Trouble bonding young male and older female

[fellowzombie]

Firstly I’d like to stay hello to everyone on this forum. I have been lurking via Google search for quite some time now. 

Now to the nitty gritty. My girlfriend and I are attempting to bond our two rabbits. We have Hipster, who is an older large Californian female of approximately 6 years who we believe to be unspayed (we rescued her from a friend who had far too many pets, and the vet doesn’t believe that she is a good candidate for surgery). Hipster has had little interaction with other rabbits since she was first acquired by my girlfriend’s friend. Hipster has had a hard life. She is currently being treated for a bone abscess by regular penicillin injections, and is responding quite well to treatment. She had significant swelling in her face, clogged tear ducts, and sinuses, which has since dissipated and responded well to treatment.

Our other rabbit, Bowie, is also a rescue who we had neutered. We believe he is less than 6 months old, and a mini rex. He was found outdoors running around. He is highly energetic and demanding of attention while Hipster often prefers to be left alone.

Upon first meeting hipster Bowie presented himself for grooming and groomed her but she has never reciprocated. He since has taken a more aggressive stance towards her and vice versa. Nearly every attempt at bonding ends in fighting and it is unclear who is the aggressor as it changes. We try our best to interrupt the fighting with spray bottles. Based upon Bowies highly affectionate nature I really believe he would benefit from having a bonded companion, though I’m not sure if Hipster desires companionship.

They only encounter each other at the border of each others enclosures, or in the living room where we normally let them roam free one at a time under supervision for at least two hours a day each. We have tried putting their cages together, covering up their respective scents with both vanilla and an equal parts white vinegar/water mixture, and tried putting them in completely neutral territory with very little success. Only a few times have they gotten so exhausted that they would lay next to each other. Where Hipster would tolerate Bowie in her personal space, and he would not nip at her for attention (he also does this to us any tips on preventing this would also be appreciated). He seems to require more attention than we can give in the time that we have off of work, and will nip anytime you stop petting him when he doesn’t feel like running or playing.

Please let me know if you have any tips or if we should give up on this bonding endeavor between our rabbits, and perhaps consider getting a third rabbit that gets along with Bowie. Thank you so much for an advice you may have. Our main motivation for getting another rabbit for Bowie to bond with is that with our jobs we can often be away from the house longer than we would like, and when we do get home from work we cannot make up for the amount of attention Bowie needs as well as have our own life as a bonded human pair.

[LongEaredLions]

It’s not likely they will bond with the female being intact. The health problems, I am sure, also add stress to the situation, and the added bonding stress could result in a longer recovery time for your girl. I wouldn’t attempt to bond these two, but don’t get a companion for Bowie unless you want another bun.
(((((Hugs and vibes to Hipster)))))

[Slowebot]

LEL is probably right. Female bunnies are much more territorial than males and because of this, bonding them could be extremely dangerous. Even if she has never reared babies, she will feel an instinctual need to protect her nest and may try to kill your other bunny if he ever gets close to her territory. Also Bowie can probably smell her hormones and the fact that she’s intact and that will cause him to react aggressively toward her as well.

After Hipster gets well (get well soon!) you could try to get a second opinion on the surgery and then bonding would be possible but until then, for the safety of both your bunnies, bonding should probably be avoided.

The nipping isn’t unusual in bunnies, people have said that squealing loudly will communicate to him that he’s hurt you. Nipping doesn’t usually hurt other bunnies because of their thick fur but bunnies don’t realize humans are basically naked.

Bonding can be a really long and slow process if you don’t have a lot of time to work on it every day. I would suggest giving Hipster time to heal and then getting a second opinion on the spaying before trying any more bonding. If you can take Bowie to a shelter for some speed dating you may be able to find a candidate that he may bond readily with. Also if Hispter and Bowie’s cages are close together they may just enjoy watching each other which may alleviate boredom! I understand your dilemma and I wish you could bond your two bunnies. But whatever decision you make I wish you luck!

[fellowzombie]

LEL and Slowebot. Thanks so much for the advice. I really do think that the best course for the future is for them to only interact through the bars of each other’s cage. We have left their cages next to each other and I believe that they enjoy. However I really visual proximity is going to be the limit of bonding for these two until Hipster gets better.

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