Stuck in a bonding rut :(

Im coming up to week three of bonding now and i am using a small space in my shower.
My boy and girl have been in cages next to each other since the start and for the past 2 weeks I have swapped them over every night so their smells are mixed.
They lay near each other in the cages and appear to be friends but when they are having dates, they seem to have constant skuffles.
They will happily lay nearish each other (about a foot apart) and occasionally have a sniff of each other but most of the time they are nipping and boxing each other. This has been happening for about a week now and it just seems like it is never gonna end
They never mount each other to decide who is the dominant bun so I think that they both wont give in and this will just happen forever.
Does anybody have any suggestions??
Or do you know anybody in the brighton/hove area who is a bonding pro that I can contact to come and help me out?

Sorry can not help but bumping for you

it's really heartbreaking

I just tried them in the bath (I thought that maybe they were nipping because they had got territorial so decided another neutral area would be a good bet)
They just went for each other, no friendliness at all and kept lunging so I had to separate them and I got bitten.

I don't want to have to take my girl back to the rescue but if they dont bond there is no way that I can keep her.

Im gonna try later in the usual shower room and hope that they decide to be friends and not so aggressive but it's not looking good at all.

I suppose I cant force them to be friends

Is your boy neutered and your girl speyed? If so how long ago? If one of them is not this may be the reason.

I don't have any special advice hopefully some bonding experts will soon.

Don't give up! It took me 3 weeks and 6 introductions before I finally managed to bond my 2 buns without a fight. I know it feels awful but you just have to keep going and hope that they will get there eventually.

A resuce might be able to help you bond them which might just do the trick because they will both be in stange place.

Good luck!!

I'd suggest a very bumpy car ride followed by a new neutral space with something to distract them, hay with some pellets in perhaps.

You could also try giving them a bit of a bath with some animal shampoo to neutralise smells and, frankly, make them uncomfortable. I'm fairly sure I saw someone else try this technique when bonding and it went quite well.

Foofy said:

Is your boy neutered and your girl speyed? If so how long ago? If one of them is not this may be the reason.

I don't have any special advice hopefully some bonding experts will soon.

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Both of them are done...It's been over 2 months since they were so hopefully the hormones have gone now.

I spoke to the rescue where I got my girl from today and she advised that I should slow down and have 5 minute meetings with a treat not allowing any physical contact until they gain trust that they can have meeting without one biting the other one. Hopefully this will make them feel more comfortable around each other.

I would try the car method but my boy has travelled up and down from cornwall with me so he's not afraid of it anymore.

I just hate seeing them fight, they would look so cute all snuggled up together, I just want bunny love

Keeping my fingers crossed

I wouldn't have thought it can be hormonal then.

I read that finishing each dating session with a positive note i.e. lovely treats is a good thing. So maybe try them 5 mins together and if they haven't done any fighting give them both a treat and make a fuss of them and then seperate them and try again later.

I am bonding my 2 boys together at the moment and I have been ending each session on a positive note too, with either them grooming or giving them both a treat and is working for me so far :wave: So keep going it may take a long time but it will all be worth it in the end.

If the car thing doesn't work, you could try them in a small box with the hoover on. The noise stresses them and makes them snuggle for comfort. It's a bit cruel, but it worked for ours.

If the long-bonding method isn't progressing, have you time to do the intense bonding thing? Very small, neutral pen - say 4ft by 2ft or smaller - and stand over them for 24 hours. Hoover ready, water spray, thick gardening gloves ready. Separate with a partition at night, but otherwise don't split them up until they are on the way to bonding properly. It's very time intensive, but may be worth a try.

I went for the quick bonding session.Very small area neutral to both....both in it together.It took less than 5 days.
I even stayed with them overnight.
Chasing,furpulling,ignorance,humping.Thats all normal.
Are they really truly fighting???????????Boxing?? Standing up on hind legs and going for it????????

yvette said:

I went for the quick bonding session.Very small area neutral to both....both in it together.It took less than 5 days.
I even stayed with them overnight.
Chasing,furpulling,ignorance,humping.Thats all normal.
Are they really truly fighting???????????Boxing?? Standing up on hind legs and going for it????????

Click to expand...

They were boxing but I have good news.
I followed what the RSPCA said and shortened the time together so they got used to associating treats with each other which meant they didnt have time to fight.
Yesterday we let them spend longer together and there was contact but no fighting they just copied each other running up and down the hallway. My girl tried to mount George for the first time and it didnt even bother him so fingers crossed this continues.

Update

More progress today.
Ive discovered that my two bunnies get on better with lots of space instead of being confined for bonding
They were playing chasing each other up and down the stairs/ hallway for an hour and I had my first ever licking and snuggling next to each other today.
Im soooo happy that its starting to work and were on our way to bunny love

Glad that they are getting along now!

Harsh grooming

The buns are getting on well but I just have a question about overgrooming. I've noticed that my boy is the only one who grooms but he always insists on licking Lola in the eyes and he tugs on her fur, is this normal? She seems to be getting a bit fed up so runs away and then he gets upset and pulls her fur out. I can tell their not fully bonded so l think I should start restricting the space again as at the moment they have a whole room together.