confused.com!

hi all:wave:
i am trying to rebond my 2 rescue buns as on mon they had a fight which resulted in pippin(doe) sustaining a nasty nip on the ear and a lot less fur. I have them in a dog crate and have gradually been increasing the space every day. the thing is pippin is always nipping at bo's behind which results in a chase. i then give her a little spray of water and she calms down till the next time, we then have a bit of grooming, mainly her. Its now been 3 days and still they dont seem any better despite car journeys and a lot less sleep on my part. the question is is it ok for her to be chasing him all the time as i am worried he will retalliate and give her another nasty bite or do you think maybe these two are just not suited and i should find them another bun partner? any help would be much appreciated!

I am not aware of your rabbits history so excuse the questions, I may ask as part of trying to answer what you are saying.

i am trying to rebond my 2 rescue buns as on mon they had a fight which resulted in pippin(doe) Are these a neutered male / female a neutered pair who are in good health?

I have them in a dog crate and have gradually been increasing the space every day. the thing is pippin is always nipping at bo's behind which results in a chase. Is this space neutral ie none of them been in this or the surrounding space before? If they have has the crate and the space around it been thoroughly cleaned with a smelly substance? How long have they been back together? Have you any other rabbits in the same area as these are in?
I always bond in a 4 x 2 foot space and would only start increasing the space once they are happy, if you still have nipping put the space back to the dog crate size and wait until the nipping has stopped.

I then give her a little spray of water and she calms down till the next time, we then have a bit of grooming, mainly her. Why are you spraying them with water? Spraying a rabbit stresses them out. You need your rabbits to become calm and trusting. spraying them makes them stressful and then on guard, therefore they are more likely to be uneasy with each other and not learn to trust each other. Stressed rabbits are also more prone to health issues resulting from increased stress,, keep everything as stress free as possible.


Its now been 3 days and still they dont seem any better despite car journeys and a lot less sleep on my part. Bonding occurs over weeks - months not just over days, please be patient with them and not exspect too much too soon.

is it ok for her to be chasing him all the time as i am worried he will retalliate and give her another nasty bite or do you think maybe these two are just not suited and i should find them another bun partner? Nipping, chasing, humping is all part of them trying to sort themselves out, leave them to settle, the more they are interfered with the longer they are going to take to settle with each other.

confused

hi janice thanks for replying.
the dog crate is totally neutral, neither has been in there before. they are in the living room so i can watch them and before i brought them in i cleaned the floors with disinfectant and tried to mke the whole area as neutal as poss. The buns have both been done and have all their vacc with no health probs. I have had pips a year now and bo 3 weeks. they were bonded before the fight in their set up in the shed but since then they have been placed in the crate. I was told on here that spraying the bun stops a fight breaking out so i was just following that advice, obviously i dont want to cause stress to my bunny. it just looks to me like bo is a bit scared of her and he tries to run away every time she goes near his behind and i really wouldnt want either one of them to be unhappy. i am happy to put in the time and effort to ensure they are happy even if it means no sleep but i am just wondering if i am forcing the issue and maybe they are just not suited.

Sounds like you have prepared everything well.

I would just keep everything as it is.

If you need to intervene have a broom handy that you can put between the buns to pull them apart for a very short while before releasing them. Don't use your hands. Saying that it sounds like you are further ahead than this and you need to keep them in their current space without changing anything or enlarging anything and just let them get used to each other and learn to trust each other.

Once the grooming has picked up things should settle. Often the nipping is that the rabbit is complaining it is not getting any attention and nips the other (a bit like you elbowing someone if they are ignoring you) then the one being nipped runs away. The one who is being nipped then thinks every time someone goes behind them they will get a nip on the bum, this is where time is required for that bun to learn that they dont alway get nipped and that the other bun wont harm them. Time should allow the cycle to break.

If they are grooming, it sounds like you are doing okay. I would persevere, it's definitely worth it. I found that any small changes - more space, even one of the kids stroking them - semed to set off scraps, so I would keep things just as they are until you are happy with the bond.