not sure anymore

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

My bunnies were bonded a few weeks ago and were doing great, lots of cuddles, grooming, playing. Now though there seems to be a lot less grooming, cuddles don’t happen much at all anymore maybe 1 every 2-3 days, and they don’t seem to play with each other much. They also tend to be more seperated other thank when they are eating. I got woken up today by a running in there cage and ollie was chasing cinnimon. I don’t know if this was playing or not but cinnimon went to the hidey hut, she didn’t go in though, she looked around before and saw he stopped.

[Wick & Fable]

It can be natural for friends to just “mellow out” with each other, but I would keep an eye if you notice more tense interactions. They might have a hiccup in the relationship that needs to be worked out. At the same, if you notice that it is escalating to risky interactions that may cause injury, I’d recommend separating them and back tracking into some bonding steps to give more safe, guided structure for them to work through what is going on with their bond. Sometimes bonded pairs need some “couple’s counseling”, though sometimes they can work it out themselves (permissible if it is safe and not leading to injury).

https://binkybunny.com/infocategory/bonding

Environmental changes can facilitate some bond tension because it may bring up new territorialness. Have there been any recent changes? Also, sometimes when one rabbit is going through health issues, the other rabbit can treat them differently.

 

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]

It’s great you noticed this change! There can be little chases etc. in some pairs (esp if one is overly food excited), but them becoming more distant is more of a concern. If I recall, you moved through the bonding process pretty quickly, so you may have just moved a bit too fast from neutral territory into non-neutral.

Can you move them back to a neutral spot for 24-48 hours to see if things improve again? It would also be good to observe them closely to see how they are interacting. I’ve had pairs where everything goes really smoothly in the bonding process, and then after a while one bunny (that had been submissive) decides to try to mount. In those cases they usually just need some more time together to sort things out in neutral space.

You also might want to remove the hidey hut for now, and clean the litter boxes etc. super well (or give new ones) when you move them back to their normal home.

 

 

. . . 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.  

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

I can’t move them back to a netuarl area. I did go though the bonding process a little quick, but I made sure that things went well before putting them in the same cage. We built a new cage when they were bonded so it was netuarl. There aren’t any health issues thankfully.

[DanaNM]

How long did you “cement” the bond before moving them to their home cage?

You could also try taking them on a car ride together.

. . . 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.  

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

It was cemented for about 19 hours. I don’t want to take them on a car ride because I don’t want to do stress bonding, and Ollie is terrified of car rides.( he shakes, won’t eat or drink, just isn’t himself)

[DanaNM]

In my opinion, 19 hours isn’t long enough. Most people recommend at least 24 hours as an absolute minimum, and personally I usually aim for at least 48 hour of them acting fully bonded.

So I would go back to a neutral spot (could be a different neutral spot), and re-cement them.

. . . 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.  

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

I can’t go back. Anything else I could do?

[DanaNM]

You couldn’t set up a temporary pen somewhere? Or use the bathtub?

My other main suggestions are stressing, and rearranging the main cage so it’s more neutral as I mentioned above. There are options for stressing aside from car rides that may do the trick. Like you could put them in a basket and walk around with them. They may be able to sort things out on their own, but should still be monitored. And if things keep getting worse then it may be necessary to find (or make) and neutral or at least semi-neutral spot.

. . . 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.  

[Wick & Fable]

You could also try making a more semi-neutral space by setting up a pen in a different location and covering the floor and pen walls with some sheets so a lot of the visual and some of the scent-cues are distorted enough to be unfamiliar?

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.

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

I don’t have room to set up a pen for them since when they were bonded I used all the space I could in my room. Me and my dad are trying to find a carpet for the bottom and then we are setting it fully up, so I guess that would be more neutral. We just need to find it in store since it isn’t sold online.

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