First bonding session – what to do after?

[Tina99]

Hi guys! I am very clueless about how to interpret the firat bonding session with my two bunnies. I put both of their carriers in a secluded part of the kitchen and let them out at the same time. Hugo my dwarf male completely froze and constantly jumped up to me coming for cuddles, he was a bit shaking. Pudding mostly ignored Hugo and showed his back to the other bunny. I kept putting Hugo back on the floor but he kept jumping on me giving me kisses. After about 10 minutes Pudding started to explore and he wanted to jump on me too which he didnt manage to so in the end. I gave them some snacks and finished the meeting after about 15 mins amd now I have no clue what to do next as Hugo was so scared but to be honest they were both shocked and confused

[Sirius&Luna]

Hi!

Could you tell us a bit more about the bunnies? How long have you had them, are they both neutered, have you done any prebonding?

Assuming they’re neutered and you’ve prebonded:

The first thing I would suggest is never leaving carriers out during bonding, as it can result in a nasty fight if one feels trapped in the carrier.

If both rabbits are fixated on you rather than each other, you need to remove yourself from the bonding area but still be available to jump right in if needed. I would suggest a small, neutral area (you don’t say if your kitchen is neutral), and just leave them together for a short amount of time, another 15 minutes since the first 15 minutes sounds like it went fine. If you think one of them is starting off very scared, then you can put them both next to each other and pet them at the beginning of the session, then back off a bit and let them interact. Don’t sit in there with them, because you’re obviously distracting them. A bathtub is a good option as you can observe easily and reach in to grab them if needed, but you’re not in the space with them so they won’t keep trying to interact with you. 

Postive interactions – grooming themselves or each other, flopping (together or separately), sharing food (leave this for later sessions, don’t start with it), mirroring, loafing.

Neutral – humping for less than 10 seconds, nipping, ignoring

Negative – biting, fur pulling, chasing, humping that’s distressing the other bunny, boxing, circling, face humping. All of these behaviours should be stopped immediately.

To be honest, they didn’t fight, so that’s a great start!

[Tina99]

Hi, thank you for your reply. They are both neutered and I have done a great deal of prebonding. Pudding is a 1.5 year old lionhead-lop mix, Hugo is an 8-montg-old Netherland dwarf. They live next to each other in separate playpens in the dining room. The kitchen is a neutral area. I put the carriers away after all but it is a good point. I think I am just overcautious and overprotective as they are my first bunnies, had Hugo since January, Pudding for a year. I will try the bath tub next time. Is it ok if I won’t try again for another day?

[Sirius&Luna]

Ok perfect! It sounds like you’re ready to go then.

Once you’ve started bonding it’s best to try and get a session in at least once a day to maintain progress – sometimes it’s not possible, but keep to a schedule as much as you can.

You might want to put a towel or something down in the bathtub to help them grip. If they seem distressed in the bathtub then feel free to move them back to the kitchen – you need to find what works for them and keep going with it

[Tina99]

They just had their second meeting and I got really disheartened. I out two towels down in the bath tub then put them put sort of them same time with some hay on the floor. They were both exploring curiously for about 2 minutes then Pudding went to smell Hugo without any sign of agression, just when he smells objects. Hugo sniffed him and started boxing him with his paws and nearly lunged for him. Pudding did not do anything just sat there with wide eyes. So I separated them and they have playtime separately. I really don’t know if I shoukd continue at all, or let them just live next two each other with separate playpens and playtimes.

[Sirius&Luna]

It’s still super early! You’ve only had two sessions. Bonding on average takes about a month of daily sessions, and sometimes much longer.

Hugo must have been scared by pudding approaching- you know that pudding wasn’t being aggressive, but Hugo doesn’t. Maybe he felt threatened being in the bath, so try the kitchen again tomorrow. Try petting them together at the beginning, and be ready with a brush or something to stick between them if Hugo lunges again. It’s normal at this stage for a bunny to lunge when another one gets close to their face – they feel threatened and they don’t trust each other yet.

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