Bonding Diary - Week one - Molly's being a terror.

So its week one of bonding Mollie & Wellington.

Wellington came home on friday, I put him straight in his hutch and left him to settle...Mollie seemed very confused and at the sight of the dreaded cat carrier, shot back under her hutch and refused to come out...so thats how I left them...

A few hours later I came back out and Wellington seemed quite settled, and Mollie was looking very curiously at him so i decided to open her run so she had access to go up to his hutch...She went under, around, under again and then hopped up to the mesh, sat up on her backlegs and sniffed him through the bars for a few minutes, Wellington sat and sniffed her back and it all looked very positive.


Since then, Mollies decided that shes not actually in the mood to give him an easy ride, and after luring him up to her hutch with pleading looks and friendly head bobbing, she waited while he stuck his nose up before growling and trying to bite & box him...Shes repeated this stunt several times, and bless him, Welly just stood there and looked at her like...oh, what did I do? :shock:

I decided to put that to the back of my mind, seeing as how it was with Mollie in her hutch and with Welly loose, She doesnt like being confined anyway and I thought she probably didnt like thinking she was trapped and couldnt get away from him...however when they're both out in the runs alongside each other, she just follows him up and down wherever he goes, with her nose glued to the bars...she does just seem curious, but as soon as he mimicks her and noses back, she'll sniff him for a second or two, before her tail comes up and pulls a face at him...he seems to hop away the split second her tail goes up, and last night he even made a tactical retreat back to his own hutch and just sat there looking very sorry...

I know its early days yet, but has anyone got any tips for a difficult bond? Or anyone with stories of a bond that started out a bit iffy and then worked out in the end?

So are they in their own hutches and runs, side by side? Make sure they can't bite each other through the mesh. Sounds like Molly is just defending her territory, they might be completely different when you get them in a neutral area.

Yes they're both in their own hutches, and I've split the garage down the middle so they each have an equal area to stretch their legs...I dont let them both out in their enclosures at the same time unless I'm supervising though, for that reason, the mesh on the hutches is small and safe so theres no problems there, but the divider for the garage has larger gaps so I dont want anyone getting scratched or bitten through it...

They also have the entire run of the garden when the weathers good enough but thats one at a time at the moment, as its her garden and hes still getting used to his new home.



I was planning on waiting until she was a bit more accepting, and then taking them both into the kitchen which is a bunny free zone and will have lots of distracting smells....Should I wait or try at the weekend? I just dont want a fight to break out

I don't think anything you have described is anything at all to worry about. I think ti's just normal behaviour and expected behaviour when they are both on their own territories. It doesn't provide any indication for what they may be like when they are actually put together.

That said, I find bonds much easier if there is foundation work done. I like to have bunnies next door to each other for at least a week (this gets them used to the smell of the other bunny and movement and can also help relax them around them) and then for the next however long swap the bunnies over into the opposite enclosure in the morning and the contents of the enclosure in the evening (This can help them get used to the smell of the other bunny in their territory and also get used to being in the other rabbits territory too). So you're doing a good thing by having them next to each other, just try and ignore their behaviour because it's not indicative of whether or not they will bond.

oh good I am glad...I knew it was more than likely her just terratorial, but I didnt know whether it was an indication that she'd do the same when I put them together...I'll keep going as I am for the rest of the week, I have been swapping the litter trays over but I'll start swapping the bedding next week and then when the weathers improved I'll bring them in for a kitchen meeting...Thanks for the info! Feel much better!

You're very welcome