Oliver & Dorie *Updated with questions*

[Free2Dream]

Hello all.  I have a couple questions regarding my two buns. Here they are:

  

Oliver is a 6 month old neutered Mini Lop, and Dorie is a 3 year old standard spayed Rex.

We purchased Oliver from a breeder in the Catskills, and we adopted Dorie as a friend for him from our local HRS chapter. We don’t know when Dorie was spayed precisely; the fur on her belly is still growing in from being shaved, but it must have been over the summer, since she entered foster care in May. Oliver was neutered approximately one week ago, so I know I have to give him a while to let his hormones calm down.

However, Oliver is a tricky little bugger and managed to slip into Dorie’s pen. I braced myself for a fight, but they just sniffed each other. Neither made any aggressive movements, but after a few moments Oliver tried humping her. Thank god she is spayed, because it was kind of difficult to separate them (even though he was humping her HEAD… fail). Dorie seemed frightened, so I put Oliver away. This has been the extent of their contact, except for a few times when Dorie had free roam of the living room and they encountered each other on separate sides of a gate. They sniffed each other and both seemed very curious. Oliver thumped once, but that was it. Then Dorie went and flopped a few feet away, and Oliver went back to eating. I thought that seemed promising.

I’m still worried that their accidental first meeting might have caused some harm. I don’t want Dorie to be afraid of Oliver because she associates him with something unpleasant. (Can’t say I blame her though, LOL.) I am not actively trying to bond them now because Oliver was only recently neutered. Approximately how long should we wait until Oliver’s hormones calm down? I read one month on this website, but the HRS rep told me 2 weeks.

Hopefully this marks the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

 

[Lintini]

I wouldn’t worry about the humping, there will be plenty more. It was good that you stopped him from humping the wrong end, things could have gone really down hill if she decided to bite.

I like how you are slowly just letting them get used to eachother with site and smell until Oliver’s hormones go down. I think that’s really the best way to do it. I started my bonds this way as well.

[Karla]

Boys and girls like that kind of game. Don’t worry. It is my experience that a little bit of hormones actually increases the chance of love at first sight.

Freddie had only been neutered for a week as well, when Molly snug into the room where he was living. He chased her, humped her and she looked like a little bunny in panic, so I quickly got her out of the room…however, she continued to go back to where he was living and try to sneak into his room. She managed once more (the door cannot close properly), and same thing happened again. But then I noticed, that although she ran away from him and looked like she thought he was really scary, she would actually make sure that he had a chance now and then to hump her. And if he did not bother, she would run back to him and put her butt up in his nose to make him chase her again. So, I let them sort out their little game on their own, and after a few days he stopped trying to hump her and they were just snuggling and have been ever since.

Almost same thing with Karl and Molly. Due to hormones, it was an instant bond. Molly had not yet been spayed, and Karl had only been neutered 4 weeks prior. After her spay (2 days after she moved in), she would not let him hump her anymore. She just ran off whenever he tried and after 3-4 attempts, he accepted it, and they just snuggled.

So, no worries. You are on the right track and they will be bonded very soon

[Free2Dream]

Thank you for the support. I can’t wait until they can live together full-time; having two separate set-ups is exhausting.

I moved one of Dorie’s blankets into the bunny room so Oliver could become more acclimated to her scent. He chinned the heck out of it and then pretty much left it alone. I am going to do the same with one of Oliver’s rugs, as soon as I’ve collected Dorie’s urine sample, lol. They also had another through-the-gate meeting last night, and both were fine. Even Oliver, who still has a lot of his boy hormones, calmed down and left her alone after a little while. Dorie was playing hard to get and kept skittering off so Oliver couldn’t sniff her, then she’d slowly peek her head around the corner, hop back up to the gate, but pretend like she was uninterested even though she was clearly trying to get Ollie’s attention. Silly buns.

Also, since humping is part of the process, would it be OK to start more regular bonding sessions? He only recently got neutered, but she is spayed so there’s no risk of her getting pregnant.

[Karla]

Just start the sessions now. As long as they are of opposite sexes, I see no reason to worry about hormones. Just push him down if he gets too much or if he tries to hump her face, but usually the females just run off when they find it is getting to much. Perhaps give them some boxes where Doris can hide or use as getaways.

Best of luck!

[Free2Dream]

Thanks Karla. I took your advice and we formally introduced the buns the other day. Everything went GREAT! They immediately seemed very comfortable with each other. Dorie even nudged her head under Oliver and they sat like that for a few minutes.

Of course Oliver is really only thinking of one thing. Every time he hops up to Dorie, she runs away. I don’t want her to be frightened of him forever. Sometimes I think he is genuinely curious and not interested in humping her, but she is starting to get really skittish around him. However, I don’t know how affected she is by his naughty behavior, because she is perfectly content to flop just a few feet away from him. I can’t get a good picture of the two of them lying together because every time I approach them, they scatter. It’s so annoying, lol.

Basically, everything seems to be going well.

[Free2Dream]

Hi everyone. The bonding is going well! They are not snuggling together yet, but Oliver’s hormones seem to be calming down. He is more interested in playing now, but Dorie just high-tails it whenever she sees him charging at her. (Can’t say I blame her; he’s a bit of a nut.)

I was wondering when it would be appropriate to have Dorie spend the night in the bunny room with Oliver? They show no signs of aggression toward each other, not even when they are fed together, and Ollie doesn’t mind when Dorie uses his litterbox, eats his hay or is otherwise in “his” territory. Do you think it would be too soon for them to have a sleepover? We’ve had Dorie for 2 weeks today.

[jerseygirl]

All sounds good!

For your own peace of mind, it’s good start the moving in together when you have a good gap in your lifes schedule. That way you can have them together for a full day when your home and can keep an eye on them. If they do well during the day, you can continue on and take them thru a night and so on. So a free weekend works well for this.

btw, have you checked out Binky Bunny’s bonding info? It has pics of them camping out in the bunny room.    I slept on my kitchen floor for when my pair had their first over nighter. heheh!   It was either there or my laundry. The things we do for our bunnies!

[Free2Dream]

Everything is going very well! Oliver and Dorie are living together now. So far they have had no fights, and they are lying together all the time. They have also become partners in crime… they both broke out last night and frolicked around the apartment for about half an hour before we realized they were on the loose. I didn’t know my bunnies could be so naughty.

I’m assuming that it’s normal for there to be a poop fest when they are together? They are still using their litterboxes, but there is poop EVERYWHERE. It’s kind of annoying to clean up every day.

[Deleted User]

yes, the littering around the place is a side-effect to newly bonded bunnies. It should fade.

[aims]

your rabbits are sooooo cuuuuute!!! i love the blue eyes!

[Author]

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