First time bonding

[Scarbie]

Hello! I am currently going through the bonding process of Lomeo & Zuliet (opposite sexes as you’d have noticed from the names, both fixed and under 1 yr old) and would like to seek some advice! 

I started off with the pre-bonding stage by placing their cages next to each another. We then stress-bonded them in a moving carrier for a couple of times. It went well and they were already grooming each other so we moved onto the bath tub, then a small playpen setup for about 2 weeks, with Lomeo occasionally wanting to mount Zuliet while she refused and ran away. 

As the humping gradually stopped, we placed them in the same cage overnight while monitoring closely. They’re eating and sleeping together just fine. We thought it’s time to move onto a bigger area so we let them out to the playground at the same time and we saw a problem…

Zuliet would chase after Lomeo whenever he moves. Basically, she likes chasing after moving things. So if I wave a roll of toilet paper in front of her, she would be jumping up and down shaking her head like crazy trying to catch it, followed by the usual bunny 500s. But Lomeo obviously doesn’t like it so he keeps running away and the chasing continues and sometimes turned into a small fight. I moved them back into the cage and they are behaving well again.

Any idea on how I should proceed with the bonding?

[Sirius&Luna]

Hi Scarbie,

It sounds like you’re almost there. Can we hear a bit more about the big area? Is it where there permanent home will be?

If it’s a larger room that their permanent home is in, I think you need to limit the space they have in there. So if they’re happy in the area that they’re sleeping in, you need to slowly expand from there, giving them access to just the small square of space in front of that. If they can behave in that space, increase it another small amount. Gradually expand the space that they can behave in and they should sort out the problems.

They aren’t bonded yet so they shouldn’t be left alone together without you there.

[Scarbie]

The big area is literally the living room with toys and tunnels and litter boxes. It’s where I used to let them roam (individually at different times of the day) before the bonding started. Guess I jumped to a large area too quickly Yes we’d still keep them separated when nobody’s at home. Thanks for the tips, will try expanding slowly and see how it goes!

[Sirius&Luna]

It might be that all the toys and boxes are making one territorial.

I think try with the slow expanding, but if there’s still chasing you need to stop the chasing before it escalates, and maybe try removing toys in case they’re feeling protective over them.

Good luck

[Author]

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