Eliot & Molly bonding diary

I was thinking about asking for advice on how to deal with my Molly, as she is quite a temperamental girl and she tends to be a little bity... both with me and with Eliot... So I thought it's probably easier to keep a little diary, until the bonding is complete, as this is my first time with bonding and I would greatly appreciate some feedback from the experts!!!

Molly's a two-year-old minilop, spayed a while ago, even though I couldn't say when exactly (I got her at the Greenwich rescue). One of her ears looks as if a little bit at the end was bitten off... I don't know much about her previous life, just that she was sharing the hutch with another girl, but the rescue lady guaranteed they hadn't been together for a long time. I hope they aren't missing each other too much now...

As soon as I brought her home she started being quite grumpy and immediately territorial about the cage where I'm keeping her. I have been patiently trying to get her used to my smell and to my hands, getting slowly close to her and to her things, and she is a hardcore biter, I have to say... But she is finally calming down; today she let me tidy her cage without a grunt. She flops out constantly, like a lazy spoilt girl who's always slightly bored and annoyed with something... But she seems to be at ease and happy with her new home. We now even have conversations where I grind my teeth and she will reply by grinding hers...

I started bonding her with Eliot (Dutch, neutered, 9 months old) after a couple of days. Bathtub first. The first date was actually great, Eliot seemed to like her and kept asking her to groom him. I thought she would react badly to such a constant demand of submission, but she actually did lick his forehead and ears and snuggled timidly with him.

The second day I tried the kitchen table. This session also started very well, with occasional grooming and laying side by side. Then Molly started biting Eliot near the tail, I am not quite sure why... I sprayed her with water, divided them and shouted "no" every time, but Eliot doesn't seem to be too too bothered; less than a minute after, he's already trying to get more grooming from her... Brave boy he is. Very active and inquisitive as well.

I don't know why Molly reacts so impulsively at times. Most of the time she is very keen on grooming Eliot, then all of a sudden she'll bite him on the face :shock: or around his hind legs. Then, back to snuggling. She shouldn't be so hormonal still, she was spayed (supposedly) months ago, before getting to the rescue... I don't know what's in her mind. I hope she just needs some time to get accustomed to our funny smells and to get to trust us...

I also wonder why Eliot never grooms her back. Of course, he's establishing a hierarchy, and maybe the fact that he's "at home" plays a role in this, but I hope Molly won't get tired of this "chauvinist" treatment... He is the sweetest bun with the most friendly and affectionate character, always licking me and kissing me... So why not her too? :? Who knows...

For the moment, I don't feel confident with abandoning the neutral terrain. I think I'll stick to the kitchen table for a few days and see what happens.

Sorry about the long post, I deemed it useful to do a little recap!
I'll keep you posted,
Val

Looking forward to reading the rest of the diary.
I'm unsure about what you mean when you say kitchen table. Isn't that a bit dangerous?

I would put them somewhere on the floor where and try to interact with them as little as possible. Let them sort out any little scuffles or they will never know who is going to be boss and your girl will keep trying to challenge with the biting. If you aren't letting the boy react to her (by shouting and seperating) then she wont ever know if this behaviour is acceptable to him. When we've bonded we only break up a little scuffle if it becomes more serious.

Good luck with the rest of it.

True, the kitchen table might be dangerous, but my house has been completely conquered by Eliot, so it's hard for me to find a truly neutral space... When the pen in the garden will be ready, I'll keep them there. I'll try and fence an area in the bathroom or kitchen for today - by tomorrow the pen will be DONE! YAY!

:wave:what do you mean by biting? as some of mine nibble each other around the eyes and the hind aera. also some dont or i have never seen them clean others. let them have a large area to run around, with toys or food/water bowls.

I'm sure she bites him in an aggressive way every now and then, so much that he turns away from her for a while. I think he would stand still and let her do if it was just innocent grooming...
I've read an article on bonding suggesting that any kind of fight should be foreseen and stopped before it starts, to prevent rabbits from associating the companion with a potential danger of being attacked. Or something like that

The garden pen is almost done, and it's definitely ready to be used for bonding purposes... I just need to add some finish (it's very, uhm, rustic) and furnish it. I'll post pictures as soon as it's completed. The hutch is definitely too small at the moment (I got it for free...), but they're not going to sleep there overnight, so it should be fine for them to just use temporarily as daytime shelter.

I'll put them together for their next date after dinner...