First Time Bonding – define success?

[GeorgieTheBunny]

Adoptee Hector came home Feb.26 to a 2 bedroom apt where Hazel has been living for 9 months. They are both approx 2yr3m old and both small. Hazel is a dominant female weighting 1.82kg and Hector is a pats before food docile little guy at 1.14kg. Hazel had been showing some signs of loneliness, with no bunny speed dating services in my area of Ont. we we looking for a laid back, chilled out lover- not a fighter (found him!).

Hector was fixed Feb.21 and his first rabbit savvy vet appt was yesterday Mar. 9. He got a clean bill of health, his nails trimmed and we got some advice for trying to get an ultra picky bunny to eat more.

Bonding; what we have tried so far:

Hazel has used his litter box!
When we change the litter boxes, we do so on the linoleum entry floor for easy clean up. We left both of their used boxes out and she hopped into his, pooped in it and ate the specialty hay from inside. Also a couple territory poops around it.

They have had stuffed animal switching!
Hazel’s stuffed bunny was put in with Hector. He sniffed, chinned and booped it. I might have even seen a lick or two. Hector had it 2 days and we gave it back to Hazel. She has sniffed it intensely for a day and a half and today she groomed stuffy’s ears.

***This is where I need help understanding***:
Through a fence- Yesterday
We setup the hallway with a fence in the middle. Hazel has run of the living & dining room, entry and kitchen whereas Hector is in an ex pen in the second room. Hector’s pen was strategically opened so that he could get to the hall and Hazel can get to the hall fence from her side. Bf on Hazel’s side and myself on Hector’s side; we watched them meet for the first time. She nipped his nose through the fence bars. He pooped about it.
He seemed peaceful, curious and eager but kept pooping and eventually peed. She was grumpy about him, growled/grunted and would not let Andrew pat her to calm the situation. When we tried the deescalate pats she would get out of reach. She left and came back 4 or 5 times while this experiment happened but always came back – she’s curious but cautious.

Pen Swap- Tonight
We put her in the carrier and tucked her away for a moment while I picked up Hector and put him in her condo. Then Hazel was released into Hector’s pen.
Hazel ate all of Hector’s leftover snacks, peed in his litter, and left 6-9 territories poops.
Hector pooped his tiny buns off on the entire first floor of her house, chinned everything, and peed in her cardboard hidey hut (face palm)
20 minutes: experiment over.

What does it mean? All of it? Each and every part of it-?

What am I doing? What should I be doing?

I’ve read a fair bit on bonding but I don’t know how to interpret these actions (esp. Hector’s) and what I should learn or do about them

Guidance Please

[sarahthegemini]

I’m a bit confused with your time line. You need to let the new bun settle in for a while before you start pre bonding, and if you bought Hector home on the 26th, that means he has only been in your home for two weeks. And you’ve already started pre bonding? If I were you, I would halt all of that and let Hector settle for a couple more weeks THEN begin pre bonding.

You then need to pre bond for a month at least before you try a physical introduction.

For what it’s worth, the territorial pooping and Hazel’s unhappy attitude is a totally normal reaction. When you start pre bonding, altho the guideline is a month, you might need to pre bond for longer if Hazel is still reacting negatively.

[DanaNM]

I’m also a bit confused. If Hector was neutered Feb 21 he also needs more time for his hormones to settle down.

Also, what you described is really just pre-bonding. I don’t see any value in letting them interact through a fence, just a high risk for bitten noses.

Agree with Sarah, let them settle in longer (for hormones and otherwise), then do cage swaps for a month (swap who lives in what cage every day or so). It will also help pre-bonding if they can be housed side by side (but unable to actually touch each other).

Then, you let them actually interact in a neutral space, and DO NOT let them fight. Every reaction they have had to each other sounds perfectly normal, and doesn’t really indicate anything as to how their bonding will go.

. . . 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.  

[GeorgieTheBunny]

I know it’s been awhile since I asked about this; and I did read these within a couple days of your posting them. It’s been a busy time.
I appreciate the feedback you’ve both given and instituted some of it immediately, while other elements are in process.
For the sake of his happiness, Hector’s pen is now also in the corner of the living room. We disassembled a desk and moved furniture to accommodate this. His pen has a double fence to prevent biten noses as Hazel is able to approach one side of the pen when she gets free roam time.
It’s been 6 days like this and though there are times when Hazel is grumpy and growls a bit – they will flop, munch, and groom near each other.
It’s going to be awhile before they bond, Hector wants to know Hazel – so badly, but we want everybun* to be safe.

[DanaNM]

Sounds like a good set-up.

Ideally you would swap who is on what side every day or two, and try to time litter box cleaning so they spend at least a few hours with the other bun’s dirty litter box (as weird as that sounds). If that’s not possible, swap litter trays, bowls, toys, etc. The idea is that they lose track of what is “their” territory.

I also like to feed them near each other, so they associate the other bunny with good things.

. . . 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.  

[GeorgieTheBunny]

They are poop machines!?
Therefore I can only assume they are VERY AWARE of territory.

Wtf do I do? Start a fertilizer business? …Calm down?

They’ve only swapped enclosures once and Hector peed in her cardboard hidey house

I have drawn up a plan for a 2 bunny C&C condo with a double walled divider down the middle that will be removable when they are bonded. Until my family (who helps me build) is all back in the province I can’t build.
It’s likely a good adjustment timeframe that I can’t build it now… Hazel has become my bf’s shadow.

[DanaNM]

Haha ah yes, the poop wars. They should calm down with more pre-bonding… but might not until after they are bonded.

A shared condo sounds like a nice plan, just make sure the divider mesh is small so they can’t nip. You could put a layer of hardware cloth over the NIC cube grids, 1/4″ mesh would be plenty small enough.

. . . 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.  

[GeorgieTheBunny]

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[GeorgieTheBunny]

The shared condo plan has a no nip divider wall It’s going to be 2 walls that are one inch apart. It’ll be double the grid squares but I can always keep them around for bunny proofing or temporary pens down the hall and far away from scary vacuum time.

RE: Poops.
I finally “get” this image

[DanaNM]

Hmm, depending on the grid size, 1 inch is prob not enough. For the standard NIC cube grids (the smaller size grids), 4-6 inches is safe, depending on how big your bunny is. You’d be surprised what they can squeeze their little faces into to get a chunk of fur.

If you don’t want to sacrifice that much space, you could easily attach a panel of hardware cloth with cable ties (then you wouldn’t even need the double wall).

. . . 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.  

[GeorgieTheBunny]

I just looked up hardware cloth because I didn’t know what it was. I now understand the appeal

Thanks for the suggestion

[DanaNM]

You’re welcome! Yeah it does have kind of a strange name! It’s what my local shelter uses in all their exercise pens to make sure no one can nip their neighbors.

. . . 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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