lopsided bonding

[bunnylova123]

I have been bonding my bunnies over the weekend, and, while it has been going well and there has only been one small scrap, one of my bunnies, a male lop called Oreo, who is the rabbit I have brought into Vienna’s territory, is totally in love with her, or at least very relaxed around her. He has been purring, lying down, eating and generally being happy. He hasn’t tried to groom her, but I think that’s just because Vienna is the first bunny he has ever seen in about 4 years ( he is a rescue bunny ) I would have tried the banana trick, but he doesn’t like banana. Vienna however is very tense and grumpy. I haven’t put him in her territory, but she has nipped him a couple of times and scratched a chunk of fur out ( he was moulting ) she claimed the litter tray and sat very tensely throughout all thiere bonding sessions. Generally they have been indifferent, which I know is a good sign. I just feel so sorry for Oreo

[Baxter n Boos Mom]

It sounds like it’s going well. I would not introduce Oreo to Vienna’s space, until they’re on pretty friendly terms – as this may cause her to become very aggressive towards him. You may want to let him roam her space, perhaps while she’s in another room, or his space… but be prepared for her to thump and potentially mark her territory once she smells his scent in her area.

Good luck – but it sounds like you’re off to a wonderful start.

[MoveDiagonally]

As Baxter n Boo said I would not put Oreo in Vienna’s space at this time. Are they both spayed/neutered?

Are you able to house them in the same area so they can see/smell/hear each other (far enough a part so they can’t fight). Something I did when I bonded my bunnies was switch them around in their living spaces so they would get used to the other bunnies smell. If that’s not realistic you can also switch around their litter boxes for the same purpose. 

Some good advice can also be found HERE

I’m not an expert by any means. My bonded pair were easy so I’m sure other members here will have a lot more advice.

[bunnylova123]

Yes, they’re both neutered but Oreo’s only fairly recent.

[Sarita]

There may not be any grooming – grooming is not necessary to live together, so don’t try to force grooming. It’s more important that they trust each other and are relaxed around each other than grooming one another.

[Jesse97]

Don’t worry about grooming right now. Like Sarita said, grooming is not necessary for bunnies to be bonded. One sided grooming is fine too. It is really rare to have bunnies grooming within the first couple days.
How big is the space you have them in? Make sure to start out small and work into bigger spaces. Start in a bathtub maybe. Also make sure you start in totally neutral territory. Some bonders will start in semi-neutral territory and unless its love at first sight for both buns, you always start totally neutral.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I agree with the others. Totally neutral territory is going to be needed since Vienna is territorial aggressive.

[bunnylova123]

I’ve got a question, I’m now using Oreos territory ( once I wash it out with pet safe disinfectant ) Is that OK, he has now started one of the 5 or so big fights, I haven’t got any other smallish neutral territory though BTW: He is only living in the small area because it is the only indoor cage I have ( I used to use it for my bunny with a long term tooth problem, who often needed to stay in overnight ) It is 1m by 50cm, again I would really like to stress I know it is way too small, and I let him out whenever I can, but hopefully he will only have to live in it for another week or so.

[bunnylova123]

Also I was using the carrier before, it’s quite big and is a small dog one/ cat one because that’s what the rescue centre owner told us to do.

[MoveDiagonally]

Do you have a bathtub? It’s the what I’ve heard of people using as neutral territory the most often because bunnies are really never in there.

[bunnylova123]

Yes, but I’m not allowed to use it! My mum doesn’t want them to scratch it ( Oreo likes to randomly try to dig into floors, his litterbox etc )

[MoveDiagonally]

I don’t think a bunny could scratch a bathtub but I understand having to abide by your mom’s rules. Would she change her mind if you put down some towels or something? The bathtub is not necessary it’s just generally the easiest solution to neutral space. I wouldn’t use either bunnies territory if they’re fighting for bonding at this point. Hm… Can you use any other space in your house? Even just a room they’re not commonly in or anything? Oh! What about in laundry basket? Then they couldn’t scratch anything and it’s portable.

[bunnylova123]

Oh, sorry, I sort of wrote the wrong thing. What I meant when I said he started 1 of the fights is he likes to forage around the hay, and he found a tasty bit under Vienna’s butt! She got very annoyed and bit him. They are doing better now. They really pick up on the mood of the room ( when everything is relaxed they are all calm, but when people argue they start fights too ) but they’ve touched noses and lay down with about a foot or so between them, Vienna still has an invisible line around her that she doesn’t like crossed though.

[bunnylova123]

Oh, sorry, I sort of wrote the wrong thing. What I meant when I said he started 1 of the fights is he likes to forage around the hay, and he found a tasty bit under Vienna’s butt! She got very annoyed and bit him. They are doing better now. They really pick up on the mood of the room ( when everything is relaxed they are all calm, but when people argue they start fights too ) but they’ve touched noses and lay down with about a foot or so between them, Vienna still has an invisible line around her that she doesn’t like crossed though.

[bunnylova123]

ahhhh double posted

[tanlover14]

Just popping in on this post — I wouldn’t be putting either of them in anyones territory until you’ve cemented a bond elsewhere. Instead of looking for areas, look for things that the buns aren’t use too. When bonding my trio into a quartet we did a lot of bonding in a big box and then some stress bonding in a laundry basket. When beginning bonding, you need to have ways to end these fights quickly before anyone can get bad feelings. A small easily accessible area such as a box or laundry basket can make shaking the box stop a fight quickly because it will stress them both out. If they keep fighting, then drag the box around and bang on the sides, lots of noises to make them nervous. The concept is they will get nervous and go back on their instincts to fight the threat together rather than as one bunny.

[bunnylova123]

What I have now done is moved Oreo out of the small cage ( that’s now going to be their bonding house ) and into the top part of Vienna’s shed and drilled holes into the piece of wood that’s keeping them apart so they can sniff each other through them, and not hurt their lips.

[Author]

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