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bonding help

Living_a_lie

Living_a_lie

Mama Doe
I did post bout this in rabbit chat but noone has replied so thought it would be better suited here. I need someone to help me with my bonding in the Milton Keynes area. Thank you in advance
 
I still really need help if anyone can.

I have started doing short dates - which is going okay - but Bruce keeps chasing and nipping fur from Josephine - it looks almost like he wants to mount her but she won't let him. I really want this to work because they are both lovely rabbits and I don't want to rehome either of them.

He doesn't do it constantly - he does it for bout 30 seconds, then sometimes he will go and sniff her (he even looked like he was grooming her the other day) and then he will go off and clean himself then go back for another 30 seconds chasing.
 
Sorry, I'm not the best at giving advice, but didn't want to read and run!
I'm sure someone will be along shortly who could help!
Have you read the stickies at the top? Lots of really good advice there:D
 
Ok. If she is coping fine with it then I would be inclined to carry on until/unless she stops coping or the behaviour of either of them deteriorates.

Bonding is stressful but you're doing ok :)
 
Thank you :)

I am still on dates at the moment - so I put them together while I clean out the hutches (in a pen on a neutral spot that neither ever use unless together) - and I really thought we were making progress - after a little chasing, Bruce started ignoring Josephine and then he even groomed her head but then a little while after he started fur pulling and chasing again. It is getting less and less though.
 
Living_a_lie said:
Thank you :)

I am still on dates at the moment - so I put them together while I clean out the hutches (in a pen on a neutral spot that neither ever use unless together) - and I really thought we were making progress - after a little chasing, Bruce started ignoring Josephine and then he even groomed her head but then a little while after he started fur pulling and chasing again. It is getting less and less though.
Click to expand...

Fur pulling is normal bonding behaviour, it is when they "lock on" that you need to try to separate. It sounds like you are heading in the right direction, be patient and calm as they can pick up on you too.

I started to try to bond 2 girls (one lost her husbun the week before) on Thursday. The first 20 hours went OK then Katy started to go into attack mode. I had to separate at this point and will now attempt the slow approach which worked for this bun previously with her husbun. It is always more difficult to bond 2 girls, let alone when 1 is feisty ;)
 
I feel like I really made headway today - I moved them into my bathtub as I was home alone and put some jam on their heads and I have never seen Josephine so outgoing - she was grooming him on the head (to get the jam off) and he was doing it back. They both flopped out in each others company and spent most of the time huddled together - only a couple of times did Bruce try to fur pull but it was nothing like before :)
 
T Good luck wiith yours.hat sounds really great! I have been bonding 2 buns over the last 2 days and it has worn me out! But they are getting along fine now. Dusty still chases Poppy noow and then But "it's all in the game"! I bonded these two in a 3 x 4 "rabbit" run. Never tried suuch a small area before. They are both very lovely rabbits though and not aggressive at all.
 
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