Was this a bad date? Your thoughts?

[DorothyTheMiniSatinBun]

I have adopted a neutured male mini satin, his name is Hank. He looks almost exactly alike to Dorothy which will probably cause some confusion once they are sharing space , but I mostly adopted him because when I took her speed dating they got along the best. Dorothy seemed open to any male companion, she really “plays well with other bunnies,” but the most interest occured between these two, even upon first meeting they were nuzzling and sharing a litterbox. They had a 2nd date in the shelter that went just as good as the 1st, so we decided we would formally adopt Hank. This whole time they have been in separate enclosures of course. So it’s been a little over a week, and they’ve had 3 dates total.

Now we tried their 3rd date in neutral territory in our house, in the bathtub. They got along fine at first and were interested in this new space, occassionally touching noses and taking turns in the litterbox. At one point they were both in the litterbox and Dorothy attempted to mount Hank, which Hank was very irritated by and he turned right around at her. This led to chasing and a bunny tornado, which my boyfriend and I separated, but my boyfriend foolishly got a little too close to their faces, and Hank bit him hard and broke skin. I picked up Dorothy, but stayed in the area. She was fairly calm for having just gone through that, but maybe she was “frozen in fear.” I re-introduced them after about 5 minutes, and 5 minutes later, they were nuzzling. Ten minutes after that, he was happily eating in the litterbox and she flopped against it. They seemed really happy, so at this point we ended the date. 

What do you guys think? Just a quick spat? It seems like a bad sign that he was going to bite Dorothy that hard… I am worried if she tries to mount again, which I’m sure she will, he will always react this way, and they will never work out who is dominant. 

[Kriscent]

It’s seems like it was a quick spat, however if this happens again, you’ll need to do a couple of things.
1: you’re female is trying to be dominant, this is natural. One or the other will try to be in charge during the relationship. You might have to let them figure it out in their own. It’s like kids fighting, sometimes a spat will work out and calm them down while they are getting used to each other.
2: when breaking up a fight, use a towel. Just throw one over them and they should stop in their tracks, then you can pick them up safely, because i can tell you now; Getting in the way of an upset bunny when they don’t know you very well is a good way to ruin any bonding between you. Even rabbits that know and have bonded to you will start getting trusting you less.
3: You might have to do the slow and steady technique. This is where they both are in separate cages, with separate litter boxes, separate toys and occasional separate play times. Let them understand that they are both a presence that they’ll have to get used to eventually. eventually you can combine both of their play times, they’ll start using the same little box, but to avoid any confrontation make sure they both have their own set of toys.
I think that particular moment is a quick spat but it could get worse. Remember that your rabbits don’t know why they suddenly have a new sibling, they don’t know who’s trying to be in charge (even bonded rabbits fight and dominate each other) and your female has already had that territory while hank has been thrust in there. Dorothy has never had to share with hank so she doesn’t understand why now he’s in her territory all the time. Be patient, watch them at all times until you know they won’t hurt each other, and try to show love equally. You may not realize that you are favoring one over the other, but that extra minute of pets and snuggles for one and not the other can cause a lot of problems .

[DorothyTheMiniSatinBun]

Thank you for your insight. I wanted to provide a few updates:

We have dated them in a semi-neutral territory, but unfortunately one of them cornered the other in a tunnel, and it was difficult to separate them in there. Needless to say, we ditched the tunnel. They fought from that point on, so we took a step back and re-introduced them the next day in the bathtub again. They have had 2 more dates in the bathtub, both of which went poorly. We are able to get them back together and pet them at the same time after a spat, but as soon as we stop, Hank jumps out of the litterbox and Dorothy acts aggressively, not wanting to let him back in (nipping and lunging). We removed the litterbox for the most recent date and just fed them greens. They immediately started fighting, and Dorothy was intent on biting Hank.

Can you clarify what you mean by letting them figure it out on their own? Does this mean letting them fight? 

I was very sad after this last failed date. We are considering moving to a larger space, perhaps the space is too small and they’re getting defensive. Or possibly trying a stress date in the car. I am also considering taking another step back and doing the slow but steady technique you suggested. If all else fails, that may be our only choice.

Please let me know your thoughts and advice.

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