bonding rabbits went terribly!!! :-(

i tried to bond my outside rabbit lexo with my inside rabbit rubie since yesterday afternoon...i put them both in seperate dog crates in the living room next to each other....they didnt seem to be liking each other much yesterday so i though best not let them be with each other untill this morning...so this morning.. when i came down they were lieing next to each other with only a bar between them...so i though ok they might be ok to come out now...so i opened both doors and at first it looked like it might work but then lexo started really attacking rubie ( shes a lovely rabbit and really good natured...she isnt neutered yet so i thought if anyone would be agressive it would be her) ....i could hardly get him of her...hes a big rabbit and shes almost half his size...when i tried to seperate him he tried to bite me....she was shaking in the corner sooo scared...so i picked her up and held her for a little while and put him back in the dog crate...ive put her back in her cage now and lexo outside again...she still looks a little scared but she seems fine....im not going to try again...i cant bear to watch that again and had they both been fighting it would have been impossible to seperate them on my own.....that was my last option to be able to not rehome lexo..but it failed

I'm afraid by the sounds of it, you didnt use neutral territory. Indoor bun thought "this is my huose" and another bunny was introduced, so house bunny tried to get rid of the intruder

Are both okay?

You say shes not spayed, is he neutered?

It wasn't on neutral territory. Most buns will fight in those circumstances. You need to do this if you are to have success. Patience and preparation is the key to successful bonding so don't be too disheartened you just need to rethink it.

no i did...i used the living room...the rabbit never come in the living room they have their room upstairs...and lexo has a hutch outside.

she didnt fight back either...so if she was feeling territorial surely she would have been the one to attack him...its been extremly hard looking after a 2 year old and trying to bond rabbits at the same time. plus...also my partner hasnt been happy having the rabbits in the sitting room.

:? so when did you put them in the living room, in dog crates?

Space could be a major factor here too. You'll need a fairly small space (4x2 perhaps) to start with in most instances.

i put them in yesterday around 3pm...i used the same method to bond lexo rubie and binkie ( be4 they got pregnant) and it only took 2 hours and they were all in together.

kk_kayla said:

i put them in yesterday around 3pm...i used the same method to bond lexo rubie and binkie ( be4 they got pregnant) and it only took 2 hours and they were all in together.

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Everybun is different. Are the dog crates both neutral? Eg, had either of them lived in them before?

Did you have any other items around that the buns had had previously? Be it trays, toys etc?

oh i forgot to mention both are ok...rubies a little shaken but shes fine...also shes not spayed hes neutered..about 5 months ago

Not critisizing just trying to think why! Where the dog crates neutral? Or have these been used before?

ETA Graham your fingers are too fast for me today :lol::lol: You keep saying what I want to in half the time!!! :lol:

no these dog crate have not been used before...they were both clean everything i used was new

i had new litter trays....and they had a toilet roll holder in each cage to play with with hay in

Sounds like this could be a really difficult bond :/ It might be worth thinking of asking a Rescue to bond for you perhaps?

I have no further advice, and hope someone else can help i'm afraid.

They each saw their seperate dog crates as their own space. As you put them side by side and then opened the doors it was no longer neutral. You should wash out and disinfect one of the crates and put them both in there from the beginning. Then the space is neither's, and there shouldn't be territorial fightage.

oh no ...that you for helping

kk_kayla said:

oh no ...that you for helping

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Don't worry. It's good news, in a way, as they're definitely not unbondable. Just need to tweak your method.

RubyTed said:

They each saw their seperate dog crates as their own space. As you put them side by side and then opened the doors it was no longer neutral. You should wash out and disinfect one of the crates and put them both in there from the beginning. Then the space is neither's, and there shouldn't be territorial fightage.

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Why did i not see that? :lol:

Ali :wave:

I agree with RubyTed. Can you just bond in one of the crates? When I bond I don't do the along side thing I put everyone in together and keep watch. I realise this maybe difficult with a toddler too but not impossible. Sorry but you do need to start again from scratch. Do you have access to a car?

alio71 said:

I agree with RubyTed. Can you just bond in one of the crates? When I bond I don't do the along side thing I put everyone in together and keep watch. I realise this maybe difficult with a toddler too but not impossible. Sorry but you do need to start again from scratch. Do you have access to a car?

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Good idea. My two went for a 15 minute ride in a carrier before bonding!

ok what if i bring them both in the living room and let them have free run??