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When to give up?

Rachel89

Mama Doe
I'm totally at my whitsend now with Honey & Blue.

When I first got Honey shes was so nervous, too young to be left and showed agression. Finally she started to put weight on, was getting friendlier, she loved cuddles, licked my hands, even other people could stroke her and she didn't try and attack them.

Blue and Honey were both neutered and I gave them enough time to recover and tried to introduce them, major fail. Blue is quite easy going and will lick her but also knows when to back off.
Last time I tried on my own it ended up with blood and fur everywere.

I had a lady who runs a rescue in Kent help me out via the phone, shes come down and seen them and tried to help but its just not working.

In this time since failing to bond them Honeys got worse then when I first had her, I can hardly stroke her, she swipes, lunges and bites before you even get close to her.
If my nan goes in the shed she goes running straight for her.

She gets very stressed so the lady who helped me suggested that moveing her to hers wouldn't be a good idea as it could set her back even more in her behaviour.

Its got to the point were I'm considering getting Blue a different friend and giving up.

The lady even tried bonding one of my nans very gentle bunnies to her and it was even worse.

Do you think some bunnies just don't want rabbit company?

Sorry for long thread, I'm just finding myself tearing my hair out as its set her further back then ever.
 
I'm not a bonding expert so haven't got any tips but i hope it all works out for you!! *fingers crossed* Poor Honey hope she turns around!
 
They do say that some bunnies just can't have company, maybe she is one of them? Was she a rescue? Poor you, what an awful thing to go through.
 
I think she must be, its so hard as I want her to have a friend but its stressing the others out, stressing me out and now stressing her out. I jsut don't want her to get lonely :oops:

I got a phone call from a friend asking if I would go and take a rabbit off a man, turned up and it was awful he had had most of his rabbits taken away by the rspca but they hadn't taken her, She was about 4weeks when I got her, her mum had gone off already and I didn't think I could leave her so she came back with me :love:
 
Some buns take longer to be ready to bond than others, and some won't. :?

It sounds like Honey may need some more time on her own - she may still associate meeting other bunnies with the fight she had with Blue & so freak out.

It's also worth giving her a thorough health check in case there's something bothering her. If your vet is rabbit savvy, they may also be able to assess her sight and hearing, as if she has problems with either of these it could make bonding a lot more stressful & scary for her than other buns as she'll keep being 'suprised' by the other bun.

We had a pair of bucks who fell out, and at first neither would accept a new friend, but after a few months gap Willow was successfully bonded to Brownie, but Dill refuses all potential partners. We suspect Dill's poor sight is a major factor in this.

Good luck, and don't give up totally yet:wave:
 
I don't think we've ever had one in the rescue that wouldn't bond with another rabbit, but of course we have a choice of several partners, so the odds of finding the right partner is higher.

We do have some grumpy rabbits, and one in particular has to have his enclosure covered in hazard tape so people don't go near him cos he bites and lunges etc at everyone, yet he has a partner.

If your two have got to the point of blood and fur everywhere, then I'd give up on that bonding - you'd never feel happy leaving them together in case things got nasty when you weren't there.

Ideally you need a rescue that can help with a selection of potential suitors, but it doesn't sound like you have that option close to hand.
 
It sounds like she's quite a nervous rabbit? I think you need to go a few steps backwards and try and bolster her confidence before introducing her to another rabbit. If she's learnt attacking the scary thing makes it go away, then she'll keep using that strategy when she is scared which obviously isn't a great combination in a stressful situation like bonding.

I would work on getting her to be relaxed with people, then work on getting her to be relaxed about the scent/sight of another rabbit and only then consider meetings.
 
Thats the thing she was like a total new bunny before we tried the bonding process, she was so friendly but it just feels like everythings gone back to how it was.

I use to have a really good rabbit savvy vet before we moved.
My nan and me did wonder about her eyesight as several times shes run into things but not the whole time, we took her to a vet and said that it was fine but they werent very rabbit savvy.
May try and find a new one around here that is, as do you think her eyesight could be even though the other vet ruled it out?

I think I will deff give it a few months and then try and find another rescue near us that could help and see how it goes?

Shes fine with other rabbits at a distance as they go out in runs near each other and shes in the same garage as Blue and hasn't been a problem its just when you introduce.
First of all they were on neuteral (sp) grounds next to each other in setups we made and they could sniff through the bars and she doesn;t have a problem it just seems when she can actually have contact she starts getting agressive?

Thanks for the advice though, will deff give her a break and then try again in a few months time.
 
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