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bonding - would you retry after one got hurt?

bunny mad lisa

Mama Doe
Hi
I tried to bond 2 of my buns a few months back and took it very slowly as the female, bonnie, is a bit stroppy, things were pregressing and there was mutal grooming, one day i gave them some herbs and they fell out over them and in just a few seconds there was fur everywhere and bonnie bit Casper and tore his skin and he had to have the wound stapled. i decided that i didn't want to risk trying them again but now i feel sad as they are living alone and don't really have the room to get them both new friends (have 7 bunnies) ....i am wondering wether I should try them again...can i trust bonnie?

has anyone had a similar problem and how did it work out? any comments might help me make my mind up!
 
well we have had this sort of thing happen several times - and I have to say that sometimes we have re-tried and it has worked brilliantly.

Comfrey actually de-gloved Lolas front leg . . which was totally unlike him . . and yet when she got back from the vet and we rather nervously tried again (as apart from the one fight all else had seemed to bode well) he was all over her licking her and grooming her and they are now so well bonded they are inseparable.

Ditto whoever in Charlie's group ripped Charlie's anus off - it was just an 'unlucky' claw catching in a one off rough and tumble in a bond that was otherwise going well . . and they are now happy as a group and have been for months.

The situations where I wouldn't re-try is where there has been constant small scale bullying and harrasment - usually typified by bite wound on the lower back/rump, this doesn't seem to settle with mine and the harrased rabbit will become depressed and isolated. I now remove these quite quickly from the bonding attempt. This harrasment is different from fur pulling and is often accompanied by quite loud growls and grunts and lunges usually at the buns rear.

Food can be the issue especially if one bun has food or food bowl issues - this was probably what sparked it with Comfrey as he has teeth issues and a history of severe neglect with undoutedly periods of no food (in his past life).

PS WE DO NOT NEGLECT OUR RABBITS - but as they are all allowed a lot of exercise and have large multi-leveled runs and ramps they are very strong and have sharp claws and teeth - in the moment it takes us to catch and separate one once a fight ensues damage can be done. (often to us!!)
 
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thanks for being honest Liz..thats what I need! I do have another bunny i could try her with but I',m afraid she might hurt him too..so hard to know!

i just hate having bunnies on their own and swore i would never do that. She was fine with her previous partner but he sadly died. I have room to get casper a friend but obviously couldn't risk getting another bunny for her incase they fell out as I just don't have the room. She seems ok on her own but its so hard to know.
 
thanks for being honest Liz..thats what I need! I do have another bunny i could try her with but I',m afraid she might hurt him too..so hard to know!

i just hate having bunnies on their own and swore i would never do that. She was fine with her previous partner but he sadly died. I have room to get casper a friend but obviously couldn't risk getting another bunny for her incase they fell out as I just don't have the room. She seems ok on her own but its so hard to know.

I had a pair of sisters that fell out when one was hospitalised and they were separated for a couple of days. I tried them several times but there was always fights and on the last attempt after they had been separated for months when i thought all was ok she tore the other bunnies entire scalp off :shock: It was just hanging in a flap. poor girl looked like Frankenstein after having stitched back on. That was many years ago and looking back with the experience I know now I would never have tried it again.

We have had bunnies who have lost their partners and refused to bond with any other bunnies and just been happy to live their remaining time alone. But i guess it depends on how old your bunny is :?

Just to add besides a nose being bitten through some mesh and a spooked incident during a thunderstorm they are the only bunny injuries we have had in 12 years of multiple bunny keeping :)
 
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well we have had this sort of thing happen several times - and I have to say that sometimes we have re-tried and it has worked brilliantly.

Comfrey actually de-gloved Lolas front leg . . which was totally unlike him . . and yet when she got back from the vet and we rather nervously tried again (as apart from the one fight all else had seemed to bode well) he was all over her licking her and grooming her and they are now so well bonded they are inseparable.

Ditto whoever in Charlie's group ripped Charlie's anus off - it was just an 'unlucky' claw catching in a one off rough and tumble in a bond that was otherwise going well . . and they are now happy as a group and have been for months.

The situations where I wouldn't re-try is where there has been constant small scale bullying and harrasment - usually typified by bite wound on the lower back/rump, this doesn't seem to settle with mine and the harrased rabbit will become depressed and isolated. I now remove these quite quickly from the bonding attempt. This harrasment is different from fur pulling and is often accompanied by quite loud growls and grunts and lunges usually at the buns rear.

Food can be the issue especially if one bun has food or food bowl issues - this was probably what sparked it with Comfrey as he has teeth issues and a history of severe neglect with undoutedly periods of no food (in his past life).

PS WE DO NOT NEGLECT OUR RABBITS - but as they are all allowed a lot of exercise and have large multi-leveled runs and ramps they are very strong and have sharp claws and teeth - in the moment it takes us to catch and separate one once a fight ensues damage can be done. (often to us!!)



thanks so much for your comments.
 
I had a pair of sisters that fell out when one was hospitalised and they were separated for a couple of days. I tried them several times but there was always fights and on the last attempt after they had been separated for months when i thought all was ok she tore the other bunnies entire scalp off :shock: It was just hanging in a flap. poor girl looked like Frankenstein after having stitched back on. That was many years ago and looking back with the experience I know now I would never have tried it again.

We have had bunnies who have lost their partners and refused to bond with any other bunnies and just been happy to live their remaining time alone. But i guess it depends on how old your bunny is :?

Just to add besides a nose being bitten through some mesh and a spooked incident during a thunderstorm they are the only bunny injuries we have had in 12 years of multiple bunny keeping :)

Its so hard to know wether to risk it as it happened so fast! I felt so awful that casper got hurt especially as i was there when the vet stapled him:shock: although he was much braver than me!
I have bonded many bunnies but never had an injury so it has really shaken me i guess!
Bonnie is a 4 year old french lop.
 
Its so hard to know wether to risk it as it happened so fast! I felt so awful that casper got hurt especially as i was there when the vet stapled him:shock: although he was much braver than me!
I have bonded many bunnies but never had an injury so it has really shaken me i guess!
Bonnie is a 4 year old french lop.

It was my female french lop that wouldn't bond once she lost her partner but she was 6 years old and lived just under another year :?
 
I have tried twice, both times with Tiesto my nasty Little black dutchie:love:. The first bond, with her sister, was just a disaster, the second with Buuren was a success and now they are so loved up and have been for nearly a year now:D But yes she had bitten both of them quite badly. Maybe I shouldn't have risked it but it was worth it for her in the end.

But is it a risk you think worth taking? Good luck with whatever you decide:)
 
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