When to give up on bonding

[Tina99]

Hi guys. I have two neutered male bunnies, Hugo and Pudsie. I have been having bonding sessions with them for 3 months now. We started with 5 mins then 10, 20 now we are up to two hours on neutral territory. Hugo has alwats been nippy because Pudsie is very determined to get all the kisses and cuddles and is not very generous in reciprocating cuddles. Anyway, they have had some really good sessions along the way with mutual kisses and flops even though Hugo is still very stubborn. Both of them are very stubborn actually wanting to the boss. I have been planning to hold longer sessions within a new neutral territory which is the spare bedroom. I have the week off so I planned to do longer sessions. I blocked a part of the room off and put a shower curtain on the floor. As soon as I put them in the area, they both went for each other. I have never seen anything like this before, there was circling, tail raising,jumping, chasing,fur pulling and lots of angry noises. I separated them with some C&C cubes and Pudsie went for Hugo again so I quickly moved Hugo in the carrier box into another room. I left Pudsie to calm down upstairs, Hugo is downstairs laying down. Pudsie is still upset and grunts at me every time I go near him. I really do not get why this happened as things were going ok. Anyway, I am thinking about stopping bonding as it is really stressful for me and with school and a full time job, it is very hard to manage especially with negative results. The bunnies live downstairs in the dining room in two playpens next to each other. Well, my dream was to have them bonded and free ranging in that room with no playpen just toys and beds and other essentials. But now I’m thinking, I may move Hugo upstairs into the study/hamster room and have him free range there. The only problem is the small study has lots of furniture in it, it is still a good size tho. I am not sure what to do.

[Nutmeg]

Hey there! I am not a bonding expert and I’m sure others will chime in soon – but one question and one thought.

1) Question – did you do any Pre-bonding? where you swapped items in their cages and then swapped their whole cage / play area so they start to lose track of anything with just their scent on it?

2) Thought – have you used a shower curtain before? I’m wondering if the crinkly noise it was making when they were on it freaked them out.

[Tina99]

Hi Nutmeg. Thank you for your reply. I did about 2 and a half months prebonding with swapping toys, litters, cages. They have had contact with a shower curtain before.

[Nutmeg]

Hmmm ok – and is there a reason you are wanting a use a new neutral territory – as apposed to the one you were already using that was mostly working? Or at least working a lot better then the spare bedroom.

Once they have settled down – while still swapping their stuff / cages (I still do that even while bonding) – I would try them back in the other neutral area you had been using.
I found my bunnies weren’t big fans of change.

I also found that the big break through happened when I was able to do a very long session – the first time I was able to do 5 hours – As mine were the same with both wanting be top bun with Rupert especially being demanding for grooms.
It was like after hour 4 they were kind of like … “Ok this other bunny isn’t going anywhere…..”

I also did lots of petting them using the same hand to blend their scents and found when I stopped one would usually start grooming the other.

Again, I’m no expert – just what I found with my two dominant bunnies.

[Tina99]

Thank you for your input. I wanted to bond them in the spare bedroom as it has a bed and I could watch them more comfortably. I have a bad back and when I watched them either in the kitchen or bathroom, sitting next to a wall, my back was so bad, I could not stand up and had to rest it for 2 days

[Tina99]

The problem is that when I work, I can’t watch them for 5 hours in the same spot that is why I thought now that I am off for a week, I can finally spend some time with them and do longer sessions.

[Nutmeg]

Oh man! I don’t even have a bad back and I would be in agony sitting on the floor – I couldn’t even imagine doing it with a bad back

I am the same for work though and would have to leave the longer sessions for the weekend. So I hear you on wanting to give this a good try while you are off work.
Could you try bringing in a chair to the kitchen area?

Maybe someone else who has more experience can chime in on how to make the spare bedroom work for you to try again.

[Tina99]

They had an awful fight today so I had to separate them and decided to move Hugo upstairs into the study where he can free range.

[Nutmeg]

Oh no!! They fought back in the kitchen area? Or back up in the spare room again?

I’m no expert, so hoping someone else will chime in who has more experience with fighting bunnies.

[Tina99]

They fought in the bathroom which used to be a really calm bonding space. As soon as I put Puds down, the tiny dwarf Hugo went to attack him proper biting him with raised tail. Pud usually lets Hugo get away with every nip but he was having none of it today. I tried calming them down but both of them went for each other

[Nutmeg]

Oh no! This is above my experience. I’m hoping my comment will keep your post bumped so that someone else with more experience can help!

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