Hello!
I am here to seek advice on bonding my bunnies as the advice all over the web (although abundant) is a littel too broad and doesn't help me!
Here is the background. In Jan 07 I got my first bunny, she is a dwarf lop called Miffy and is the first rabbit i have ever owned. 5 months later in early May, i got my second Bun, another female, in the belief that i would be able to easily bond them and that it would be very nice for Miff to have a bunny friend. I am the first to admit in making the school boy error of not researching bonding methods or tips before purchasing a second bun. Had i done this, i would have taken Miff with me to pick her own friend! So anyway i read the advice available after bringing Millie home, got them both spayed and waited for them to heal to be ready to start the bonding. This was now the end of Aug 07. Well, it did not go well. Immediate aggressive fighting so i seperated them... I decided there may still be hormones affecting them and so waited a few more weeks before another attempt.
By this time I had got to know my girls' characters very well. Miffy is a very friendly curious and relatively calm bunny, however, she is sneaky as when in the same space as Millie she will sit still and when Mille approaches her she will suddenly go to nip her. Millie, who is a much more nervous bun, will then react defensively by attacking Miffy. She is just so flinchy and nervous any move Miffy makes Mill thinks she is going to attack her and so attacks first! (Sorry it is so confusing)
The last time i tried, i was using a large window sill in my bedroom (neutral space) putting them both on it and observing them, water spray bottle and towel in hand. Each would sit at either end of the sill and just sit there. Then Millie would approach miffy and the situation described above would happen! So i would return Millie to her side of the sill and start over. I was doing this for about 15 mins three times a day, for just over a week. After seeing no progress, and nearly a massive fight i stopped. Did I give up too soon?
I feel that Millie's nervous nature is a hurdle that once jumped, will allow a break through, i am not ready to give up on them yet! However, i am also prepared to accept that they may never get on. I have theire cages right alongside each other, so they are next to each other everyday....arrrgh it is so confusing! I really don't want them to hurt each other (or me!) so am now aprehensive about putting them together again,
Any advice from those who have bonded to girls would be much appreciated!
I am here to seek advice on bonding my bunnies as the advice all over the web (although abundant) is a littel too broad and doesn't help me!
Here is the background. In Jan 07 I got my first bunny, she is a dwarf lop called Miffy and is the first rabbit i have ever owned. 5 months later in early May, i got my second Bun, another female, in the belief that i would be able to easily bond them and that it would be very nice for Miff to have a bunny friend. I am the first to admit in making the school boy error of not researching bonding methods or tips before purchasing a second bun. Had i done this, i would have taken Miff with me to pick her own friend! So anyway i read the advice available after bringing Millie home, got them both spayed and waited for them to heal to be ready to start the bonding. This was now the end of Aug 07. Well, it did not go well. Immediate aggressive fighting so i seperated them... I decided there may still be hormones affecting them and so waited a few more weeks before another attempt.
By this time I had got to know my girls' characters very well. Miffy is a very friendly curious and relatively calm bunny, however, she is sneaky as when in the same space as Millie she will sit still and when Mille approaches her she will suddenly go to nip her. Millie, who is a much more nervous bun, will then react defensively by attacking Miffy. She is just so flinchy and nervous any move Miffy makes Mill thinks she is going to attack her and so attacks first! (Sorry it is so confusing)
The last time i tried, i was using a large window sill in my bedroom (neutral space) putting them both on it and observing them, water spray bottle and towel in hand. Each would sit at either end of the sill and just sit there. Then Millie would approach miffy and the situation described above would happen! So i would return Millie to her side of the sill and start over. I was doing this for about 15 mins three times a day, for just over a week. After seeing no progress, and nearly a massive fight i stopped. Did I give up too soon?
I feel that Millie's nervous nature is a hurdle that once jumped, will allow a break through, i am not ready to give up on them yet! However, i am also prepared to accept that they may never get on. I have theire cages right alongside each other, so they are next to each other everyday....arrrgh it is so confusing! I really don't want them to hurt each other (or me!) so am now aprehensive about putting them together again,
Any advice from those who have bonded to girls would be much appreciated!
