behaviour when bonding questions - UD bonding complete pictures added !

so i have unsuccesfully tried bonding my bunnies in the past and i am now trying again. i have read every article/thread under the sun and looked at all the different methods to try and figure out whats gone wrong in the past.

So they have been living side by side and swapping accomodation for the best part of a year! they often stick noses through the bars and sit next to each other etc.

I've decided mainly due to a lack of time to go down the dating route, so every evening i am going to put them into my dog crate (3 x2 ish) with nothing in but a scattering of hay and sit with them obviously, increasing the time and seeing how it goes, then at the weekend when i can stay with them 24hours a day (got a horse/dog and job so in the week not possible!) i plan to keep them together, hopefully for good!

We are on day two of dating and i have some questions about behaviour and whether its good or bad. I've read 'indifference' is usally a good sign but what about when you have one bunny whose indifferent and another thats constantly head shoving trying to get groomed ? The indifferent bunny sometimes indugles him and has a little lick but alot of the time ignores him or moves away. If she ignores him he litterally shoves himself till he's under her completely!

There has been one attempt of humping from the girl ( the indifferent one) to the male who instantly runs away and will not tolerate it, as of yet the males not really attempted any humping but i dont think the female will tolerate it either.

Occasional thumping from both, what does this mean?

another question i have is while i have lined the tray with newspaper neither of them like to poop or wee, i can recognize when the female needs a wee as she stands funny and when i put her back in her home she runs straight to the litter tray! should i leave her till she can't hold on and goes in the crate or take her back to her litter tray ? obviously dont want to put one into the crate!

other than that there has been no signs of aggression/chasing or fur pulling, which i'm hoping is a good sign!

thank you in advance.

Aww, it sounds like they are going to be a great match. Could you do a full day maybe on a weekend? I think if you started early AM by the evening you'd have bonded bunnies. She's being a bit snooty (I'm much to high up the pecking order to groom you), whilst he's going 'pretty please just a lick or too' :lol: Some bunnies are really pushy. They'll work it out with a little longer together.

If you put a spare tray in, she might recognise that as a litter tray and use it even though it's not her normal one, that way she won't have to cross her legs!

Thank you so much for your reply. I've finally found the time to fuily bond them. Started yesterday around three and so far so good, slept next to them and there's been no problems but there's one behaviour that's confusing me. Bun bun the female keeps humping the male but only when I go near the cage to put hay in, I'm sat 3/4 foot away and that's fine but as soon as I'm at the door she starts humping, any ideas?
Thank you

Congratulations

It's quite normal for a bit of humping still to happen post-bonding, it usually settles over the next week or so, but some pairs will still do it now and then after being together years. It could just be she's stacking her claim in case you've come to steal him away :lol:

Parsley is also a bit humpy round this time of year, when I bring food, ita sue to excitement mote than anything else I think.
Sounds good what you're doing pics when you have time you busy lady

Thank you

i'm so happy it seems to of worked this time and im desperate for it to not go wrong so i'm very nervous about the next stages.

Tomorrow i have to go to work so my poor dad is spending the day at my house just incase but i havent once had to intervene in anything so i'm not too worried. I had to leave them for 30 mins this afternoon to go do my horse, i had considered taking them in the car with me but as it had gone so well i risked it and all was fine so i'm pretty sure i'm on the home straight.

i'm not sure what i should do for the next stage though or when to do it..... i think tomorrow evening i may move them from the crate to the porch as i'll be at 72 hours together with out incident then but i'm worried the porch is too big ? its about 5 x 4 foot but i'm worried if i dont take them from the crate soon they'll get frustrated at being confined and having no exercise and that may cause a fight?

I took great pleasure in cleaning out the garage and spraying every little thing with white vineger and setting it all up, so much more space without the partition.

few questions if anyone has the time to answer

1. there has been no fur pulling or chasing or humping full stop apart from when i feed them, is this ok?
2. how long shall i leave them in the porch for before either moving them into there normal home or a bigger room in the house?
3. if say i leave it a full week of confined space before putting them into the garage will i be ok to give them the whole garage or shall i try and section it off?
4. will i be ok by wednesday to be leaving them unattended for more than 30 mins ?

thank you for reading and replying

If it was me, I'd move them straight to their permanent home if you've got everything rearranged and cleaned up it should be fine Obviously you can't guarantee things with animals but considering how well it's gone I'd be pretty confident that you'll have no trouble. Expect a little extra humping/chasing when they first go to the new spot - they are just checking the new rules work in the new area but it should settle down quicker as they know each other.

Once you've had 24/48 hours together with no issues you should be free and clear. If they are going to fight you usually see signs from the start even if they take a while to work up to it.

well i think its pretty safe to say bonding is complete, i moved them into the garage this morning and will be keeping a close eye (from a distance as if i'm in there she humps him furiously and he is not to impressed with it !) all day but i'm feeling pretty confident things cant go wrong from here.....

photos -

I'm so pleased everything has worked out for you. Your set up looks great, the buns look delighted and very cute

My buns are going to have our garage when we move and your set up is along the lines of what I am wanting to do. :thumb:

The garage is great, the only thing i dislike is although there is a glass door and a window its a little dark in there with out the main garage door open. I work part time so it's open most days for a decent amount of time unless its pouring with rain but i feel bad on the days its not open much

So far everything is still fine, i've been on a bit of a high all day but part of me is saying ' it shouldn't be this easy when's it going to go wrong!'

I still can't go in there or give either of them a fuss as she starts to hump but i'm hoping that will settle down. Everytime i go check on them they are snuggled together on one of there platforms

With Alvin and Roxy the used to hump every other day. I never used to interfere unless I thought either of them was pestering too much. They'll be fine.

They look very happy - and what a great set up! The humping will probably settle down gradually and they get more used to sharing the new space