Female House rabbit aggressive to new boy

[Charlotte]

Hello

I am new to the forum and seeking some advice with bonding my two rabbits! I hope someone can offer some advice.

Geri, my female house rabbit is 4 years old. We have a very close relationship, but she is not so keen on other people. She was neutered four weeks ago and I decided to adopt her a friend as I felt that this was the last thing she was missing. I adopted Shakespeare a 3 year old male to bond with her.

I began with keeping the cages close together so they can meet through the bars and when each of them runs free they approach each other’s cages. Shakespeare is doing a lot of chinning around Geri’s cage.

I am putting them everyday in a neutral space (the shower) with food spread around as a distraction. They both eat and usually stretch out after, sometimes laying next to each other (Geri has once rolled on her back) . However if Shakespeare moves or goes to close to her through his choice, Geri nips him on the head, the backside and ‘digs’ or claws at his face (something she does to unknown people also)
Shakespeare is very nervous and does not do anything back he just puts his head to the floor, he has not told her off at all yet.

The mixed messages from Geri are very confusing and I am unsure if I am doing something wrong… I have a spray bottle which I use to break them up when Geri lunges and claws at him.

Am I perhaps breaking them apart too soon?

Any advice would be really great

[Vincent]

Maybe try a bigger neutral space like the bathroom floor instead?

Sometimes bunnies like to be able to get away from the new bun for a whlie and explore a bit further away and come over when they feel like

I think it overall sounds like their doing pretty good considering they lay together so she probably likes him but maybe some more space to roam would make it feel more natural and comfortable with her?

If a fight happens sometimes they will associate that area with anger so sometimes switching to a new location helps by itself

If that doesn’t work you could try stress bonding where you put them together in a smallish container (like a laundry basket) and take them on a car ride / put them on the dryer / vacuum around the pen to make them stressed and seek each others company and then put them in a new neutral area together to calm down together and bond like that

But this should be last measures because for some rabbits this is a temporary fix and after the stress is gone they will fall apart again

But some people have a lot of luck with this.

I’d try the bigger new neutral ground first though to see if your female just wants some space and time

Very sorry no one responded to your post till now. If there has been a change in their bonding I’d love to hear about it

[Charlotte]

Thank you for the advice. I will try a new larger area tonight and see how it goes!

[sarahthegemini]

I would wait a bit longer before bonding if your girl was only spayed a month ago. Is the new bun neutered?

[Charlotte]

Yes he has been neutered for a long time, but yes perhaps I went into it to quickly and should try to ‘pre bond’ them more? She has always been a little nervous and tends to ‘box’ or bite people other than me if they stroke her for longer than she would like or surprise her and I haven’t seen that behaviour change much so maybe it will take some time for her hormones to settle!

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Charlotte on 6/13/2017 8:28 AM

Yes he has been neutered for a long time, but yes perhaps I went into it to quickly and should try to ‘pre bond’ them more? She has always been a little nervous and tends to ‘box’ or bite people other than me if they stroke her for longer than she would like or surprise her and I haven’t seen that behaviour change much so maybe it will take some time for her hormones to settle!

Oh definitely, it can take months for hormones to settle but continue with the pre bonding!

[Author]

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