From first date to cohabitate – is this okay?

[clarinuto]

We adopted a lovely, seemingly sweet bunny from a local rescue who was very knowledgeable and extremely helpful when bring our current bunny on speed-dates.  After our girl bunny found a bunny she seemed to like, the rescue gave us very precise instructions for how we were supposed to bond the bunnies.  Most of these instructions were similar to everything I have read online with the major exception of one bit: we were to keep them together from the moment they arrived home.

We set up a neutral area and began allowing them to cohabitate; I worked from home the next day to check on them every couple hours and actually it was going much smoother than I had expected.  That night I went to bed feeling much more confident about the instructions we received, which I had previously been extremely nervous about.

This changed when I came home from work yesterday (day 2) to their area being covered in fur, clearly post a large fight. I checked both of them over and they were fine, minus fur loss, but felt unsure about continuing to leave them together.  I spent some time with them, petting them both, and treating them when they were kind to one another, and then left briefly to go have dinner.  I came back and found more fur had been pulled.

My girl bunny seems worried, trying to eat, but the new boy hops over each time.  He doesn’t lunge, but she hops away as if either she doesn’t want to be around him or he is pushing her out of the area.  He, however, is consuming everything in site and pooping over the entire area.  I don’t feel like she is eating enough.

This morning I woke up to more fur and a scab on her ear. I separated them.  My heart can’t take the fighting, despite the rescue’s instruction.

I was wondering if anyone has bonded in this manner previously and what everyone’s suggestions would be for the best way to continue the bonding process (or if I should just stop trying to bond them altogether).

My bunny girl is my baby so it has been hard for me to watch her being continually picked at.  The new boy is extremely sweet to us humans and seems to be super calm and laid back, but apparently in a war for dominance of her.

He mounts her a decent amount, which she does tolerate some.

Thanks for any advice.

[tobyluv]

Most instructions for bonding tell you to start with short sessions, then increase the time every day until you are sure that they are bonded. Although I have known people who did put the rabbits together and kept them together as long as there was no fighting. Seeing some fur tufts in the area can be common. Some scuffling, chasing and fur pulling can occur, and there is almost always mounting. But you don’t want to see an area covered with fur, as you saw. The fact that you keep seeing fur and you are now seeing evidence of biting is concerning. They might not be outright fighting, where a severe injury could occur, but you don’t want your female to feel intimidated and get picked at over and over.

Was the male just recently neutered? It can take a month for the hormones to be flushed out, and some rabbits go into a post neuter craze. Even though you say he is sweet and calm around you, maybe his hormones are driving him to be overactive with her. But that is just if he was recently neutered.

Here is one article on bonding, http://rabbit.org/faq-bonding-multiple-rabbits/. It says to have short bonding sessions, and to separate the rabbits if there is fighting. I’m not sure if you can say your rabbits are actively fighting with each other, but there seems to be definite aggression and intimidation from the male, which isn’t good. Maybe you should keep them separate for a couple of days, then try bonding as suggested in the article that I linked to.

I hope that you will have good luck with your future bonding efforts.

[clarinuto]

The rescue did mention that our new boy had been neutered only a couple weeks prior to our adoption date.

Since separating them, I found another area where my girl had been cut, right above her eye… so it just reconfirmed to me that separating them was the right thing to do.

I’ve read many sites the last couple days about bonding and many people say that any two bunnies can be bonded, but it isn’t always worth the stress on you or your buns.

I’m curious if anyone has some signs they use to decide when it just isn’t right between two bunnies or isn’t going to be a good match?

The fur flying and 2 small cuts on my bunny alone are almost bringing me to not want to bond them as is, but I’m hoping this new gentler approach along with a couple extra weeks for the boy’s hormones to potentially calm will help..

Thanks for all your help.  It is really appreciated!

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