Bonding brother and sister

Hi

I have two dwarf lop bunnies who are nearly a year old now. They are brother and sister, and have both already been neutered (Over 6 months ago now). I got them when they were babies, and they were living together until I had to separate them at about 12 weeks prior to having him neutered. They are still living separately in a 2 tier hutch in the garden (She's in the top and he's in the bottom), although the hutch can be put back to a single one by adding the ramp back in, which is what I plan to do if/when I manage to bond them. My problem is, that I work full time, and by the time I get home it's dark, so I only really have weekends to attempt bonding them. I was thinking of clearing a weekend to bring them both in to the house, and sleep downstairs with them while I try and bond them. I've heard though, that you shouldn't bring outdoor rabbits inside for long periods of time during the winter, as they get used to the warmer temperature of the house, and will get a chill when you put them outside again. Do you think I should wait for warmer weather to try this?

They both also do their toilet in the same place all the time, so no matter how hard I scrub it, I'm sure there will still be some scent in the hutch corners where they've been, and I was wondering if this might cause problems when I do put them back in there together (Her getting territorial about the top and him the bottom)

Also, with them being brother and sister, and both neutered, I've heard that it should be fairly straightforward to bond them - Has anyone had experience of bonding neutered siblings after so long apart? (They have runs next to each other in the garden, so they do see each other whenever they're out in them)

Thanks in advance

You could turn the heating off completely in your kitchen and leave the window open so that the temperature is similar to that of outside, then you can try and bond them in the kitchen without them getting used to the warm.

whichever room you use turn the heating off in that room then t should be ok for just a few nights. ALSO USE WHITE VINEGAR SPRAY(99P FROM WILKO) THIS WILL DEODERISE THE SMELL WIPE ALL THE WOODWORK AND MESH IN THE ENTIRE HUTCH ROOM INCLUDED AND SIDES AS WELL AS FLOOR AND THE RAMP SO IT DOESNT SMELL OF EITHER OF THEM. X EDITED: SORRY ABOUT TEH caps lock i knocked it on!!

Update - Plan A!

Thanks for your replies, I've decided to try and bond them this weekend. We have a utility room at the back of the house, which is always colder than the rest of the house anyway, as there's no heating in there. I'm going to leave the window open too, just to make sure.

They have two metal runs, which I'm planning on scrubbing clean and placing on some lino & hay on the floor of the utility room, next to each other, on Friday night, and will leave them in there overnight. I'll then try a "date" in the kitchen on Saturday, with them both loose, to see what happens . If all goes well, I have borrowed a large dog crate (Also scrubbed clean!) from a friend, that I'll put them in together on Saturday night, and will sleep down there with them to keep an eye on them. If it still goes well, will leave them together in the crate Sunday and Sunday night (Again, will sleep downstairs with them), and try them in the hutch on Monday (Will be at home to supervise).

I'll scrub the hutch with the vinegar spray that was suggested while they're out of it on Saturday, and leave it to air while they're (Hopefully!) bonding in the house.

Fingers crossed! I'll let you know how it goes

So sweet!

Well, unfortunately due to an unexpected family commitment, I wasn't able to properly bond the bunnies this weekend. However, I did set up a "Date" for them, to see how they got on (Am planning on doing the proper bonding next weekend with a view to them sharing the hutch again by the end of the three days). I think it's safe to say that they still love each other, even after being apart for 6 months! There wasn't really any humping - He tried to mount her a few times, but she turned round quickly (Or ran away, lol!), and put her head right down. He seemed quite happy with this response, and after a while they started grooming each other - It was soo sweet!

She also flopped down on her side at one point, and he went and laid down next to her.
There was lots of binky's too - I've never seen them both binky so much! I do have a short clip of him grooming her that I recorded, but I don't know how to upload it on here - Anyone know how?

So, all in all, a successful date I think!

My problem is, that I work full time, and by the time I get home it's dark, so I only really have weekends to attempt bonding them. I was thinking of clearing a weekend to bring them both in to the house, and sleep downstairs with them while I try and bond them. I bond reguarly rabbits for ARC and start all mine on a Friday evening and they are usually ready to go out to their accomodation on the Sunday evening

I've heard though, that you shouldn't bring outdoor rabbits inside for long periods of time during the winter, as they get used to the warmer temperature of the house, and will get a chill when you put them outside again. Do you think I should wait for warmer weather to try this? You can eithere wait or use a room where you have turned the heating down.


They both also do their toilet in the same place all the time, so no matter how hard I scrub it, I'm sure there will still be some scent in the hutch corners where they've been, and I was wondering if this might cause problems when I do put them back in there together (Her getting territorial about the top and him the bottom) Scrub the hutch out with vinegar and water 50:50 solution and this will alter the smell. My suggestion would be to put in litter trays into the areas where they use for as a toilet. This will make your hutch easier to clean out and will stop the hutch getting smelly and rotten. Another suggestion is to put lino on the floor and then use a litter tray on top of it.

Also, with them being brother and sister, and both neutered, I've heard that it should be fairly straightforward to bond them - Has anyone had experience of bonding neutered siblings after so long apart? (They have runs next to each other in the garden, so they do see each other whenever they're out in them) Bonding brother and sister is like bonding any male and female and play by the rules of bonding which include allways neutral territory, confinded space and allowing them to sort themselves out. Once you start bonding always allow yourself a full 48 hours to get them well started and do not split them afterwards. Do not increase their space too quickly.

Hi Murphy30 I am following this with interest as I will be trying to rebond my brother and sister combo later this year. Good Luck.

Hi Dustyrabbit, will be attempting to properly bond them this weekend, so will let you know how I get on

Their little "date" seemed to go really well this weekend just gone - They were together in the pen for about 2 hours in total, and seemed very happy with each other by the end of it, I felt awful splitting them again, but I couldn't stay to supervise them, so didn't have much choice unfortunately . I have a video of them from this weekend on the stories and photo's forum - Have a look, it's really sweet!