Hit a brick wall – please help!

[PoppyH]

Hi everyone, I have been bonding Pickle and Sky for about a week now. I do know this is very early stages still but I am a worrier, and worry about most things.

Things have been going fine, lots of grooming in neutral spaces, and general going about their daily business. I have had them in many different neutral spaces all of which have been fine. Sky would mount Pickle who would let her in the bath (probably because hes scared of the bath’s surface) but Pickle would mount Sky on carpet, to which she lets him to a degree but then will turn on him. There have been a few skirmish fights with fur flying a few times which I have broken up and then carried on with the neutral space bonding still.

 On Monday I had to strip and hoover down my room as I am treating it for fleas. I had them in a little pen together while I did this, they were snuggled together for most of it however towards the end something happened and there were two fights which I broke up. (None of these fights were serious, there were no injuries just fur everywhere).

 

 Yesterday I had them together in the bathroom on the floor in an exercise pen. Pickle did not mount, and they snuggled together for most of the afternoon. There was lots and lots of grooming from Sky.

 

Because this went to well, last night I decided to put Sky’s exercise pen sort of around the front end of Pickle’s cage with Pickle’s cage door shut, and x-pen walls around the front of it for protection. Pickle’s cage door was also pegged shut. All was well, I thought and I went to stay round my boyfriends house who lives just around the corner (I have been staying here whilst I am treating my bedroom). In the morning I got a text from my mum saying I need to come home because the rabbits had gotten together in the night. I got home and there was fur everywhere and one of them was loose. However, Mum said when she checked in on them to find this, they were snuggled together?!?!?! I am so confused!

 

I hoovered up the fur and for the time being have taken Sky to my boyfriends house with all her toys and her pen where she will stay for a day or two whilst I spray my entire room. When she went towards Pickle this morning, he thumped so Im guessing he is scared. This will also give him time to calm down a bit.

Sky is loving it here at my boyfriends in her pen, so I know she is fine. I have checked them over for wounds, and from what I can see there are none, just some patches where fur has come out (when they went to the vets on Monday for the fleas, the vet confirmed the patches were NOT because of mites as they weren’t scabby, just from their skirmishes).

 

So, I need some advice. Where do I go from here? When my bedroom is done I will be bringing Sky back in her pen. They will be in separate cages. Do I start the bonding process again in the bath etc? Its annoying me because they get on fine in the bath and in smaller spaces its just when the space gets bigger, Pickle will annoy Sky by mounting which will turn into a tustle. Do I need to do it more gradually? I need all the help I can get, as this is my first time. I have looked at every single website and know what they say.

Its annoying me because I love seeing them snuggled beside each other in places like the bath, and the lovely grooming too. WHY do they take steps backwards when the space gets bigger, and Pickle gets more confident of his surroundings?!???!!

 

Please help – I love my bunnies and would love them to be together. I know Sky loves him otherwise why would she groom him so affectionately on their second session she floored herself right next to him on her side! She was obviously relaxed!

Thank you

 

[Monkeybun]

Definitely do it gradually. A week isn’t all that long in terms of bonding. Take it slow I suggest some car rides together, it often helps with the bonding.

[Sarita]

I agree with Monkeybun, a week is nothing. Take your time, take it slow, be patient.

[PoppyH]

Thanks for your replies. What would be the best way to sort of “rebond” them when she’s home? Lots of bath sessions? Just lots and lots of sessions in the pen everyday until they behave?

[FrankieFlash]

Gradual sessions are how it worked with my two. Start off short and gradually do longer bonding sessions in neutral territories. You can also slowly start to expand the neutral territory to bigger and bigger. Always end on a good note. So if you break up a fight and decide to end bonding session make sure to give pets (I put mine side to side with heavy petting (not hard just lots of it)) or give a treat. They say the buns remember the last thing so that’s why you want to make it positive.

[Elrohwen]

I agree with taking it slow and being patient. When I was bonding, I started in the tub and I would leave them as long as possible without incidents. Once they were being so good that I felt comfortable reading a book, or running downstairs for a glass of water, I would increase the time or change things up (add a litterbox, for example). When they could spend over an hour in there without incident, I let them into a small carpeted hallway and worked my way up again to 4 hours. Once they could do 4 hours while I read a book and generally kept an eye on them, I moved them in together. There will always be set backs when you move to a new area or bigger set up, so just be prepared to scale back the time and your expectations a bit.

So just go slow and let them tell you when they’re ready for something more. A week is really nothing – even many easy bonds take 2-4 weeks.

Also, my pair has been bonded for a few years and I still find clumps of fur that Hannah has pulled out of Otto. Things like that can be a normal part of a bunny relationship, so I wouldn’t worry too much about what happened. If they were snuggling afterwards, it sounds like it was just a scuffle and you can continue on with more sessions.

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