Rebonding Sisters After Long Pre-bond

[Persephone]

Hi! I made a post a few months ago (see here) regarding my two 5 year old sisters who un-bonded after my dominant bun got sick. Both are completely healthy now and have been in separate x-pens right by each other with an anti-bite panel between them for 3 months. They have been doing great like this, laying/sleeping by each other through the fence and frequent switches with no aggressive behavior that I’ve noted.

I feel as though they are almost impatient to be together as one gets antsy during the exercise time of the other, constantly staying by the fence to interact with them. There’s no aggressive behavior when they do try to sniff but I have extreme anxiety regarding re-bonding them after their few scuffles when they first unbonded. None were serious injuries, but the entire idea just makes me panic upon rebonding them. I would be alone in doing this most likely as my boyfriend works full-time and no one else knows much about rabbits so I’m unsure how to either get over the anxiety to actually rebond them as I feel I’m keeping them apart unnecessarily.

Any advice is appreciated!

[DanaNM]

I remember you! It sounds like you are ready to start!

It’s very normal to be nervous, but try not to imagine the worst case scenarios. It helps to take lots of deep breaths in the process, and some people even recommend a glass of wine before a bonding session LOL.

On the other hand, I’ve found it helps to prepare for the worst, but hope for the best. So approach it calmly, but be ready for fighting. So have thick gloves on in case you need to separate them.

Remember that they scuffled before and it was OK. Some scuffles may happen, but as long as you are right there and can break them up things will be OK. It’s ideal to prevent scuffling, but things happen, even with experienced bonders.

I think it helps to have a plan for a very short session for the first few dates, while you get a sense of how they will be. So prepare your bonding space, get everything you need ready (gloves for sure), set your timer for 3 minutes, put one bun in the area, then put then other bun in. If they approach each other, pet them both A LOT and swap scents. This will calm everyone down and makes them think they are being groomed. If they don’t approach each other, that’s fine too. Then repeat this a few days in a row. You will start to get a sense of how calm or tense they are around each other, and you can ease off petting if they seem calm.

You can do it!

. . . 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.  

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