Smudge vs Frosty

Is this the right place?

I am new to this site and I have 2 lil cute bunnies... Smudge and Frosty.

Smudge was the first rabbit we got. She's about 8 months old, a Netherland Dwarf. Very cute and loving. We originally had her on her own but reading lots of advice we decided to get another one to keep her company.

All the advice said to get a male and so enter Frosty. Frosty is a "mini-lop" about 4 months old. We got a small rabbit so that Smudge won't feel intimidated.


We tried to put them in a run on neutral territory, divided into two, at first but Smudge was not having any of it and was trying to attack Frosty on sight. She managed to pull a chunk of his fur out. He wasn't bothered and was just more interested in munching as much grass as he could.

We then introduced them both on neutral territory in their carry boxes which have caged fronts so they could see and smell each other. This seemed to go better and Smudge was much calmer. So we have been doing that for about 15-20 minutes when we can.

We have progressed to the stage where again all in neutral territory, Smudge is let out the box to roam around whilst Frosty stays in the box. She happily goes up and sniffs his box and he sits in the box looking a bit frustrated. They also are happy eating in front of each other (though i think Frosty's mind is obsessed with eating anything).

Tonight Frosty has learnt how to climb the stairs.... Smudge has her area up stairs and Frosty is downstairs. However, tonight he got up to her. My gf rushed upstairs to find them scuffling and pulling out each other's fur!!! She got them apart and has separated them again....

As far as we know all that has happened is fur pulling... fairly large chunks mind. But no serious full on biting and such. No blood.... thankfully.

Smudge has been spayed, whilst we are waiting for Frosty to get a bit bigger. The vet said that it might be better to leave his bits intact for the minute so that if Smudge starts on him, he will be able to defend himself.

We want to get Frosty the chop eventually anyway.

Frosty has become a bit more randy lately and was trying to hump Smudge when he got to her.

The vet has suggested we use harnesses on both of them to keep control. So now we have two harnesses....


Is this fur pulling normal and "safe" or is it something to worry about?

Should I go to the vet and say give Frosty the snip?

Will they get on eventually?

Any advice? I am scared that if I let them fur-pull that one will actually cause damage and injure one of them. Am I being a wimp?


Any advice would be most welcome.

Sorry for the ramble.

Graeme

Hi ya,
I am in no way the most experienced rabbit mummy on here but maybe I can help a little. Your story made me smile cos our first bun was a nethie and we got a lop for her Jubby
I believe fur pulling is fine and normal as long as there is no blood drawn or injuries etc etc.
Def have him netured as soon as he is old enough (when his bit drop down) that will settle him down a bit. That shouldn't be too long now.
When I was bonding our first 2 my Nethie was a nightmare and bullied my lop. That soon changed when he got a bit bigger and whilst it took a bit of time and alot of effort they eventually bonded and loved each over soooooo much until my nethie went to rainbow bridge.
Don't give up but things may be a lot more sucessful once he has been done.

:wave: hello! there are some expert bonders on here who should be along soon but in the meantime have a look at this which has some really good info on it. I would also get your boy bunny done as soon as poss:

http://cottontails-rescue.org.uk/matchups.asp

Pairing an unneutered male with a neutered female is only suitable in the rare event of the male not showing much sexual behaviour towards his partner. Males that repeatedly try to mount and/or spray the female long-term will often break the temper of their partner and a serious fight will likely ensue. Not only that, but it is not pleasant for owners to have to deal with a permanently sticky, smelly and yellow-tinged rabbit!

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Hmmm. I do not want Smudge sticky nor yellow! So I should take him to the vets now to get him done? He is getting more randy.... he was humping the toy rabbit earlier, which was quite funny as he didn't know what to do and why it wasn't responding. Poor lil lad.


Is 4 months too young to get him chopped?

Oh and rabbit harnesses don't seem to be rabbit proof......

Graeme27Uk said:

Hmmm. I do not want Smudge sticky nor yellow! So I should take him to the vets now to get him done? He is getting more randy.... he was humping the toy rabbit earlier, which was quite funny as he didn't know what to do and why it wasn't responding. Poor lil lad.


Is 4 months too young to get him chopped?

Oh and rabbit harnesses don't seem to be rabbit proof......

Click to expand...

Definetly get him neutered. My boy bun was neutered at 12 weeks and he is an absolute angel now. If you dont get him neutered he will just continue to hump smudge and she'll just become fed up of him and this will make bonding even harder - especially if a proper fight breaks out and one is seriously injured.

Ps - forgot to add, i personally dont believe in putting harnesses on rabbits. And if they are eating the harness i would remove it asap before they digest something they shouldnt! :shock:

Ok. So I shall ring the vets up and book to get him neutered. The harnesses were suggested by the vet and they dont seem to mind wearing them for a little while. Just easier to get them apart if they start fighting seriously.

Things were a bit tense last night in the bathroom. We spent over an hour in there with both bunnies hopping about and around each other. He wasn't that interested in humping her just finding out what she was and such and they were sniffing each other a bit. Most of the time though they were just ignoring each other. There was the odd scuffle and once one of them had gone for the other, then the other wanted to retaliate. Is this a good thing?

I might try the car journey technique later.

Smudge was quite happy eating and grooming herself in the bathroom with him watching and he seemed to be the submissive one.

Is it a case of just percervering?

Another piece of advice/tip which helped GREATLY with the bonding of Sapphire and Jamie was putting them both in the bath together (obviously empty, lol) but try this... small space and totally different surroundings. After this we took them out for a walk around the block in the carrier, brought them back and tried them in a neutral place again and they were bonded =] xx

Actually IN the bath?

I am not sure if that will work but can only give it ago. Smudge just seems to want to attack Frosty if he gets too close.

Graeme27Uk said:

Ok. So I shall ring the vets up and book to get him neutered. The harnesses were suggested by the vet and they dont seem to mind wearing them for a little while. Just easier to get them apart if they start fighting seriously.

Things were a bit tense last night in the bathroom. We spent over an hour in there with both bunnies hopping about and around each other. He wasn't that interested in humping her just finding out what she was and such and they were sniffing each other a bit. Most of the time though they were just ignoring each other. There was the odd scuffle and once one of them had gone for the other, then the other wanted to retaliate. Is this a good thing?

I might try the car journey technique later.

Smudge was quite happy eating and grooming herself in the bathroom with him watching and he seemed to be the submissive one.

Is it a case of just percervering?

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I wouldnt bother with the car journey until after he is neutered - as his hormones kick in and they get worse it seems pretty pointless trying to bond them.

There's no point bonding them until your boy is neutered. Although remember that he will still be fertile for a number of weeks after the op.

abbymarysmokey said:

There's no point bonding them until your boy is neutered. Although remember that he will still be fertile for a number of weeks after the op.

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Not worried about his fertility as Smudge has had her bits removed.