Difficult bond – help please!

[Mai]

Hello I’m new to the forums and could really use some advice. 

We recently got a new female rabbit (peanut) to keep our male (butter) company. (They’ve both been neutered / spayed). We started out trying to bond them in the bath as this is what most places recommended but this didn’t go well at all, they were constantly fighting and it started to get really nasty so we’ve since set them up a neutral area in the kitchen and they’ve had a couple of dates down there. Butter keeps attacking peanut and she’s starting to look really sad She’s not really fighting back any more just running away and curling up in a ball in the corner, he keeps biting her back and then goes to her face and lunches at her. We’re not really sure what to do now to stop this happening, we get an oven glove between them so it can’t go to far, but then he just keeps going for her. They have two penned off areas next to each other and we swap litter trays so they can get used to each others smell. Any other suggestions on what we can do would be really appreciated!  

[SuperCuteRainbowPets]

Hi!
It looks like you have two rabbits that really don’t like each other. Due to the fact that you tried all these things, I would recommend to keep them separate, because it sounds like there has been some serious stress and injuries. And I think it would be unfair for Peanut to make her go through all of this fighting. If you can’t do this, then talk to your vet for advice or do some more research (youtube videos and/or start the whole bonding process over etc). Hope this helped a bit!

[Mikey]

I mostly agree with SuperCuteRainbowPets. Youll want to keep them completely separate, but only for a few months. Keep their cages a few inches apart, but close enough that they can see and smell one another. Alternate their play time in another area, so they cant nip the other bunny through the bars while they are out. Keep them like this for atleast two months, then try again with a similar but different tactic. Get a box thats big enough they can both lay down, but thats it. Put them in the box in a neutral room for two minutes and pet them the entire time. Put them back. An hour later, do the same thing. Do this a few times for a few days, then start with longer sessions in the box where you watch them the entire time, but dont pet them the entire time. If they can handle that, try bonding in the tub or kitchen again with a ton of short sessions spanning to a few long sessions. If they cant handle this for whatever reason, then it sounds like they just dont get along

[Author]

Messages