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Side by side bonding method... Slow dating

Me :D:wave: But I think i've told you about ours already on another thread.
I know two other friends of mine who have also done it this way successfully.
 
rachylou said:
Did you mention that you live nearish but dont drive?
Where did you say you lived again?
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Southampton. I do drive but Surrey is about an hour away and I have ME so there and back in a day is a lot for me. I offered to pop by if we were up in Woking at somepoint visiting MIL as OH would be driving.
Did not Helen (the Duchess) offer to pop by and chat to you and help you clip Jimby's nails? She's a busy lady though I know.
Have you thought about asking Bobtails or Helen to bond for you? or would you rather keep Jimby at home and do it slowly?
 
I've done this, and its been particularly successful with my anxious bunnies who originally flipped out when presented with another rabbit.
 
I am trying this way at the moment - I have split their run in 2 with double tickness mesh down the middle to prevent nipping through the bars.

I have been putting them in the run every evening for the past week (because the current set up of the hutches does not allow side by side all day) and then after a session in the run, I have been bringing them into neutral territory for a "date".

I have to admit this does seem to be working as yesterday they managed an hour in neutral territory before a fight broke out and today they have been together since 1.30 and all seems to be going well so I am keeping my fingers crossed that this is it.

I would def try it if you have not had any success yet because I thought I would never get my 2 bonded again, I think it really helped them get used to each others smell etc. I hope this helps!
 
I kind of did this. When our bonded pair fought and had to be split up, I would swap them round so they alternated bowls, hutch areas etc.

I kept trying them in a run but separated by a panel. They spent the whole time running up and down trying to get to each other, chewing the wood, digging, throwing themselves at the mesh. I really think they would have tried to kill each other. Anyway, I tried it again after a break and after a few days of the usual manic behaviour, they started to relax and lie near each other. That was when I started the inside bonding in a pen.

I know a lot of people think it just prolongs the process and makes the rabbits more anxious because they are constantly starting again. I thought it was helpful though as ours were living within sight and smell of each other anyway.
 
tintin said:
I kind of did this. When our bonded pair fought and had to be split up, I would swap them round so they alternated bowls, hutch areas etc.

I kept trying them in a run but separated by a panel. They spent the whole time running up and down trying to get to each other, chewing the wood, digging, throwing themselves at the mesh. I really think they would have tried to kill each other. Anyway, I tried it again after a break and after a few days of the usual manic behaviour, they started to relax and lie near each other. That was when I started the inside bonding in a pen.

I know a lot of people think it just prolongs the process and makes the rabbits more anxious because they are constantly starting again. I thought it was helpful though as ours were living within sight and smell of each other anyway.
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Who says they are constantly starting again? I've always felt this assumption to be highly subjective and made from a human point of view, anthropomorphizing to some extent. Rabbits are not humans and we can not profess to understand how their minds work from a behavioural point of view, they certainly don't bond in restricted underground burrows without any means of get out for 48 hours in the wild. I personally don't see any issue in prolonging the process, IMO it's far less stressful psychologically, and hence immune wise, than forcing them together in a short period of time, no bonds are formed that quickly however successful early impressions are. Bunny bonds grow over months and years. Not that i'm denying faster methods are not successful either. I just don't believe that there is any 'correct' way to do it from the rabbit's point of view, because that is one view we are not priviliged to understand. :)
 
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I am doing it this way aswell, I think it's the fair way to do it if at all possible, it worked with my dogs and rats and I think unless it's a rescue scenario where time and space is of a premium I think it's a much nicer way of doing it.

I think Kaths 101 had success and a few others too on here. There are others who are strongly against it though.
 
Firstly thank you to all of you for all your responses, I would be grateful for ALL of your tips, do's and dont's!



prettylupin said:
Southampton. I do drive but Surrey is about an hour away and I have ME so there and back in a day is a lot for me. I offered to pop by if we were up in Woking at somepoint visiting MIL as OH would be driving.
Did not Helen (the Duchess) offer to pop by and chat to you and help you clip Jimby's nails? She's a busy lady though I know.
Have you thought about asking Bobtails or Helen to bond for you? or would you rather keep Jimby at home and do it slowly?
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Helen, bless her I think I have been pestering her a bit too much, :oops:
She is coming over to clip Jims claws and have a chat on Tuesday but is unable to assist in the bonding unless she does it at her house which we feel is just not the right road for Jimby. We would be a lot more comfortable being able to monitor him at home.
 
I tried it that way when I got Smudge and the first few dates when ok but then it spiralled out of control. This time it's been better but I wonder if it's more hormonal and it's taken a while longer than usual for Smudge's hormones to settle.
 
All my dos and don'ts are in my article (I think I linked you to that before).

I think most importantly it is important to read the rabbits and try things according to what you see with them.
 
My very first bond was done the slow dating method.We got Daisy as a friend for Fluffy when she was 12 weeks old,we had her spayed and she had complications and couldnt actually "meet" him for about 4 months.In that time she was either in her run in the garden with him or in her hutch.They used to lie together and groom through the mesh.When they actually met it was a :love: at first sight bond:love: but not knowing any better [before RU] I used to separate them at night:roll: until one night when Fluffy went to Daisy's hutch and refused to leave.I'm currently trying this getting to know method you with Ozzie as I reckon with his tummy probs he would stop eating and go into stasis if I tried it the other way!!
 
prettylupin said:
Who says they are constantly starting again? I've always felt this assumption to be highly subjective and made from a human point of view, anthropomorphizing to some extent. Rabbits are not humans and we can not profess to understand how their minds work from a behavioural point of view, they certainly don't bond in restricted underground burrows without any means of get out for 48 hours in the wild. I personally don't see any issue in prolonging the process, IMO it's far less stressful psychologically, and hence immune wise, than forcing them together in a short period of time, no bonds are formed that quickly however successful early impressions are. Bunny bonds grow over months and years. Not that i'm denying faster methods are not successful either. I just don't believe that there is any 'correct' way to do it from the rabbit's point of view, because that is one view we are not priviliged to understand. :)
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I think this too, it kind of suggests that rabbits have no memory. We don't have to rebond with them every time we leave and come back again, and we don't live side by side with them. I have failed a few times to slow bond, but the many that have succeeded have never broken and they never fight after the initial intros, and I've never had an injury. Certainly if you have time to do it, I would recommend it.
 
Well, the people on here who I have heard recommend the more intense method are far more experienced than me and seem to have done loads of bondings, so I would certainly give some weight to their opinions.

I wasn't saying which method was better, simply stating that some people feel it is more stressful to separate them once progress has already been made.

As for anthropomorphising our pets, I reckon everybody on here is guilty of that. I am much happier applying human traits to our two rabbits than acknowledging that they operate 90% on instinctive behaviour, and probably don't care who is looking after them as long as those pellets are in the bowl on time.
 
Hiya, Helen is fantastic - she has put a lot of effort into my two girls, unfortunately, they have not been successfully bonded, but we think that is down to one of the girls having some hearing/sight problems and she gets very defensive.

My girls have been side by side for the last few months and it hasn't made the slightest bit of difference to be honest with you (don't mean to put a dampener on things, just talking from my personal situation) - I can't put them too close together as Belle (the troublesome one) will try and nip Bunny's nose, even though Bunny was here first!

Good luck with your bonding, if you really get stuck or feel you can't do it yourself (which happened to me), I would definitely recommend Helen. :)
 
I bonded my bunnies this way. I got the male as a baby and then the female a few months later. I kept each of them in a big dog crate side by side and they stayed that way until both had been done and recovered from their ops. Then I put one of the dog crates in another room and gave it a good scrub then put them both in there. There was a bit of humping the first hour or two, but they just flopped down and snuggled up to each other right away and it's been complete love ever since. It's the best way to bond, IMO.
 
All the bunnies i have ever bonded have always lived next to eachother first successfully, but its not 'bonding' as such they just get used to eachother, they dont bond until you put them in together.
 
I'm attempting to bond my two by having them date for a while every evening, and I can't say it's more stressful. In fact, yesterday I had their first double flop side by side, and I had a hard time putting the female in the cage for the might afterward because she kept flopping out every time I tried to make her move, looking very pleased with herself. She was totally relaxed and even let my bf stroke her, something that normally never happens.
 
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