Bonding Objectives?

What is required from bonding 2 buns?
My dutch boy is currently at a local rescue trying to be bonded, i was told that because of his age (3.5/4yrs) & depending on the length of time he'd been neutered he may not show an interest & he has to show dominance over the doe or she will think he's another female.
He's lived with me since August and hasn't met my bonded pair but in his previous home he did meet his previous owners bonded pair but he & the other boy didn't get on & had lived as a single bun.

There has been no bloodshed & minimal contact between the pair of them. I watched their initial meet yesterday & he submitted to the female, he didn't chase her at all, he did go up to her a 2nd time; she replied with a lunge & off he scarpered.
I've rang the rescue today & they are still at opposite ends of the stable.
I always thought the idea of bonding was to form a friendship, be groomed, lay together etc is this wrong?

My concerns are that if i bring them home together into a smaller space (my shed) my boy will be on his "own turf" & there won't be as much room to separate from one another. If they don't "get on" how will they share anything?

These are pics from their meet yesterday, he did put his head under hers just after this pic


They kept their distance from one another for the 30mins that i observed them for


Should i take this as encouraging or just that these 2 are not compatible? Would he be better with a female smaller/same size as himself or better on his own?

Thanks in advance

That's quite a big area for bonding to take place. A smaller area would hurry things along. Grooming etc is a great sign during bonding, but it doesn't always happen immediately.

Re: taking your buns home, you will need to completely neutralise your shed to remove any smells of your existing bun, and maybe move the contents around so he doesn't recognise it as 'his' home.

I agree. The space is too big really as they'll probably mark out their own zones in a space that size. As for the dominance issue, if he's a naturally submissive bun it doesn't matter if he doesn't show her he's boss. It's irrelevant which sex the dominant one is, as it's only a problem if both rabbits are dominant. When Floss and Bournville were a pair she was the dominant one. and even after 2 years she'd occassionally hump him to remind him who was the number one bun..it didn't bother him in the least.:lol:

Agree with previous posts ... that's FAR too big an area for bonding :shock:

Both myself & my OH thought the stable was huge but don't know any different as this is the first time i've taken a bun to be bonded.
I am totally confused as to what to do should the rescue say they are fine to bring home. I don't want bloodshed nor do i want him to be frightened - i don't know if he's a naturally submissive bun with other buns but he's not with me At feeding times, particularly if he's in his hutch or one of his boxes, he will growl at me & lunge at me (sending pellets flying) but he is getting better & will happily feed from my hand

louandjoe said:

That's quite a big area for bonding to take place. A smaller area would hurry things along. Grooming etc is a great sign during bonding, but it doesn't always happen immediately.

Re: taking your buns home, you will need to completely neutralise your shed to remove any smells of your existing bun, and maybe move the contents around so he doesn't recognise it as 'his' home.

Click to expand...

How would i completely neutralise my shed? My piggies live in there too so their smell is permanant, i can clean away his hay, get new boxes etc & i've already cleaned & disinfected his hutch/trays but he has his space under the hutches where he likes to dig/nest i've no way of neutralising that

A part view of his (& the piggies shed)

I'd just wipe over everything with either a vinegar and water solution, or you can use Jeyes fluid. Both things will neutralise any odours. If you've got toys/tunnels etc, I'd go over these as well so you removed any traces of your existing buns scent, and put down totally fresh bedding/hay.

You could speak to the rescue and ask them to reduce the size of the bonding area, or perhaps try bonding them at home yourself. It is a bit scary, but we've bonded all of ours ourselves, it's great to have this forum on hand if you're not sure - there are lots of people who can advise on bonding!

louandjoe said:

I'd just wipe over everything with either a vinegar and water solution, or you can use Jeyes fluid. Both things will neutralise any odours. If you've got toys/tunnels etc, I'd go over these as well so you removed any traces of your existing buns scent, and put down totally fresh bedding/hay.

You could speak to the rescue and ask them to reduce the size of the bonding area, or perhaps try bonding them at home yourself. It is a bit scary, but we've bonded all of ours ourselves, it's great to have this forum on hand if you're not sure - there are lots of people who can advise on bonding!

Click to expand...

Thanks, will do that

Is it possible for you to take them home in the same carrier(not as scary as it sounds. Honest!!) and then transfer them into a smale cage/crate. I bonded my trio in a nero4. They stayed in there for 2 days before I transferred them to Bournville's hutch/run. I sprayed it all over with a pet disinfectant/deodorant but kept the layout the same and crossed my fingers:lol: I added a big cardboard box under the hutch in the run part, but that was the only thing that would have seemed different to him. I put the other two in first and then added him and had no problems at all.

capel said:

Is it possible for you to take them home in the same carrier(not as scary as it sounds. Honest!!) and then transfer them into a smale cage/crate. I bonded my trio in a nero4. They stayed in there for 2 days before I transferred them to Bournville's hutch/run. I sprayed it all over with a pet disinfectant/deodorant but kept the layout the same and crossed my fingers:lol: I added a big cardboard box under the hutch in the run part, but that was the only thing that would have seemed different to him. I put the other two in first and then added him and had no problems at all.

Click to expand...

I have a carrier but the largest cage i have is my piggy cage which i think is approx 120cm, wud this not be way too small?

The nero 4 is only about 1224cm or thereabouts and I bonded 3 buns in it, so I should think that 2 will be fine...it's only for a day or two. I tried using a larger pen when I was bonding Tim and Nia but they l stayed in their own areas and began to get territorial. It was Jill who listened to my panicky phone call and advised me to put them in the nero. I was very dubious, but it worked like a charm,(thanks, Jill:wave so I did the same when I was doing the trio.

Thanks for that, if i get to bring her home (depending on what the rescue say) i will do that & have valium for my nerves

Did you pick up on that typo in my last post? The nero isn't 1224cm..it's 122 lol. Good luck.