I messed up, is it too late to fix?

[dlattin]

Spay/Neuter
Are your bunnies spayed/neutered? Yes
If so, for how long (for each)? Male neutered for 6 months, female for 1 month

Housing
Please describe your bunnies’ current housing set-up (living together, as neighbors, etc.).

They are neighbors in adjacent 4×4 exercise pens with a shared wall. They have been there since we got the female at about 6 weeks of age after the male had been neutered for a few weeks, so about 5-6 months. They regularly run around in a large common space outside the exercise pens, but we only let them out one at a time.

Bonding background
Did you allow the bunnies to “settle-in”? Only by having them live next to each other.
How would you describe your bunnies reactions towards each other (answer for each bunny): shy, scared, curious, calm, aggressive, excited, affectionate, etc.? They are generally affectionate through the shared wall and regularly groom each other’s nose. Initially they were curious when we started bonding, then aggressive (see below)
Have you done any “pre-bonding” (cage or litter box swaps, etc.)? Not really
Have you started sessions yet? Tried for first time last night (see below)
How long have you been working on bonding your bunnies? 1 day
How frequently do you have bonding sessions, and how long are they? N/A
Have you tried any stressing techniques? Not sure what that means

Looking for advice on the next steps I should take for bonding my rabbits! We have a 1 year old male rabbit, Coconut, that was neutered at 6 months of age and a 7 month old female rabbit, Honey, that was spayed a month ago. They are kept in exercise pens that have a shared wall and have been there for the past 5-6 months since we got the female. They often groom each other through the shared fence and we thought they were friendly towards each other if not really bonded. Now that the female has been spayed for a month, we thought they might be okay to start bonding them. Up until now we let them out into a common area outside the pens to exercise in turns and have never let them out at the same time. We knew we should bond in a neutral space, so thought the common space would work. We opened up each of their doors into the common area and they immediately started exploring the other rabbit’s space. I think this was my first mistake (not closing the doors behind them so they only had access to the common space). After about 5 minutes, they went back into the common area outside the exercise pens and seemed to cautiously sniff each other. Seemed okay so far. Then they went together into Coconut’s pen and we thought things were looking good. But then they promptly started fighting. I immediately separated them and put Honey back in her pen and she tried to attack Coconut through the shared wall before finally calming down. That was last night. This morning they seemed to be back to being friendly through their shared wall, so we thought maybe we could try again. This time we  opened their door but didn’t let them back into the cages, so they were only in the ‘neutral’ space of the common area. But Honey immediately made a beeline for Coconut and attacked him. I promptly separated them back into their own cages. I’m worried now that Honey’s established a pattern of attacking Coconut, they may never bond. We obviously went too fast and should’ve introduced them to each other in a more neutral space where neither had ever been before. But I was trying to keep it simple soccer I thought they would bonding pretty easily having been friendly neighbors for a while 😬 Do you think they can still eventually bond? If so, how long should I wait before trying again? What steps should I take next and how slow should I go with each step?Sorry, total novice when it comes to rabbits in general let alone bonding them. Tried to do my homework but clearly didn’t quite get it right. Thanks in advance!

[Wick & Fable]

A neutral space is place neither of them have been– the common area is semi-neutral, so it is not neutral at all and it was a misstep to try initial meetings there. The transition from neutral to semi-neutral is typically only done after rabbits can spend 24hrs+ in neutral territory without issue. That being said, it’s not necessary an irreparable “mistake”, but one to keep in mind going forward.

You can find information on what is the generally recommended bonding process here: https://binkybunny.com/infocategory/bonding/

It is actually common for unbonded rabbits to seem “bonded”, especially when one is young (a baby bond, it’s called) or through pen walls. A baby bond is a bond that involves at least one rabbit who is young/not fixed and is held together due to the young rabbit not having the mating/territorial urges which come from hormones (yet)– it is expected to be a temporary bond and is not a true bond. The presence of a baby bond does not lead us to draw conclusions on whether the rabbits can bond after being spayed/neutered, since it’s simply the result of lack-of-hormones. The peacefulness through pen walls can come from the security that the territory is securely delineated: “Ah, this is my space and they can’t enter. I am very comfortable.” Some people interpret the lounging/chilling by the territory perimeter as not only comfort, but also a, “HA! I can chill in this space and you can’t. Hahaha, look at me, I’m so relaxed in my territory.” … up to interpretation, haha.

As outlined in the link above, I would start in a truly neutral space with short dates, and as time goes on extend the length of those dates. Once they’ve established consistent neutral/positive interactions in neutral over a long period of time, you can start small in the semi-neutral space. I would wait a week before starting, just to let any grudges dissipate.

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.

[DanaNM]

Thank you for all the background info!

So first of all, don’t worry, mistakes happen! Even though there is so much info out there it is still a lot to take in, with lots of conflicting info. I literally did the same exact thing with my first pair. Oops! I did eventually bond them and they were extremely happy together (they are the pair in my avatar).

So the common area they both exercise in is not considered neutral territory in their eyes. They both spend lots of time in it, and it’s right next to their home-turfs. At best it would be considered semi-neutral, so that is your main problem. It’s completely normal for rabbits to fight in non-neutral territory, so I don’t think it’s any indication they aren’t bondable.

It’s also encouraging they are still acting chill through the fence even after the fight. Was either rabbit injured? I’m assuming No, but if so, then a few weeks break before proceeding is a good idea.

If no bun was injured, I think I would start by doing some side swaps for a couple weeks, and then continue that throughout teh bonding process. So you’ll swap which bun is on which side every day or two. Leave the litter trays and everything where they are, and ideally slightly dirty when you do the swap. This helps them start to lose track of their territory and get to “know” the other rabbit based on scent. Buns are really scent oriented, so this really helps.

After a couple weeks of swaps, and assuming the buns are acting relaxed after swapping, you can start sessions. You should use an area that neither rabbit has ever been, and ideally not within sight or immediate smelling range of their home areas. A lot of people use their bathroom or bathtub for this.

You can start with a few short sessions (like 5 minutes or so) just to get a sense of how they will be. It’s really important to prevent fighting, so watch their body language when they approach each other. If their ears are pinned back and their tail is up, that’s aggressive. I also like to pet the bunnies a lot in early sessions when things are tense, so when they approach each other and come face to face, you can pet them both. This is especially helpful if one bun requests grooming by putting its head down, because they think the other rabbit is grooming them and it helps build some positive feelings between them.

Be sure to end the date on a good note, so if they do scuffle or nip, break up the interaction and pet them to calm them down. End the date when the rabbits are calm or at least ignoring each other.

Once you do some sort sessions, you can start to increase the length of time as you see fit based on their behaviors, following the same basic idea of preventing fights as best you can. When they get into longer sessions I ease off the petting, but don’t be afraid to have your hands on them a lot in the early sessions.

. . . 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.  

[dlattin]

Awesome, thanks for the info and the next steps forward! One rabbit (Honey) loves pets, but Coconut does not. Hopefully petting Honey during dates will be sufficient, since she seems to be more aggressive. Thanks again!

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