UPDATE: ON the take #3 of Bonding

[Katscarpena]

Here’s the short and sweet:

Still in that “neutral territory” – the upstairs hall. I made the whole 2nd floor off limits.

Licorice: now seems completely at ease/un-phased by Chipper. He will eat, groom, flop, etc. 1/2 the time ignores him.

Chipper: Oh Chipper… he HATES being out of his ‘element” (his own territory). He HATES the slippery floor. He will not eat or lay down up there. He did groom today, but then lunged and bit Licorice hard. (Only got fur thankfully.)

Chipper repeatedly attempts to nip at Licorice – who largely ignores him. I get very nervous though because 1) Chipper is a bigger bunny and 2) they did have that very nasty scuffle where both had wounds.

I want to put a rug down – but am actually worried about how it would go if Chipper had traction! Licorice doesn’t care about the hardwoods. He gets around fine on any flooring.

Thoughts? I want to prevent the nipping. I’m worried Licorice will possibly start to nip at Chipper in return – currently he is not showing any signs of aggression. Even tries grooming Chipper.

[LBJ10]

This definitely sounds like progress! Do you have a laundry basket you could put them in? Like have them in the neutral area so they are still feeling unsure. Put them in the laundry basket and immediately start shuffling them around so they don’t have time to even think about what just happened. I really think stressing will go a long way here if you can get them into a laundry basket without them fighting before you can stress them.

[MoveDiagonally]

Sounds like progress!

I agree with LBJ. If one bunny is more aggressive you can even pre-shuffle/stress the aggressive one in the basket before adding the second rabbit which can discourage fighting before you shuffle them some more.

[Katscarpena]

Ok. Sound good. You all don’t think poor Licorice will get traumatized by all this?

Chipper – it’s just crazy, one second sniffing, then bam! Lunge and bite. I’m actually surprised he wants to be the dominant bunny. Overall – he’s my one who is a plop! A total sweetie with humans. He seriously would cuddle on a lap pretty much all day if you let him.

[MoveDiagonally]

I think Licorice will be fine.  Stress bonding is supposed to put them in an uncomfortable situation so they seek comfort in each other. Either or both bunny being a little “upset” is going to happen but long term it’s not hurting them. 

I used this method when bonding my trio and quintet. After the initial stressing them in the basket I would jostle/shuffle it whenever they showed any aggression. This would stress them out a bit again and usually stop any bickering. 

Here are three of mine in a basket.  

[Slowebot]

You sound like you’re pretty close to having them bonded, it just takes that last push to have them cuddling. One of my bunnies was completely lax and flopped the last days of the bonding and the other just seemed to loathe his very existence. She would just sit in the corner away from him and every once in a while start chasing him. It drove me crazy because he would try to cuddle with her butt and she would just move away because she hated him so much. I basically moved them into a really small area for the times she was being standoffish. I put them in a box or something that basically forced them to be together. Honestly they still chase each other and nip every once in a while still and they’ve been together for at least a couple months. Sometimes bunnies just don’t love each other 100% of the time. But like others have recommended force them into a small area like a laundry basket and just make them touch as much as possible. Also the banana on the head trick worked numbers. I got the more relaxed bunny to groom the standoffish bunny and that definitely helped them a lot. Just rub mashed banana on the head, the standoffish bunny will feel like royalty and eventually give in to love. It’s funny now though because my relaxed bunny gets all the grooming.

[Katscarpena]

Last night they made it 5 min, no nipping – no aggression from Chipper. I moved them to the smaller landing at the bottom of the stairs to change it up too.

It looks like form the pic that you have a mini lop and a lionhead. By any chance is it your lionhead that is the problem? A friend of mine said that lionheads can be very loving and are calm with humans – but that they are kind of skittish bunnies overall. Chipper is like a poster child for scardey bunny.

[MoveDiagonally]

That’s a great improvement!

They just look weird from the top. In the pic I posted are two mix breed bunnies (I don’t think they have any Lionhead in them, no manes) and an English Lop. I also have two more English Lops that aren’t pictured (all my bunnies are in my signature picture). The most difficult to bond were my two male E. Lops because they are both very dominant bunnies.

[Katscarpena]

I had meant (and should have said) Slowebot! It looks like the one is a lionhead mix.

I love your 5 though!!! Super adorable. Seeing 5 different buns bonded also really gives me hope for my 2 tiny turds! lol

[Slowebot]

YES my lionhead is super skittish it drives me nuts haha. I had also heard they could be notoriously skittish. She loves to snuggle next to me on the couch but when she’s running around she acts like I’m going to hunt her down or something. And yeah she was the problem bunny during bonding. My lop (Sherlock) was aggressive initially but once we got over that hump, the hardest part was getting Simba (lionhead) to love him. She refused to even look at him sometimes -_- but we are past that now luckily.

[Katscarpena]

YES! Slowebot – That is Chipper to a T. Snuggle hound, but acts like his life is in danger at times – especially if in any open space. I don’t think he’ll ever run free even though he has the option. The poor thing doesn’t even hop most of the time – he walks around, creeping cautiously to sniff and everything.

Yesterday it was like they were having a staring contest. LOL Chipper was in his “freeze” frame position (aka probably terrified because he turned around not knowing Licorice was there and there was his face) and Licorice just sat there. They both just sat there. Then Licorice went to sleep and Chipper crept away.

We are making progress though!!!!

[LBJ10]

What happened is definitely not bad. I would call it a positive sign. Keep it up, it sounds like they will get there eventually.

[Katscarpena]

LOTS of progress yesterday. Can I just say – my word they are CUTE together? I set this video to public, so I seriously hope you all can see it. How they ended up on the couch – the couch is chipper favorite place to hang. After the boys go to bed, Licorice usually spends his evenings sleeping by the sliding door. (Seriously he rarely moves.) So we get Chipper out then and he just hops around the couch – loves getting snuggled then.

Something loud from outside startled them both Licorice came tearing up to us then, and there they were. They did great! Can I also just add here – these two crack me up?! Licorice has so much personality. He is a great rabbit – very curious and not skittish. He is a good compliment to Mr. Scardy-pants aka Chipper I only like humans snuggle bun.

https://scontent-1.2914.fna.fbcdn.net/hvideo-xfa1/v/t42.1790-2/10427432_10152188785596129_1766282378_n.mp4?oh=e2859e1c0f1ef3f71075b39142c24a82&oe=53B01C0B

[LBJ10]

So a little stress from an unplanned source helped push them together? Sounds really cute. I tried to follow your link, but facebook says it can’t find it.

[Katscarpena]

Drat! I was hoping it would pull up.

Last night wasn’t good at all again. It started fine – Licorice grooming Chipper, licking him a ton right between the eyes. Then out of nowhere Chipper was lunging and trying to bite. *sigh* He just wants to be your friend and you’re being a tiny jerk! LOL

My husband it saying “that’s a wrap.” It’s been 6 months – minimal progress, and that it’s unfair to Licorice. He wants to take Licorice to the SPCA and see if there isn’t a bunny he clicks with right off. Licorice really seems to want companionship. Chipper – yeah…. not so much. I have no idea what to think.

[MoveDiagonally]

Bonding is sometimes a step forward, step back, forward, and so on. I think you’re making good progress and there’s no reason to give up at this point. It sounds like they’re closer to being bonded now then they’ve ever been.

[LBJ10]

I agree. This sounds like only a tiny set back. Have you paid any attention to what is going on when Chipper starts becoming hostile? Perhaps something is triggering him. If you can figure it out, maybe you can find a way to work around it. In the meantime, keep with the stress bonding. It sounds like they did well when Licorice was startled the other night.

[Katscarpena]

We are tracking what seems to set him off – I think it’s when Licorice comes right up to him face to face. I think he sees that as aggressive. We are trying to track – and are currently shaking things up BIG TIME. We added a third bun! Luna, a spayed 2 yr old female. She is 6.5lbs of pure white bunny sweetness. I didn’t really want a 3rd bun – but our local SPCA connection (who rocks) he called and asked me to come look at her. The boys and I couldn’t say no. She’d been 6 months without a home. =(

So far – Licorice does not seem to like her, Chipper is curious, and she could not care less about either of the boys. I will update on bonding as pics ASAP. I have to wait until I can get them into photo bucket. I did post pics of her on the Rabbit House FB page though!

I know we avoid real names here… but you can find her there! =)

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