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hopes (was problems) bonding rabbits :)

C

carmen

Warren Scout
Hi

We had Hugo for 1.5 years (bougth him when he was 10 weeks old). We just got Molly from RSPCA to be his friend.

We are trying to bond them but it is not going very well. First introduction Hugo started beating her. My husband took him away and he was kicking him for few good seconds.

Second time we tried an hour later (more cautiously) we were watching them so Hugo does not beat her again. When Hugo looked like having a go at Molly my husband picked him up and Hugo bit him.

Molly seems to be very stressed by this all as she made few noises.

We do not have a neutral place in the house as Hugo pretty much owns the place.

Now Molly is in one room and we let her relax a bit and HUgo is in other. When they are separated they seem ok. We cannot touch Molly as she runs away. She seems pretty stressed out.

Can you please advice what should we do next?

At the moment we are thinking it was a bad idea trying to bond Hugo when he has been alone for all his life (except teh first 10 weeks).

Please help us

Thanks
 
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I have never done bonding before, but i know alot of people use the bath. Have you tried that?
 
capel said:
IDon't give up yet. What exactly do you mean when you say he's "beating" her up?
Click to expand...

He was kicking with all four legs and when my husband intervened Hugo kick him for few good seconds. My husband said they were very strong kicks
 
XJackX said:
I have never done bonding before, but i know alot of people use the bath. Have you tried that?
Click to expand...

We can't catch Molly as she seems very scared now. Thumps her foot when we go towards her.

Also the bathroom has few places where if she gets trapped we can't get Hugo off her.

[Edit] Sorry I just saw you suggested the bath. Noth Hugo and Molly are lops (quite big) and they could easily jump out of the bath. I do not want them to injure themselves
 
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carmen said:
Would a rescue place help us with the bonding process? :shock: We thought phoning RSPCA tomorrow and see what they say.
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I know if you adopt the bunny from many rescues they will help with the pairing. If your bun isnt a rescue im sure some may help for a donation or something, i dont know, youd have to ask around
 
MaxiandScottandbuns said:
I know if you adopt the bunny from many rescues they will help with the pairing. If your bun isnt a rescue im sure some may help for a donation or something, i dont know, youd have to ask around
Click to expand...

Molly is from RSPCA, we will ask them tomorrow. I think we will let her relax a bit for the rest of the day.

Thanks for your help
 
Sooz22 said:
Which RSPCA branch is it? Someone may know if they do bonding.....many of them dont.
Click to expand...

York branch.

We will leave the bonding for now and try and get to know Molly ourselves before introducing Hugo. Capel kindly advised us and she suggested maybe we went the wrong way around introducing them first.

So for now we will keep them separate until Molly starts trusting us.

We do hope we will have a pair of happy bunnies liek those in the pics in this forum.

I do appreciate all the help and advice :)
 
I'm sure things will work out eventually. There are loads of people on here more than willing and able to give you support and advice:D If you are unable to do the bonding yourselves then I'm sure someone will step forward to offer you help.:)
 
Thanks for that :wave:

I must say it does help so much when you get this sort of support. We were really worried thinking "what did we do?!?!!?", quite in a state of panic, but now we are much more hopeful and relaxed.

We might need help with the bonding in the end as I am not sure how will I cope seeing the bunnies at each other but at the moment we are all relaxing :lol:

Thanks you SO SO much for your help and advice. :D:wave:
 
:wave: i know some rescues help with bonding bunnies even if the bunnies are not from there so if the RSPCA say no might be worth trying local rabbit rescue places. Or borrow a neighbour's garage/shed? Have you tried taking them out in the car? That works really well as a starter. You might find this info useful about how to prevent your bunny match up become a bust up!:

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

has got lots of useful ideas etc on.
 
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