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urgent! i need bonding opinions and advice... i'm failing!!

nina81

Alpha Buck
hi everyone, sorry to be a pain but its my first time bonding and i am stressed out!

if i give you a brief description of what i have and what i'm doing and what happening i'm hoping you can tell me why and what and opinions! anything would be much appreciated as right now i feel useless!!

ok

winnie is my female residenct house rabbit, i've had her since june she is nearly 8 month old and has been spayed since 5 months, she lives in a bit double decker hutch in my spare room, she has access to her hutch and the room all day if no-one is here, when there are people here she has the run of the whole house and garden.

new buns foxy girl and wally boy are just under 12 months and have both been spayed/neutered for at least 3 months, brought them home from rescue in exeter on sunday, they are in a pen a couple of feet away from winnie, they had been bonded for nearly two weeks when i picked them up.

so - sunday i locked winnie in her hutch just while i sorted the newies out, once they were in i let winnie roam the room just to see how she reacted, well wally is very nervous and just stayed in the corner of the pen, winnie however was confronted by foxy the other side of the wire, they had a little sniff of each other and winnie hopped off, however she was moving around quicker than normal obviously more alert due to buns presence, she then went over to the wire and as soon as foxy came close she launched herself at the fence a fair few times, she got quite frantic and the newies looked horrified so i put winnie back in her hutch

monday - chanced putting them all in the kitchen, put the newies in first and left it 10 minutes then i put winnie in, again alot of sniffing but then foxy seemed to instigate trouble and there was a scrap between the two bit of fur pulling etc while wally just sat in the litter in the corner, i felt sick! i felt like i was being cruel! so again they all got put away.

today - everything has been mopped with vinegar and winnie has been out all day whilst the new buns have been in there pen and then roaming the room and sniffing her hutch out, so i let winnie back in and she's gone over to the wire all on edge and hoppin from one side of the pen to the other real quick, however she did not lunge but was very alert, both buns have come over to sniff her and then..... wally started chasing foxy and nipping her and she was fantically running away like her life depended on it, so i locked winnie away which calmed them within minutes and now they are back sitting next to each other.

basically i don't understand this behaviour and i don't really know what to do next or how to continue! the shelter said maybe just give them a few days in the pen get used to smells but then others say i should put them in a room together, i just don't know and right know i feel like i'm failing before i even start..... so any help suggestions or explanations would be much appreciated!!

sorry for the essay!!
 
Hiya
When i bonded my three, already had a pair and added another girlie to the pair. I had them running in separate areas but so that they could smell each other for about a week. I also swapped the over at one point so that they could get their smells on each others areas. Then i put all of the in a room none of them had been in before.. they did have the odd bit of chasing and fur flying but no injuries. The important bit is that if they are just chasing let them continue.. each time you put them away you are starting over again. Some people put them together and sit armed with a broom or water spray bottle so that any scuffles they can get them apart pretty quick without touching them, unless they get injured of course. Oh also i put a load of tasty grass/hays in the area i was bonding to give them something else to focus on.
Im not in any way a bonding expert.. i was probably lucky that my 3 got on from the start, but that was how i did it. Good luck!
 
One thing I will advise with using food as a diversion tactic is to make sure neither bunny is food aggressive first, else it can kick it all off.
 
i haven't yet although i tried to hoover thing but they all just freaked rather than settle lol, i'm totally at a loss, winnie sniffs and goes around the edge of the pen and foxy follows her everywhere but then its foxy and wally who have a scrap and winnie just sits watching lol
 
Your original post is an essay so only skimmed through it but when you say scrapping and chasing do you mean scrapping and chasing? If so then you need to just push them apart not put one somewhere else as they need to scrap and chase to sort out their heirarchy.
 
yeah scrapping and chasing between the two that are bonded, winnie sits the other side of the fence as if to say what the hell!!
 
Hi there, I'm not a bonding expert at all but most peoples advice usually goes along the line of:


Somewhere totally netural - We used our bathroom

It should be somewhere reasonably small so they can't hide from each other (our bathroom is about 2m by 3m space)

They will probably chase each other around a bit, you might get some humping. This is natural. If they start to lock heads together or if there is serious biting that is when you may have problems. If they are nipping then some people have used a water spray to separate them (you can do it yourself but be wrapped up well so you don't get bitten or scratched)

Putting something like bannana on one buns head might start the other bun licking, which helps the bonding process.

As previously said before a car journey may make them snuggle up to each other for comfort.
 
she then went over to the wire and as soon as foxy came close she launched herself at the fence a fair few times, she got quite frantic and the newies looked horrified so i put winnie back in her hutch

This is perfectly normal behaviour for some rabbits when 'strangers' are put in their space.



chanced putting them all in the kitchen, put the newies in first and left it 10 minutes then i put winnie in, again alot of sniffing but then foxy seemed to instigate trouble and there was a scrap between the two bit of fur pulling etc

I assume that the kitchen is not neutral territory and is somewhere that your old bun calls her own. Did you thoroughly clean this area first before putting your buns into this space. If this was not thoroughly cleaned this is a totally normal reaction. Sniffing, chasing, humping and fur pulling is all normal behaviour when bonding even on neutral territory.

............ so i let winnie back in and she's gone over to the wire all on edge and hoppin from one side of the pen to the other real quick, however she did not lunge but was very alert, both buns have come over to sniff her and then..... wally started chasing foxy and nipping her and she was fantically running away like her life depended on it, so i locked winnie away which calmed them within minutes and now they are back sitting next to each other .........

The agression shown between Foxy and Wally is totally normal and is referred aggression. http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=75789&highlight=referred+agression My advise would be not to have them running next to each other.

My suggestion would be to read the information on this site about bonding, if you use the search facility there is lots and lots of information out there. This excellent thread written by Cheryl is exactly the same method I use and have always used http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=55913&highlight=bonding having bonded many rabbits myself over the years and a few for people on this site I have to say I whole hearted agree with Cheryls method and for me this is the only method I would use.

The areas most people go wrong is the non use of neutral territory, the doing things a little at a time, also interferring with the rabbits and giving them too much space. For those new to bonding, all bondings are different, most weeks I bond a couple of pairs together. Today it is a group of 3 and 2 pairs. None of these have been similiar in their behaviour or response to each other.
 
You bonding area needs to be somewhere COMPLETELY neutral where none of your rabbits have been before. If there isn't a room in your house could you try a friends house? I would then put all your bunnies in together to bond, dont be worried by a bit of scrapping or chasing, it is normal but keep your eye on them incase it becomes out of hand.
 
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