Advice for bonding a male house rabbit

We have Rex (1 year old male Rex) for 1 year now. He was neutered when he was young. He has access to nearly all the rooms when we are at home due to the layout of the bungalow and a small hall way for night time and when we are out. We also have an older pair of rabbits who live in the spare bedroom (they came to us already paired so we are new to pairing rabbits). Rex has always been curious of these other rabbits, he gets on with the female, but not the male, so not wanting to upset the older pair we keep them seperate from Rex. We have a found a baby Rex female called Patch. She has a cage in the dinning room next to the hall where Rex lives (when we are not about) with a stair gate between the hall and dinning room. This allows Rex & Patch to sniff and be aware of each other without harm. We have allowed Rex in the dinning room to test their reactions to each other, at first there was a nudge at the cage between them and a grunt from Rex, now Rex tends to ignore Patches excited behaviour who chases him along the cage when he comes near.

Patch is booked in end of March for spaying as she is only 10 weeks old.

Question:
When should we start the bonding process? Do we wait until April when she has healed before trying to bond Rex and Patch as research also shows they both should be neutered/spayed before the bonding process. The more we read the more confused we get about the bonding process as we have not found much information regarding bonding a spoilt house rabbit like Rex. We have noticed a slight change in his behaviour since getting Patch. He now grunts at us when he has to do something he doesn't like, for example when putting him to bed. We hadn't heard him grunt before, but otherwise is himself.

If we wait until April, should we allow Patch access to the rest of the house that Rex has so that the rooms have both their scents as well as swapping their toys etc? Just keeping one shut away when the other one is out.

I personally would try bonding now, she is young and will hit the hormonal stage in a month or so, but this may not make any difference and they can be getting to know one another. Then you can have her neutered and she should be able to go straight back in with Rex and having company will aid her recovery. When you introduce them it will have to be in a small space like a dog crate or rabbit pen and if all goes well keep them in there for as long as you can and monitor the situation. The big problem is wherever Rex is allowed to roam is his territory so all his toys, bowls etc must be neutralised using white vinegar and water 50/50. Everything really depends on the personalities of the rabbits as well, some being more territorial than others. Done carefully I don't see why they can't be together now rather than wait until April. Is she litter trained as this may be a problem until she is neutered.Let us know what you decide.

Thank you, as we have some time off over the holidays we will try this.

Our biggest problem is a neutral territory we can leave them in that can become their home together, so we were thinking of doing a clean up and swapping their homes, so the room our older rabbits have will become Rex & Patches new bonding room as it is a place we can set up the rabbit pen and leave them un-disturbed, but still see and hear whats going on, and if they do get on, is when we can introduce food and potty, and then once successful remove the pen and let them have the room as I think moving them once bonded could upset their bonding, especially as all the other places we could move them to after bonding Rex already knows. It will also be better for us to help bond more with the older rabbits if they have the hall as their new home as they will be with us more as opposed to hiding in their bedroom which is what they used to do before we got Rex, even when letting them have the run of the house.

I think Rex will miss his freedom and us more than anything as he is so used to open doors when we come home, and sits on the mat with us in the living room.

Our older pair Thumper (Male) & Jumper (Female) are the original rabbits and when we got Rex, Rex didn't really do much scenting as Thumper made it clear the house was his first and even now when Thumper & Jumper come out, Thumper just spends time scenting everything, whereas Jumper likes to explore and scenting only on Rexs toys and second potty in the living room. When Rex then comes out he doesn't do any scenting himself so he doesn't appear as terriorial as the older rabbits. I guess that is the advantage of bringing Rex into the home already occupied by Thumper & Jumper.

Hey,

I recently bonded my pair in the last month and was new to it aswell. I sectioned off my spare room and had a cage for Hermione and Andrew had his crate on his side. I swapped them into eachothers cages daily so that they got used to eachothers smells too. I did small introductions at first as Andrew was only neutered in July and the arrival of Hermione seemed to set his hormones off initially and I didnt want her getting over stressed. I was lucky and after a few days of small introductions, I was able to take them both up to my rescue that I volunteered at for the day so they got to socialise in a neutral space. This and I think the travelling seemed to seal the deal and they are all loved up now

Good Luck x

We moved Thumper & Jumper to another room as their room is the only one Rex hasn't explored. Gave the room a good clean to remove their scent and limited their access in the room. We then brought Rex & Patch in together. Rex hated being carried in and launched himself on the floor, whereas Patch had to be pushed off my lap. They mainly explored (I can see now why they say use a neutral territory) and largely ignored each other, when they did a sniff it was OK and we relaxed. Patch was definately the more curious one who did most of the sniffing, and there was the odd grunt and foot thumping from Patch. There was a time though when Rex had enough of Patch sniffing and turned which resulted in them chasing each other in a circle then they started jumping and we had to jump in as it was getting too aggresive with fur flying, once seperated Rex laid down for a rest licking his paw, but soon got up when Patch came near. Being more fearful from the fight we seperated them when face to face again when grunting occured and Rex once again laid down licking his paw. This is when we noticed little smudges of blood dotted around the floor, so then removed Patch back to her cage and moved Rex to another room so that he could have the rest his wanted.

They lasted 1 hour together, and think it is best they spend tonight seperate (but they can still see each other through the cage & pet gate) and we will try again tomorrow.

Day 2:
They have been together since 12:00 and at the moment settled on a fleece infront of me, but opposite ends. Patch is scared of Rex after their blow yesterday. She allows him to sniff her only for a short time, the face, maybe the sides before she becomes 'scared' and runs, at which point Rex grunts and lunges forward at her, but does not chase. This has happened several times today, but as Patch runs and Rex doesn't give chase there hasbn't been any blows. When Rex has laid down on his side, and Patch comes over to sniff he soon gets up and approaches her first. Due to the time together we've brought in water and grass, and noticed Rex will only allow her access to this for a short time before pushing her away so that he can get to the grass. We have sat with them, but not interacted with them directly as when I did comfort Patch, Rex came over to sniff which resulted in Patch running, grunting from Rex etc. I hope these are only usual dominance displays, there has been no mounting that I have read often happens. I hope that as Rex approaches Patch he wants to be friends but wonder if his grunting is aimed at the way she runs off rather than allows him to continue to sniff her?

It sounds good in that the female is running away from Rex. She will gradually get more confident and start to sit closer to him, as long as he doesn't attack her. So for now it seems to be on course. Hope they continue to become friends.

Day 3:

We put them to bed seperately last night as none of them did the usual afternoon snooze and were not bonded enough for overnight as none of them completly relaxed together. This morning we did not feed them much so that they would be more hungry when it came to putting them together. At first we were getting the same displays when they met yesterday, so we got a large plate with a sprinkle of pellets covered with grass. This worked as it was a focus point to bring them both together. We have noticed Patch is not so scared today, she still runs from Rex rather than submits though. When Rex was laid out she approached his face and laid it on the floor against his face which lasted a few minutes before Rex got up and she ran away. I spent some time on the floor with them and when stroking Patch she submitted to me and this allowed Rex to approach her without her running, and he nudged her side twice before she got up and moved away. Their bellies are full now and both stretched out on the fleece beside the plate which only has a small amount of grass left on it. It has made us feel better as it is the first time Patch has laid out also, and we have also seen her do a little dance so know she feels happier today.

Thank you for your support and hope my reports helps those seeking advice regarding bonding. This is our first attempt at bonding, and now having seen them lay together (while not yet close friends) they bring joy to our hearts.

This sounds promising, just give them plenty of time to get used to one another and don't make any changes or that could upset things.

Day 4:

We seperated them last night as next door was setting off fireworks and with the possibility of more fireworks we put Patch back in her cage where she feels safe, Rex was fine, but also put him back to bed. Today started the same as yesterday. Patch still wasn't submitting fully, she laid her head on the ground, but ears were still up and Rex was nudging her and grunting when she ran away. Later when Rex was eating from the plate Patch covered part of the plate by laying her head on the plate and Rex was nudging her head to get to the food, she then gave up and settled beside the plate. Later she laid her head on the floor and stayed still this time rather than running away and Rex nudged her head and back and then settled. The major breakthrough was when they did this again, but this time Rex was licking her ears and this lasted for a few minutes, then Patch laid flat on her side and Rex did the same, back to back. It is such a relief as was beginning to think Patch wouldn't submit, but Tonibun was right, she just needed time. Thank you for your support.

Hi,
I'm a first time bonder as well and started on Sunday evening, so I have been reading your threads with interest.

I have to agree about how fulfilling and rewarding it is to see them relax with one another. I hope Rex and Patch continue to grow their bond.

As its back to work, we have been getting them out every evening and they still get on great. Over the weekend we will let them spend the weekend together and maybe try letting them have access to a few more rooms.