Territorial bunny and bonding mishaps

[Lily]

I’m at the pre-bonding stage.
Pepper is seven and spayed, been a house bunny for years ( didn’t go on tile) which she does now (got some courage) since we have thunder (neutered and 2yr)
They have been co habitating between the barrier for a few weeks now and doing great with no signs of aggression. They eat, groom themselves and overall relaxed except she will chin the bars like crazy and try to assert her territory. We are trying to figure out the swapping because she is so territorial and loves the bookshelf with blanket and chair in the corner is her ‘huctch’. He being new is adapting well, litter box trained and they eat together along the barrier – sniff noses ( I didn’t realize I needed to have that separated a bit but they have been fine). Pepper does mark along the divide both pee and poop pellets. And now lately that is extremely bad. We tried the swapping a few times but I feel like that made her worse with the total bathroom bombs at their divide. What’s the next step I’m about to give up ☹️

[Mikey]

Keep swapping and let her mark. Itll be gross, but try to leave all marking for a day or two before cleaning it. This is how they swap scents and learn to share territory.

[Lily]

So their litter boxes were right up against the gate and I didn’t know if that was a good thing or better to be separated so I moved hers away to more near her blanket she lays on and that’s when she got crazy messy with the poop/pee extravaganza. Today it’s been better since I moved it back.

[Lily]

The other thing I think that we did wrong was swap and try and do a date as well in the kitchen. So too soon and close to territory is what I’m thinking. Thanks Mikey, any help I can get is appreciated. So – what are signs that swapping is working. Also, their spaces are quite large and wondered if making them smaller is better and using area as excercise place better vs. having 2 large areas so no need to excercise.

[Lily]

And one more thing – thunder will circle and honk me which drives pepper crazy and she gets jealous. It’s not all the time but sometimes. Is there anything I should do when that happens?

[Lily]

Here is a picture of peppers area minus the carpet that was getting too marked up

[Lily]

Never mind- I can’t make it insert too big a file or something

[Mikey]

Lol, its ok about the pictures. I have a of trouble with those too Hopefully another user can come in and help with the picture problem.

You can keep their litter boxes where they normally are. Sometimes moving the litter box can cause a lot of litter problems in bunnies who like their homes very particular

Youll want to do a month or two of swapping before trying to do bonding sessions. When you do bonding sessions, try to do them in an area neither bunny has been before, and cannot really claim as territory. Many users use their bathrooms or bath tubs since bunnies dont usually like to go in them.

How long has Thunder been neutered? Usually circling and honking is the mating dance, and should have stopped within two months after being neutered.

[Lily]

Yes – very true about changing habitat. So, he is about like a month or so past being neutered so that mating behavior has definitely been less than when we rescued him. He did come into our house not neutered so pepper got a sense of what that was like with the feramones and all. She is an interesting bunny though, about 2 months prior to him coming here she started to honk and circle me and terrible litter habits came about. Come to find out she is sort of a hemaphrodite bunny in that she has some male organs too (went to get neutered but vet said no testies to remove just penile tissue). So ya, she was spade at a year old and I guess they develop more delayed . Needless to say love her dearly and wanted her to be happy and hopefully bond with thunder. He is such a super sweet boy and major cuddle bunny.

[Lily]

Thanks for advice – I’ve read about the bathroom and thought maybe kitchen could work since they aren’t really in there. Any tips on how to swap them? Pepper is very difficult to pick up in fact during all the last swap/encounter my husband picked up pepper but when he put his hands under bottom and feet she leaped and almost had a nasty fall but he was able to catch her in mid air so she didn’t hit the tile – yikes!!! The other times that worked better is scooping her up when on a blanket so I’m thinking sticking with that then. Also, what length of time do you start out swapping. We have done it say 2 times now and for about an hour.

[Mikey]

Interestingly enough, its very common for rabbits do be on the hermaphrodite spectrum! As long as her body is not overly producing hormones, there is no reason she cannot bond with another bun.

Since Thunder has only been neutered for about a month, it might be another month longer before his hormones really start to die out. I wouldnt try to bond them until after he has completely stopped acting hormonally. If around 3 months go by and he is still acting very hormonally, I would head to the vets and ask for a hormone test to be done. After that, your vet should be able to help out on advice on how to curb his hormonal urges, if his hormone levels re high

If you have two carriers, you can bribe the buns into their own carriers then let them out in their respective sides. My Bombur doesnt like to be picked up either and will start kicking, so to transport him around, we lure him into his carrier with some treats or greens, then lock him in and transport him where he needs to go The blanket thing is a good idea too. That method is known as the bunny burrito method since you kind of wrap them up

With swapping, it will be done once a day. Like, Bun1 will be in cage1 and Bun2 will be in cage2 on even numbered days, and on odd number days, Bun1 will be in cage2 and Bun2 will be in cage1. Some people like to switch once a day (like the example), but some people like to switch every two days.

[Lily]

Thank you SO much mikey for your help! Gosh it feels so much better having your support because bunny bonding is so stressful! So far moving her litter box back near the gate and close to his has helped a lot, now I know. He flops right next to it which is im sure always a good sign. She still chins him though which is kinda funny. So with the swapping, she will mark a blanket of his immediately and so I’m guessing you leave that when you swap them back? Will thunder start doing that too because he is so good at his litter box training right now that would be a bummer. Also should I wait a month before swapping for hormones to go down? I’m totally good on slow rolling this if it means better chance of success. We are so excited at the thought of these two happily together!

[Mikey]

Not a problem! Bonding is very hard for a lot of people. Initially, my partner was going to help me bond our rabbits but it got way too stressful for him so I had to take it up myself. No matter what, bonding them is well worth it in the end!

Flopping is a great sign Chin marking is always acceptable as its mainly how they communicate they like something, more so than claiming it as theirs. So, its also a great sign she chins him, lol.

Yep! Let them mark everything and try to change litter every few days. This way theyre forced to swap their scents and get used to “intruders” in their territory. He might start marking, but he might not care either. With my buns, Bombur marked EVERYTHING, but Blue never cared about marking anything.

You can slow down if you want to, but it shouldnt matter too much at this point. Many people prebond (swap) starting as soon as both bunnies are neutered/spayed, and prebond all through their healing process, and prebond for a month or two after. I dont really know if one way is better or worse than the other, youll have to find what works best for your two

[Lily]

Good morning! Well we had an interesting start to our day…pepper broke into thunder’s area. We had a gate tied but only at the top so she was able to get through the bottom part apparently. So we swapped them lol. Both are pretty frisky in the morning and my husband said that thunder was mounting her and she was in his teepee (hutch) and what seemed like trying to escape. Tuft of her fur there which I know is normal but gosh that could have been so much worse. We heard the water dish spill which woke us up and no idea how long she was in there.
Thanks for sharing your story and info – as always so helpful!! We will keep swapping then it seems that will only help to neutralize them and maybe do a date in a month or so.

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