Rabbits not bonding after 1month

My partner and I had two female mini lops who had been bonded since they were babies. Unfortunately one passed away about 6 weeks ago. We waited 2 weeks and then got a male rescue rabbit to keep our remaining bun company. He is also a mini lop. Both are spayed/neutered
. The female is 3 and the male is 4. He has had a rough time of it but was happily sharing a hutch with a female rabbit at the rescue.

It's been about a month now and we seem to be stuck in a rut with the bonding. We introduced them in a neutral area of our home and they are in separate hutches next to each other. We are swapping them over each night to avoid either becoming territorial about one hutch.

The introduction went okay. There were a couple of little scraps but also a lot of sniffing and some grooming. The rabbits have had a "date" almost every day since. They are interested in one another, and will eat/lie down/clean themselves in front of each other, but they also keep having little scraps. We try to intercept at the first sign of aggression before they actually bite each other.

The frustrating thing at the moment is that I'm not seeing any progress. There is no dominant rabbit and neither seems interested in taking this role - there has been no mounting at all. They just seem interested in and aware of each other but prone to scrapping when one gets too close to the other.

Any ideas on how we can gently coax things on to the next level? We have tried giving them a bath to encourage them to groom but they just groomed themselves! I know stressing the rabbits on a car ride might help but they are so unpredictable together that I daren't put them in a carrier together.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions

If youre intercepting at the first sign of aggression you may be stopping them from sorting themselves out. I know it's a natural feeling to want to stop any chasing or fur pulling (I did it too, and recently!) but they need that to sort out their pecking order.

How long are the dates for? Thats another mistake I was making. Hugo's There told me if she does dates she wont do one shorter than three hours. Once I started giving my three longer together and stopped stepping in at the first sign of an issue the bond started to move forward.

If he was with another rabbit whilst in the rescue then he is probably a bit confused too because he had a friend and then he got taken away from her and is being put with another rabbit.

Thank you for your replies. We started off letting them chase and bite but it always escalated into a full on fight and we read on a few websites that if they show any signs of aggression they should be separated before that happens?

I will definitely start trying longer dates. At the moment we put them back in their hutches as soon as they fight - as we read that this teaches them not to do it. There seems to be so much conflicting advice out there, it's nice to hear first-hand what has worked for someone.

I did think the same thing about his previous hutch-mate. The woman at the rescue said that although they shared a hutch, they weren't bonded, but I don't see how that's possible!

Is it possible to put both rabbits in a small cage or crate so they are forced to be nearer to one another. I think this may be the way to get over this hump but don't separate. Keep them in the same cage for a couple of days and meanwhile clean one of the hutches out with white vinegar and then transfer the buns to that. If all is well, keep them in the hutch for a couple of weeks then you should be safe to move them to wherever they will be living. Let us know how they get on.

When you "intercept" at the first sign of aggression, what do you do? The best thing I have found is to shout "No"! and try to calm them down using your voice, don't touch them. This has worked very well for me. Once calm praise them so they know what is expected of them.

It doesn't sound like there is "aggression" so as others have suggested, make their neutral bonding area a lot smaller and try leaving them together for as long as possible. Scuffles are OK.

It took me 4 months to bond 2 of mine (the female was aggressive) and I did the dating method but it was soooooo worth it. They became very close and she looked after Homer so well when he was poorly (it is the 2 in my signature).

Some people also put them in a carrier and take them for a short car ride as they can find comfort in each other during the journey.

Good luck.

When you separate them after they've been aggressive do you put them straight back? If so maybe just move them apart and try to distract them instead to see if some of the tension diffuses. Mine weren't aggressive but Harvey was an obsessed humper and this worked for him when he got over excited to see Lilly.

If you could get some coriander or parsley would they sit side by side to eat this together? Of you get them side by side you could maybe then give them both head rubs which (Assuming they like them) will relax them and if they can be relaxed that close to each other they might realise the other poses no threat.

I think you need to stop them scrapping ( when they do) and just leave them in together after you've calmed them down. If I separated mine when I was bonding every time they started chasing and pulling fur out they wouldn't be where they are today. I know it scary, everybody who has bonded had that feeling.
I hope it all works out x

K_Row said:

I did think the same thing about his previous hutch-mate. The woman at the rescue said that although they shared a hutch, they weren't bonded, but I don't see how that's possible!

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Maybe they weren't closely bonded. Scarlet and her first husbun were quite happily living together but they weren't bonded like she is with her second husband, they didn't snuggle of anything. He would probably still miss his friend though. Good luck with them.

I know you said the area is neutral, but is it a very small area?