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Help! Scuffle during bonding

Beatrix Potter

Mama Doe
I've been attempting to bond Spudsey my hand reared female widlie with Harrison a small black nethie recently adopted from honeybunnies.
They were living as close as I could get them in separate accomodation for almost a week, then I put them in a neutral run in my garage on Thursday around mid day. It seemed fairly positive with both grooming and eating, though spudsey was the dominant female and did a lot of chasing and fur pulling. She also made attempts to move closer to him but Harrison would stamp his feet and leg it. The same happended when I bonded her with BB who I lost a few months back, also a black nethie.

As there was no signs of them bonding on Thursday evening I reluctantly put them back in their normal homes as it was too cold to stay in the garage for me, normally I leave them together and keep supervising them in the house. Friday seemed ok at times they were quite relaxed sitting less than a rulers length apart, though there was still chasing.

Overnight I separated them but they could see and smell each other.

Put them back in the run this morning but made the run smaller so to reduce chasing, it didn't work! As soon as I put Harrison in before SPudsey he was obviously frightened and knew what was in store for him! I put Spudsey in and again lots of chasing, but then it looked like they were in a potential fight. I clapped my hands to startle them and just moved spudsey out and put her in a carrier leaving Harrison in the run. Neither have injuries and I may be wrong, maybe he jumped over her when she grabbed his fur and they toppled over I just don't know.

She has been bonded before, 3 times and 2 were successful though with BB she always chased him even when they had been together for a year and with her first bond the male who was bigger than her was more dominant. The one that failed was when they kept fighting though this was immediate.

I have had two days off work to do this so quite disheartend, I can't do a slow bond really as its too much to try and pick spudsey up everyday to put her in a carrier plus I have no where really for Harrison to stay long term as he is only in a run at the moment with a very small hutch so its not ideal.
 
Jill@honeybunnies :wave: I have tried ringing you this morning but you're a busy lady and probably out will try and ring again later.
 
It all sounds pretty normal to be honest! Sometimes if a pair are quite skittish (which I would expect for a wildie and a nethie) it can be helpful to start them off in a pet carrier with the lid off, just sit them on your lap. Because it's small, they can't really chase a lot and it can give them the opportunity to settle down a little and get used to the other bunnies' smell. Some people take them on a car ride as well as this can encourage them to snuggle together for comfort, but you can just as easily pop them together in a carrier for a while and see if that helps to start them off.

I wouldn't be too disheartened though, what you describe is pretty normal especially in the early hours/days of bonding. If one constantly runs at the other, it can also be helpful when you see the signs that theyre about to try and chase, to just hold a hand gently across their shoulders to encourage them to calm down. After a couple of hours they tend to settle and relax, and the other bunny also settles when it realises that it's not going to be chased every time it moves. I think the key is to try and foresee when one of them is about to launch at the other, and bat it off before it happens. If you intervene after it has happened, it can make their skittishness escalate, whereas I find that stopping them from doing so initially does calm them down quite quickly. You can tell when they are starting to relax and when you can gently start to loosen your grip and let them explore a bit more calmly.

With a pair of skippy bunnies like a wildie and a nethie you might find that you have to go off piste somewhat with bonding technique but hopefully they will settle over time.
 
It all sounds pretty normal to be honest! Sometimes if a pair are quite skittish (which I would expect for a wildie and a nethie) it can be helpful to start them off in a pet carrier with the lid off, just sit them on your lap. Because it's small, they can't really chase a lot and it can give them the opportunity to settle down a little and get used to the other bunnies' smell. Some people take them on a car ride as well as this can encourage them to snuggle together for comfort, but you can just as easily pop them together in a carrier for a while and see if that helps to start them off.

I wouldn't be too disheartened though, what you describe is pretty normal especially in the early hours/days of bonding. If one constantly runs at the other, it can also be helpful when you see the signs that theyre about to try and chase, to just hold a hand gently across their shoulders to encourage them to calm down. After a couple of hours they tend to settle and relax, and the other bunny also settles when it realises that it's not going to be chased every time it moves. I think the key is to try and foresee when one of them is about to launch at the other, and bat it off before it happens. If you intervene after it has happened, it can make their skittishness escalate, whereas I find that stopping them from doing so initially does calm them down quite quickly. You can tell when they are starting to relax and when you can gently start to loosen your grip and let them explore a bit more calmly.

With a pair of skippy bunnies like a wildie and a nethie you might find that you have to go off piste somewhat with bonding technique but hopefully they will settle over time.

Thanks Santa:) I wasn't looking forward to bonding at all I absolutely hate it to be honest, and I am so worried about one of them hurting the other one. I thought about putting them in a carrier, I have done this before but this too is a worry as I wouldn't want spudsey launching herself at Harrison whilst they were in there. Will try and pluck up the courage to go back outside and have another go :(
 
. I thought about putting them in a carrier, I have done this before but this too is a worry as I wouldn't want spudsey launching herself at Harrison whilst they were in there.

If you take the top off the carrier and sit next to it/with it on your lap you can literally hold her so she can't launch at him. I tend to let them sit next to each other but keep my hands over the aggressor's shoulders to stop her from launching, with fingers near to her chin so you can pull her back if she looks like she might nip.
 
If you take the top off the carrier and sit next to it/with it on your lap you can literally hold her so she can't launch at him. I tend to let them sit next to each other but keep my hands over the aggressor's shoulders to stop her from launching, with fingers near to her chin so you can pull her back if she looks like she might nip.
I've plucked up the courage to put them both in the run. I am sitting in there with them armed with a tray!
 
If you haven't got this sorted by when you need to go back to work, I'm sure I can shuffle the conservatory around and watch them for you :)
 
Ok have been in the garage all afternoon with the bunnies and still no sign of them being bonded...i hoped they would be bonded by now and made plans for tomorrow, shall i part them and try a very slow bond and hope they can be bonded at a later date?
 
Can you split them somewhere where they are next to each other? Ideally with one layer of mesh between that they can't bite through?

That's what I did, bonding sessions during the day and split at night until I felt fairly confident we could go through the night with no fighting.
 
Not really elena no. Can only do that in the garage so would mean finding another neutral area which i haven t got. I think harrison is very wary of spuds so much so he won t let her anywhere near her.
 
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