Potential Bunny Mate too Frightened

[Oski]

Currently, I am fostering a bunny to adopt her into my current pair. But she is very terrified of my two boy bunnies when they are separate or together. She does these super high jumps to avoid them OR she will just lay her head down constantly. One of my boy bunnies would groom her but she refuses to groom back and just closes her eyes and lays her head down. I tried putting a banana on the bunny that groomed her and she licked the banana off all hurriedly but just ended up putting her head back down. She is a lot younger than them, they are about 3 years old and she’s about 9 months. My boy bunny that grooms her would get mad when she doesn’t reciprocate and nudge her and she would freak out. Should I keep trying to bond her with my pair or keep her as a foster? Does anyone have any experience with bonding like this? I don’t know if she is a perfect match. She eats tons and eats very fast, which could be an issue with giving bunnies food (any experiences with this?)….I feel a bit bad if I don’t adopt her, she’s very eager for attention and affection (though mostly from me). My partner is the one who wanted to foster her to adopt because he “fell in love with her.” I feel like the trio could work because my bunnies leave her alone but she freaks out when they go near or if they come eat with her…how can I make her less scared of them? I know she could easily be adopted because of her friendly personality and I don’t mind just fostering her but the intention of fostering her was to try to get her bonded with my pair. Please share your thoughts and experiences. 

Thank you! 

[LBJ10]

So she is being housed separately right now and these are just bonding sessions you have been having? Have you tried putting them somewhere neutral like a bathtub? Any stress bonding like taking them for a car ride in the same carrier or something similar?

Does she seem to like one of your current buns more than the other? You could trying doing one on one sessions to start so she doesn’t feel like she’s being ganged up on.

[Oski]

Yes I’ve tried a bath tub and they are mostly just indifferent BUT they do pick on her. I haven’t done any stress bonding. One of the bunnies just got out of a head tilt so I’m going to avoid that for now. The foster bunny I have really does not get stressed easily….she does not get scared of many things except my bunnies lol so not sure how effective that will be. I did try doing one at a time bonding before, but it was the same..her still being terrified. I guess I will try this time on an area that is SUPER neutral. I did the bathtub but my two bunnies have been in there before.

[Zombie-Sue]

Just exposure is all you can do. A more neutral area might help too.

[Author]

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