Pre-Bonding Aggression

[Tiny Thumps]

Hi all!

This is my first post here. I just brought a new rabbit into the household and I have some questions.

My first rabbit, Thumper, is a 6 pound neutered male (he’s some kind of lion head mix but we don’t know for sure). He’s a year old and was neutered over six months ago. He’s been the lone rabbit in the household except for a two month period where we fostered another rabbit. He got along well with the first rabbit (she was spayed) while she was here – just the usual bonding scuffles for dominance and then everything settled down. When she left, he didn’t display any loneliness or changes in behavior. He was just his normal, playful self so I don’t think he was upset that she was gone.

I just got an eight week mini lop doe named Peach. We have only had her a few days. Obviously she’s too young to be spayed, so they are in separate enclosures next to each other. There is about six inches between the cages so they can’t nip at each other through the bars. However, Thumper has been showing a lot of aggressive behavior at Peach through the bars. When she runs by, he lunges at the bars and grunts. Sometimes he even boxes at the bars as well. It almost looks like he is displaying predatory behavior. I haven’t left them get close enough to actually touch each other because if he continues to react that way, he will hurt her.

My question is…does this behavior mean they won’t be able to bond in the future once she is spayed? Is this normal behavior for a fixed male when there is an intact female and/or baby around? Will four months of this (before she is spayed at six months) make them grow to dislike each other and then not bond after she is spayed? I’m afraid that the aggression he is already showing will make them less inclined to bond with each other in the future. I know that it has only been a few days, but I’ve never seen Thumper react this way and it’s making me worried that this pairing won’t work. Help!!

[sarahthegemini]

Generally when you prebond, a bit of aggression is to be expected. Thats why prebonding is so helpful as the idea is that the aggression will cease as they get used to each other. And obviously the aggression they do show doesn’t harm the other as they can’t touch

It definitely doesn’t mean they won’t bond. But you don’t want to start bonding sessions til the aggression has stopped anyway.

Just a note, you shouldn’t bond rabbits if you’re not going to be keeping both (i.e. the foster) Splitting up bonded bunnies can be very upsetting for the bunnies so please only bond rabbits that you intend on keeping forever.

[Tiny Thumps]

Thanks sarahthegemini! Glad to hear it’s not a lost cause. We have a long way to go until actual bonding them so hopefully by then they are a little more used to each other and that aggressive behavior stops. Then, once Peach is spayed and recovered, we can go from there. Thanks again for the reassurance!

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