Starting from scratch

[Suzeliza]

Hi, I was going to attempt bonding for the 3rd time with Betty and Herman. They have lived side by side in the divided main living space for 8 months, 5 of those in harmony. (Partly because I’ve not attempted to bond them in that time possibly?) There have been a lot of changes in our home over that time – a new dog, then Herman was hospitalised for 3 days with GI stasis in December, all the kids were here for Christmas, and then my daughter had a baby at the end of January. I though these possible stresses for them meant it was better that I waited until everything was calm.

In those 5 months they have litter boxes either side of the fence and I put the hay in a mound both sides so they share it. I feed their greens side by side too. Basically my living space is divided in half by a fence. Betty has one side, Herman the other. If you want to use the front door you have to step over the fence! They always flomp side by side, and finally 2 weeks ago Herman started licking Betty! They’ve been pushing their noses through the grille under one another for months with no one conceding, so this is a breakthrough. He’s not done it loads, but still I’ll take what I can get!

I decided to retry bonding this week as my daughter has left for a couple of months taking the dog and baby with her.

These two are both very feisty, energetic, both want to be in charge. After doing lots of research I contacted a rabbit fosterer on Instagram and she recommended 24/7 starting with a tiny space. But the more I read on bonding here the more I think that’s not going to work with these 2. So for the next few days I’m swapping them back and forth over the fence to get used to each other’s territory, litter box, toys etc. So far so good. They are happily behaving the same as they did on their own sides. My question is: if I did this for a couple of weeks, could I just take down the fence? I honestly think my last 2 attempts with the tiny space was a bad idea for them. Far too confrontational and stressful. What I’m doing now worked for my previous bonded pair, but they were far less energetic and greedy and generally more docile.

Thank you for reading this far, I really don’t want to mess up a third try!

[DanaNM]

More pre-bonding can really help things, so it sounds like you are set up for success.

I would keep doing side swaps for a few weeks.

I wouldn’t take down the fence after pre-bonding, as they will still claim the area as their territory and will likely fight. What kind of neutral spaces do you have to work with? I personally have never had good luck with small spaces, and the rescue I volunteer with (and many rabbit welfare orgs) also does not recommend small space bonding anymore. If you have space in a neutral area for an x-pen or two linked up, that would work well. Or you can try your bathtub or bathroom and see how they do. You can experiment with the space you use to see what works best for your buns.

 

. . . 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.  

[Suzeliza]

Thank you DanaNM for your reply, so far I’ve swapped them over for 5 consecutive days and they seem quite happy still. I may try overnight soon.

As for the small space, I’m relieved you don’t recommend it. My heart was telling me it wasn’t right for them. I have a bathroom that’s about 7 sq.metres I could put them in, with or without the x-pen. It opens on to a larger hallway that I could eventually expand into. Betty can see this hallway from her fenced off area, would that mean she’s likely to be territorial with it?

[DanaNM]

The hallway would count as “semi-neutral”, so you could start with the bathroom as your neutral spot, and then once they are doing well there expand into the hallway.

. . . 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.  

[Suzeliza]

Thank you! This sounds like a much better plan 🙂

[DanaNM]

Let us know how it goes!

I also find it helps to set short time goals for the first few sessions, so I don’t push things too far. So you can aim for 5 minutes for a few sessions, just to get a sense as to how they are in the new space. I also like to pet a lot in the beginning, so when they come nose to nose, you can pet both to mimic grooming. This will help keep everyone calm and create positive feelings. 🙂 Eventually you ease off the petting, but it seems to help a lot in the very early steps.

. . . 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.  

[Suzeliza]

Thank you so much for your help! 🙂

[DanaNM]

You’re welcome 🙂

. . . 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.  

[Suzeliza]

Hi again, it’s been a week and despite saying I had a feeling small space bonding for Betty and Herman was perhaps a problem, I tried it again.

Here’s the reason and the outcome:

Last week I had a phone call with a volunteer from a rabbit shelter. They advised me to stick with the small space, they have a high success rate with it. However, they told me 24/7 is a bad idea and to do bunny dates instead and build it up. They told me to expect mounting, nipping, chasing, fur pulling etc and to have a water spray if things get out of hand. But only if they got really aggressive was I to end things. The reasoning why it works sounded pretty sensible, given rabbit behaviour and brain!

This morning I put Betty and Herman at the same time in an x-pen of just a small square, in the bathroom. Everything was cleaned with vinegar first and I sprayed pet remedy. First minute or so was fine, they just checked each other out but it escalated so quickly, in a flash rolling around like a cartoon fight, fur literally going everywhere. I sprayed and sprayed but they wouldn’t separate and then Herman squealed. So I threw a towel over Betty and pulled her out. They were both so stressed, soaking wet and panting.

As soon as I put them back in the living space, divided by the grille, they went back to eating hay and lying side by side (in one another’s territories, I didn’t put them back on their own ‘sides’ and now they’re quite calm and happy half an hour later!

I really am so stressed and frightened to try them again, but they have to bond! They clearly can get along and enjoy side by side living, so how on earth can I get them to the next stage without this level of trauma! Should I now be brave and continue with the small space or try them in a larger area, where Betty will be harder to grab if she attacks?

Thank you so much for reading this far!

 

[DanaNM]

I would really just give a large space a try. There is no one way to bond rabbits, and even though small spaces can and do work, to me it seems like it isn’t working very well for your buns as they escalate to fighting so quickly. Bonders at rescues are also much more experienced in knowing when to intervene, so for a new bonder, larger spaces can give you more reaction time.

There is no harm in trying a larger space. Worst case, it’s the same as in the small space! I can tell you that all of my last 6 bonds have been in large spaces for most of the sessions (and none of them were in micro-spaces aside from during car rides).

In whatever space you try, I would aim for SUPER short sessions. Like 1 minute. Then try for 1.5 minutes… etc. End the date before they fight, even if it means nothing happened at all and they just sniffed around for a second.

. . . 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.  

[Suzeliza]

Thank you so much for replying again. The rabbits are both absolutely fine and behaving normally, even if there’s some bald patches! I’m the one who’s most upset by what happened this morning, so I’m going to wait a few days and then try the larger space. I also think the 1 minute idea is good as they managed that before starting to fight!

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