Littermate bonding

[Littlemouse93]

Hi all,

I’ve been trying to research bonding littermates, but I’m getting a lot of mixed information and I haven’t come across anything that relates closely to my situation.

I have 2, 4-month old females that I brought home as littermates. They were spayed about 2 weeks ago. Just today I noticed that they were engaging in some dominance behaviors (mounting & chasing). It didn’t last very long each time they did it (they lost interest in it pretty fast) and there was nothing aggressive. I was thinking it might be because they have been cooped up together in a recovery pen, and now that I’m gradually giving them more space maybe they’re just re-establishing dominance? It’s not a new area – they just haven’t had access to it for 2 weeks.

What are your thoughts on bonding littermates? Should I separate them and do a formal bonding between them? Should I just keep an eye on the dominance behavior and maybe they’ll work things out on their own, as long as it’s not aggressive? I’m hesitant to separate them because they really love each other and are constantly by each others side. I feel like it would be a huge step backwards to separate them, but I’m not sure – this is my first time bonding rabbits.

[Wick & Fable]

Regardless of being littermates or not, they should go through the same bonding process as two unrelated rabbits. Rabbits do not recognize family-units as humans do, so being from the same litter does not bear a lot of weight towards a lifelong bond. Many people confuse “baby bonds “as a result of being siblings; in actuality, any two baby rabbits will get along quite well (“baby bond”) because neither have experienced the pressure of their developed hormones telling them to mate/defend territory– this is true if they are from the same litter or not.

I would separate them a little longer to ensure the hormones have fully settled down following the spay and go through formal bonding. Post-spay periods can reveal some temporary hormonal behaviors as things work out in recovery. Formal bonding doesn’t have a fixed timeline, so realize you can move forward faster/slower depending on your observations, and I can’t imagine any permanent “damage” being done in taking a cautious approach!

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.

[Littlemouse93]

Wick, thank you so much for that info!

While I understand that rabbits don’t recognize each other as family or siblings, I did not realize that they could have baby bonds that break as they mature. It’s great that you pointed out that a formal bonding might be able to progress faster. Hopefully it will since they’re familiar with one another already.

Again, thank you!

[Littlemouse93]

Follow up questions:

1. How long should I separate them?

2. Do they need to be completely separated to where they can’t see each other at all?

[Wick & Fable]

1. For spay recovery and for hormones to get back to normal, perhaps only a couple more days. I haven’t had a female rabbit through spay recovery, but I know it takes longer for them to recover vs. a male recovering from a neuter. If they both seem recovered and are acting as they typically did prior to the spay (ex. Some people report their rabbit biting, digging, or being more aggressive post-spay (not related to pain from recovery, but hormones), then they are probably fine.
2. This is the beginning of formal bonding and the adaptive process it is. You really want to view it as two rabbits who have never met before– it might make it easier to make decisions. Some rabbits get very stressed when they see another rabbit watching them constantly, so in some cases, the rabbits are housed separately with no visuals and pre-bonding is done where litterboxes and toys are swapped between the rabbits’ pens to get them acclimated to the scent of the other. Many times, it is OK for the rabbits to see each other, but a barrier is needed. It can be a single pen wall, where they can touch and interact with each other, but again, adapting, if they are attacking each other or bullying each other through this wall, the wall needs to become a gap+wall, so they can still see each other to get used to the presence, but not be able to harm each other. ‘

You can find helpful starting information and sort of the “stages” of bonding here: https://binkybunny.com/infocategory/bonding/

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.

[Littlemouse93]

Thank you! That’s very helpful.

[DanaNM]

Hi there,

I’m actually going to deviate from Wick slightly, but her advice is very solid and definitely the safest way to go!

I would say IF you are able to supervise them 24/7 for a couple weeks, you may be able to keep them together. But you want to be able to supervise closely because hormonal surges post-spay can cause fighting. If you notice the behaviors escalating to more aggression, separate and do as Wick explains. How intense was the chasing? Where ears forward or back? Chasing with ears forward is a mounting attempt, ears pinned back is aggressive.

We have been running this bonding survey (data still not shared because we want more responses), and of people who bunnies together as babies, about half of them had to separate and re-bond, the other half were OK to just stay together. This fits with what is typically seen at the shelter I volunteer at (they will often pair up siblings when a litter comes in to make housing and adoption easier).

So sometimes they are OK to stay together, other times you have to do exactly what Wick described.  Since you started seeing some dominance behaviors, you do need to supervise very closely!  If you aren’t able to supervise them 24hrs a day for at least a couple weeks, then I would go for separating and re-bonding.

You might also think about moving them to a neutral pen for this supervision period if you opt to go that route.

. . . 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.  

[Littlemouse93]

Hi DanaNM,

Thank you for sharing your advice!

I am currently working from home, so I can supervise them pretty well.

The chasing was not intense at all. They’d make a couple quick hops to try to mount the other but then they’d back off and start binkying. There was no circling. Sometimes the one being mounted would just hop away and lie down and they’d both move on to something else. Their ears were forward when they were doing this. And they don’t do it for prolonged periods of time. They lose interest pretty quickly and just flop down or start grooming each other.

I think I’ll keep a close eye on them and if things intensify at all, I will go ahead and separate them. One of them is very shy and really seems dependent on the other for confidence. That’s the only reason I hesitate to separate them.

[DanaNM]

Yeah sounds like a good plan! If it starts getting more intense at all then you know to separate right away.

In the Before Times when lots of people were not working from home all the time I would tend to advise exactly what Wick said, since things can happen really quickly when you aren’t there to supervise. Also keep in mind things tend to get crazy with pairs at night, so be sure you sleep close enough to them that you will hear them if they start scuffling.

. . . 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.  

[Hazel]

Just a side note since you mentioned binkying in your last post. Binkies aren’t always a sign of happiness, it’s something rabbits do during a fight to avoid an opponent’s attack. So during bonding, it can actually be sign of things getting tense.

[Littlemouse93]

Yeah, I was able to listen out for them last night and I didn’t hear anything.

Hazel, thanks. I didn’t know that binkies were a sign of that. I’ll try to really pay attention when they’re doing that to make sure it’s not aggressive.

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