stalemate situation

[Beckie88]

Hi, I am a newbie to the site and this is my first time bonding bunnies. Just a bit of info, I have one male and two female (sisters) all are fixed. One of the girls (Disney) got gut stasis and I took her out of the trio to monitor her condition which is now fully recovered. Her sister (chewy) however wasn’t very happy about having her back so I kept them in pens next to each other. The male remained with chewy he was never separated from her.
I began bonding all three last weekend in a neutral area in a puppy pen and after some nipping and fur pulling from chewy all calmed down, it took four days until I was happy to leave them for short periods.
This issue is, although they eat together and there is no aggression (and the male loves them both) the sisters aren’t snuggling and only minimal grooming is occurring between them. Disney, the one I removed is submissive to Chewy but doesn’t often groom her, which frustrates chewy! Chewy sometimes runs at Disney but doesn’t hurt her, but gently nips her as if asking for grooming. My question is how can I move this forward and get Disney to trust chewy (and groom her without me smearing banana on her head!) is it a waiting game or can I help at all?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I feel I’ve reached a wall! They just sit and ignore each other mostly, but I think Disney is nervous.

Thanks in advance.

[vanessa]

Shew! That is why I will always treat my sick bunnies with their pals. I don’t want that drama of rebonding. I am in the same boat as you. Guin is pushy and she rushes Lancelot, nips lightly, but enough to make him nervous. He has come a long way in working through his fear of her. I only recently got him to hop out of the litterbox. I rearranged her cardboard box so she woudl spend more time in it, giving him more time alone, and that got him out of the litter box. After smooshing her face when I saw any sign of agression, he realised that she isn’t going to attack him – but he is aware that she is pushy and will nip and shuffle him along. He isn’t as active as he woudl be without her. THey snuggle in the litterbox, but not outside of it. So all I can think of – is create a positive experience for Disney, go ahead and use the banana, smoosh chewy when they get near eachother, and perhaps do a stress bonding.

[Beckie88]

thank you so much for your reply, things have improved and chewy has calmed down rushing at Disney though Disney still moves away but not in a frantic manner. Spooky the male rabbit seems to have helped as last night he stepped in and put chewy back in her place. he is dominant but not in a nasty way. he seems to be bringing the girls closer. I smoosh the girls together when I see too much nipping and slooooowly it seems to be working. it’s a slow and painful process but I don’t mind if I see progress, I was just starting to see no advances in the bonding and needed a new direction, so thanks for reassuring me what I’m doing is ok. I have read your story and some aspects seem very similar.

[vanessa]

You know – when Merlin was still alive, him and Guin were bonded. And they were the cuddliest bunnies ever. He got sick, and I separated them for a week during his worst part, and then put them back together coz she was lonely. There was no problem. Their initial bonding went super crazy easy. I put her into his enclosure, and just like that, they were bonded. Love at first sight. A week separation during his illness did nothing to hurt their bond. So that being my first experience, is how I thought it was. But seeing how nippy and aggressive she is with Lancelot, I will always take the cautious approach from here on out.

[vanessa]

Your post got me thinking about how crazy it is that bunnies can unbond. Guin attacked one of her offspring after being separated for a week. (Before she was spayed). My other pair, Morgana and Avalon – they also bonded really easy. Avalon is Morgana’s son (they are both fixed now). They were separated for 3 months, then another 2 or 3 after they were fixed, before I put them together. I did the same as with Merlin and Guin – put her in his enclosure and called it a day. No drama. A week or 2 later they were bonded. But when I took Morgana to the vet a few weeks ago, they were apart for 36 hours, although they could see eachother for 24 of those (her in a cage in his x-pen). After 36 hours, although she still had an open wound from flystrike, I didn’t want to go through the drama that Guin displayed, so I put them back together. For the first 2 days, Avalon nipped and chased her. I just left them together, and smooshed and calmed them down when he got to exited. By day 3 they were calmer. After a week, they were back to normal.

[Beckie88]

When I had the girls spayed I separated them from him (they were together until they reached maturity then separated until all fixed and recovered) they could all see each other before they were done (I separated then had to wait for the appointment) but afterwards they were out of sight of each other for a week until wounds were healed and they could go back together. They all went back together fine! And when Disney got sick they had ‘play dates’ to cheer her up, and I just unknowingly shoved her back into their old enclosure. No problem! It was only when she was better the trouble started even though she didn’t start it. It was only 4 days apart and play dates in between.
Things seem to be easing off slightly now and more free movement around the pen without chewy running at her. I have learnt my lesson and will never seperate an ill bunny again. Because they went together from babies I had no idea these problems existed until now!

[vanessa]

Agreed 🙂

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