How do you tell if it was a successful date?

[skysblue]

I brought my spayed 1yr and 8 months old rabbit to the shelter to meet another male rabbit who is a year old. The male rabbit was recently neutered.

To my surprise, my rabbit was super calm and completely ignored him. She was rather interested in the surroundings, whereas the male rabbit was trying to hump my rabbit, thought not super aggressive. I told the shelter i will come back in 2 weeks or so to try another date when his hormones go down. But he is super cute, so i doubt he will be there by then. 

How do i know if it was a good date? When they completely ignore each other? playing? grooming? light aggression?

Today’s date only lasted about 5 mins i think because there were signs of humping so i thought it’d be no use to keep it longer.

I might continue to try more dates with different rabbit, but i really liked the rabbit i saw today. 

[Limit]

Humping is completely normal. I’d be surprised if it didn’t happen during a date. It’s just a dominance thing that eventually sorts itself out. As there was no fighting, scraps, etc, I’d say it was a good first date. The fact that your bun was calm too is really great. Light aggression is also normal, mine had a few nips/lunges when they first met – as long as they don’t go back for more fighting and ‘lock’ with one another (by locking I mean biting and kicking back legs) I think it’s safe to say it’s a good date.

Grooming, playing, flopping comes with time – some will do it straight away, others will not. I don’t think 5 minutes will give an accurate result, but the result was still good nonetheless. Was just wondering how recent was his neuter? Is it possible to have the bunny and simply keep them separate until he has completely healed and hormones have calmed down more?

[skysblue]

The date was a lot better than i expected although i was hoping the miracle love at first sight. Another thing might be since my rabbit was curious about it’s surrounding, thats why she ignored him. What if she isn’t curious of the surrounding anymore and then fight back etc?

I think the neutering was pretty recent, like a couple days. The sign said it is still healing from the cut. I could keep the bunny but then i risk having him still humping or not getting along after weeks. Do i then return him to the shelter? 

The volunteer at the shelter seemed very disinterested and we had many awkward silences; wasn’t very comfortable staring at them for longer time.

I am thinking to give another try this Saturday if the bunny is still there, or is it too soon?

Anyone had a love at first sight experience where everything was just perfect and they can share everything right away?

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By skysblue on 3/28/2017 10:36 PM

The date was a lot better than i expected although i was hoping the miracle love at first sight. Another thing might be since my rabbit was curious about it’s surrounding, thats why she ignored him. What if she isn’t curious of the surrounding anymore and then fight back etc?

I think the neutering was pretty recent, like a couple days. The sign said it is still healing from the cut. I could keep the bunny but then i risk having him still humping or not getting along after weeks. Do i then return him to the shelter? 

The volunteer at the shelter seemed very disinterested and we had many awkward silences; wasn’t very comfortable staring at them for longer time.

I am thinking to give another try this Saturday if the bunny is still there, or is it too soon?

Anyone had a love at first sight experience where everything was just perfect and they can share everything right away?

You could always ask to foster him rather than adopt so you can try bonding them without the worry of being stuck with two single bunnies. 

I do think it’s too soon after his neuter tho for an accurate assessment of how things are going but of course no fighting is always a positive start! Love at first sight is very rare so please don’t hold out for that because it might never happen. Bunnies can still form incredibly strong bonds even with a rocky start (in fact, Mikey on here has a trio of bucks and I believe 2 of them *I think* fought badly in the beginning but are very strongly bonded now) so not having a love at first sight scenario is okay!

I was actually very lucky that my bunnies did have a love at first sight scenario but my case was very different to yours – I had both buns  (litter mates) from 8 weeks old, separated them when old enough and kept them side by side and did lots of pre bonding before the initial re-introduction. Neither of mine were ever territorial. My boy bun groomed my girl within the first half hour of the bonding session Of course we had a few obstacles to overcome but it was a nice easy bond. I know how fortunate I am in regards to that!

[skysblue]

I emailed the shelter and she said fostering isn’t an option to adopt. She said i can adopt him and certainly bring him back if they do not bond. The adoption fee is really cheap.
Ahhh i am so torn! should i give it a try!? Now i have to think of a place to separate them…

[Author]

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