The most boring bonding ever

[hooty22]

So Felony went to hang with some buns at the local rescue league. He met a few and a big guy (pic below) really seemed to love him. Felony didn’t hate him, he was pretty ambivilant. I brought him back to meet him again and we had the same love at first sight/lukewarm feelings atmosphere. We brought Hermes, now Mr. Molesly, home on a foster type basis to see if it would work out.

Our first night in neutral territority resulted in some mutual attempts to hump and a few little puffs of fur on the floor. Our next two nights was mostly Molesly presenting his head for grooming and Felony ignoring, then they would both ignore each other, then they would sniff each other, then they would sit next to each other for naps, then Molesly would present his head for grooming and Felony would ignore. Occassionaly Molesly would give Felony a little nip on the butt, but it wasn’t anything vicious and it usually wouldn’t even produce any fur.

On the third night I finally moved them to a less neutral space, and we have more of the same, presenting, ignoring, occasionally butt nips with Felony hopping away and thumping.

I’ve been snuggling them up next to each other and giving pets, and they will stay there long after I stop petting them. What is my next move in this incredibly uneventful process? I guess I’m just having a hard time determining where they are on the bonding spectrum because there has been so much ambivance between them since the beginning.

 

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Boring is fabulous! Keep doing what you are doing, consistency is key!

[Snowytoshi]

Boring is good! It shows that they don’t think of the other one as a threat

[Sarita]

Aw, he’s cute. Uneventful, that’s what most people dream of :~)

[lula1128]

Erg your lucky! My rabbit is practically chasing the other one off with a stick XD

[LittlePuffyTail]

Boring is great! Just keep lengthening the bonding sessions until you are comfortable leaving them alone together, then after they have been together for 24 hours or more, you can try in a more non-neutral area.

This is what I would do. There are many different ways to bond.

[tanlover14]

I’m going crazy! I’m from Pittsburgh and help out with the local rescues! I KNOW HERMES!!!! The Animal Rescue League right? He could’ve been moved to another rescue as I know they move them around between rescues but I think it’s the same guy!!!

Anyways, I have a bonded trio and I’m working on bonding a fourth into the trio. Lemme just say, BORING IS PERFECT. And exactly what you want.

I would continue what you’re doing for a few more days. I wouldn’t move them into anyones territory until the bond needs to be cemented though. It sounds like no one has submitted yet, which is okay. But they probably won’t be bonded until someone grooms or accepts mounting. As LPT said, when you can leave them for 24 hours together with no incident then you should work on a different territory. In the meantime, you can switch litter boxes from cage to cage OR even put each bun in the others cage for a night and switch them back and forth. You will want to get them used to the others scent being on “his” stuff before attempting to put them in a less neutral territory. You can also take towels and put them in each cage and then flip-flop the towels in between cages to help them get used to the scent being in their area.

[jerseygirl]

Aw!
I’m not overly surprised as Felony seems to be such an easy going bunny.
Good luck, though sounds like you don’t need it. : )

[hooty22]

Yeah Tanlover we brought Felony to a hug a bun event there and that’s where he and Hermes, now Molesly met.

We are two weeks into bonding, and still no humping since that first night and still zero grooms. We have a bit of a poop battle going on with Felony stringing a line acrossx the hallway. I’m assuming this means that the new rabbit should not cross this line or else he’ll use his nuclear armaments. Molesly ignores what I’ve been calling the Felonious Parallel.

So, how do I get these two stubborn buns to love each other? I’ve tried banana, raisins, hiding pellets in Felony’s fur… they are driving me nuts!

[Sarita]

Don’t expect love – ignoring is fine and eventually they will become closer. Many bonded couples happily coexist without grooming. It’s just nice to hang out with another rabbit you can trust :~)

[jerseygirl]

We are two weeks into bonding, and still no humping since that first night and still zero grooms. We have a bit of a poop battle going on with Felony stringing a line acrossx the hallway. I’m assuming this means that the new rabbit should not cross this line or else he’ll use his nuclear armaments. Molesly ignores what I’ve been calling the Felonious Parallel.

Lol !

I ditto Sarita’s response. You might not see grooming but they’re still bonded. The main aim is they live together without fighting. It might be way down the track that you catch a little groom here and there. Most the time I see rabbits like to be sitting in close proximity, often touching but not always.

[tanlover14]

What are their current bonding sessions like? It seems they pretty much ignore with no aggression which is AMAZINGGGG.

[hooty22]

I would call it more frustration than aggression. Felony doesn’t display any dominate behaviors. Molesly has his head planted firmly to the ground presenting for grooms. Felony will sit next to him, and they have both had naps loafed next to each other. I can physically see Molesly getting frustrated when he continually presents and Felony ignores. Molesly will occassion turn his head sideways for a little booty nip, but it’s never anything overtly aggressive and it’s literally just a single nip.

I did an hour long bonding session in quasi neutral territory last night. Molesly definitely wants to be top bun, Felony doesn’t necessarily want to be top bun, but he sure as crap doesn’t want to be submissive. This is exhausting, because they are basically at the same point they were at two and half weeks ago.

One thing. I’ve tried to feed them treats, parsley, pellets and hay while bonding. Molesly will go to town (he’s a big boy) but Felony won’t eat anything when he’s with Mose.

[tanlover14]

I was having a semi-similar problem with my buns. I felt like they were just … Bleh. And moving nowhere. So instead of the usual 2 hour bond I extended it to 5 hour and I noticed a change in their demeanor. Like they realized they were going to be together for longer this time and kind of starting determining a pecking order. Maybe you should try a longer bond session. It may help if they are stuck in this rut where they’re never together long enough to even need to worry about it.

[jerseygirl]

What about trying a car ride? Or if that’s not possible, pop them in a basket or box and walk around with it.

The idea being they’ll gravitate toward each other for comfort and hopefully that will lead to more closeness between them.

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