I need bonding help….

[ms17katusha]

So I am completely new to this, but here goes…

I have a rabbit, Chuckles, a 10-month old male and we recently bought a 2-month old female to be his companion. I have read so much about bonding, and the first thing I did was put them into a bathtub together on a towel with some toys and treats, spray bottle and camera in hand, and let them loose for 20 minutes together. Chuckles sniffed around and eventually mounted Daffodil. She lay still and did not resist. He then went on to do it a couple more times. They then lost interest in each other and after a while, Chuckles managed to jump out of the tub. I then put both of them into their own cages, which are arranged to be side by side.

During the night, both of them managed to escape their cages and I woke up to tufts of gray and brown fur all over my living room, as well as poop EVERYWHERE! (Daffodil, obviously, isn’t trained to poop in one place yet). After that, whenever I let them anywhere near each other, Chuckles decides to charge Daffodil and she tries running away, or he puts his head down next to her and she decides that she doesn’t want to notice him. This happens in any place, even in a neutral one. 

Is this just not meant to be? I have grown attached to both of them and would hate to give either one up. 

Oh, also, Chuckles has been fixed for about 4 months now and we are planning to get Daffodil spayed as soon as she is old enough. 

[tanlover14]

First off, you should not attempt bonding until BOTH bunnies have been altered. Unaltered rabbits can severely injure each other and have been known to fight to the death. (Scary but true!)

Rabbits are also pretty good at holding grudges so the fact that they had a chance to fight unsupervised is never helpful when bonding. In my opinion, you should hold off on bonding until your girl is spayed. This will also give both rabbits a chance to forget about their conflict and gives them space apart until after altering to attempt bonding again

[ms17katusha]

Okay, thanks! I will try to keep them in separate rooms until Daffodil is spayed! That way, they will have a chance to forget each other. I really hope they will get along later though.

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