HELP w/ Bonding!

[ButterBuns]

I inherited two bunnies (who are spayed and neutered) from my gf who can no longer take care of them. Butter I received first is like the hobo type who just stays in his hiding spot all day and loafs. Ohagi was spayed about 4 months ago after a year of waiting. Started bonding them this month in neutral spaces, but its not going well. My roommates prefer them to be in one cage rather than in two separate ones because it takes up a lot of space in our shared garage turned apartment space. Not sure on what to do since they always fight.

[Sunny]

in my opinion, those two rabbits should definitely not be kept together in the same cage if they aren’t bonded. it wouldn’t matter to me if my roommates didn’t like having them in separate cages. from what i’ve heard, rabbits can very easily fight to the death, and it’s up to you as their caretaker to prevent that from happening. you never know what could happen. this is all based on what i’ve heard about bonding since i’ve never bonded rabbits myself, but i do know that you need to be more careful! i’m not sure how to help you with the actual bonding process but if it doesn’t work out you have to have enough space for the other rabbit elsewhere.

[DanaNM]

What have you been doing to bond them? Have you done any pre-bonding? 

You definitely need to keep them separate until they are bonded, and should come up with a back-up plan in case you are unable to do so. 

It is good that you wanted to take in the bunnies, but if you are unable to bond them properly, and are unable to house them separately, you will need to re-home one of them. 

. . . 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.  

[ButterBuns]

My bunnies haven’t really fought since I ended up putting a well spaced divider between them in the one cage. They seem to be okay now when I place Butter (male) into Ohagi’s (female) side for 10mins or so. She grooms him but he doesn’t return the favor which leads to grunting and bunny butt here n there. When I place her into his side of the cage, she tends to dominate the place like its hers but totally ignores Butter. 

I think at some point, I’m just going to let them live together in the one cage and let them figure it out. I know they are super afraid of the vacuum cleaner and the fridge we have. 

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By ButterBuns on 9/15/2017 10:21 PM

My bunnies haven’t really fought since I ended up putting a well spaced divider between them in the one cage. They seem to be okay now when I place Butter (male) into Ohagi’s (female) side for 10mins or so. She grooms him but he doesn’t return the favor which leads to grunting and bunny butt here n there. When I place her into his side of the cage, she tends to dominate the place like its hers but totally ignores Butter. 

I think at some point, I’m just going to let them live together in the one cage and let them figure it out. I know they are super afraid of the vacuum cleaner and the fridge we have. 

DO NOT DO THIS.

Rabbits need to be properly bonded, not just lumped together with the assumption they’ll work it out. That’s how you end up with severely injured, if not dead, bunnies. Please read up about bonding.

[Deleted User]

I’m curious as to how long you have had these bunnies? What were the circumstances when your gf had them? How were they housed etc? A little bit more information will be more helpful. That might help people give you more advice on what to do next. If bunnies have bad history then they may not be able to bond in the future, like if they have previously had serious fights in the past etc. Also if your bunnies are still settling in to their new environment then bonding them might be a little bit too stressful at the moment. Also agreeing with Sarah do not just let them sort it out. It doesn’t work like this. There is nothing positive that can come of this.

[Boston's Mama]

That is not safe – you could end up with a blood bath and more than likely will.
If you find bonding too difficult doing it properly then rehome one or both – do not just put them together and hope it works as it will not.
They have shown you they are not ready to be together – everything you described says they are not ready and you need to hit the reset button. Please read up on bonding before going further with this – or please find them a one where someone has the time to do this properly

[Deleted User]

You absolutely cannot just “let them live together”

As the others stated, this can be extremely dangerous for both bunnies. The bonding process can take anywhere from weeks to months, and if you aren’t prepared for the process then I think it’s best you rehome either one or both bunnies. You cannot let your roommates dictate how you treat your animals. I understand that compromise is necessary in communal living, but you simply can’t put your roommates well being above your rabbits-unless you want them to kill each other. Some owners have come home to rabbits who seemed bonded and weeks later they’ve gotten into a fight and ripped pieces of ears off… honestly, you really should look more into the process.

[DanaNM]

Putting one bunny in the other one’s cage is not going to properly bond them, and as others have said, you cannot just let them “sort it out”. They could very easily kill or seriously injure each other, especially in a cage where they have very little space to escape from each other.

The bonding process consists of letting them interact in neutral territory, closely supervised. Starting with short sessions, and working up to longer ones.

PLEASE read this info: https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/9/PID/940/Default.aspx

If you cannot commit to properly bonding these rabbits, you need to rehome one of them, both of them, or commit to keeping them both separately.

. . . 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.  

[ButterBuns]

I took out the separating wall and they seemed okay when I sat in the cage with them. Through my mounted GoPro footage attached to a corner of the cage, they seem to have bonded in a short amount of time. Thanks for the info, but having neutral space where I live isn’t pawsible. 

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By ButterBuns on 10/02/2017 1:31 PM

I took out the separating wall and they seemed okay when I sat in the cage with them. Through my mounted GoPro footage attached to a corner of the cage, they seem to have bonded in a short amount of time. Thanks for the info, but having neutral space where I live isn’t pawsible. 

Have you not listened to those of us saying you need to bond them properly? You’re playing with fire.

[Deleted User]

That’s a horrible idea.

If you care about your rabbits at all, please don’t do this. One of them could end up dead. They are not bonded, bonding takes weeks not hours. Unbounded rabbits can fight to the death. Consider giving them away to a no kill shelter if you aren’t going to care for them properly. They will be better off with someone else

[Author]

Messages