seeing the same aggression there than I think that’s an indication that this pairing is just not a good match.

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

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