Help Bonding Two Bunnies!

Ok. Today I adopted a second rabbit, a recently neutered male to go with my girl Daisy (also a rescue, however significantly more shy and reserved).

What would be the best way of bonding this pair? I've never bonded rabbits before and I'm just afraid that if I do something wrong it could jeopardise the happiness or health of my bunnies. Is there anywhere I can take them that might help with the initial stages? I'm in Manchester.

Right now they are in separate cages in separate rooms for now.

Also side question. How long normally after a male neuter does it take for hormones to die down? He was done about 4 weeks ago after a surprise litter to the previous owner

Thanks for any help and advice in advance.

Kirsty

Has the female been spayed?

You can try placing the two cages close to each other, swaping toys etc. so that they get used to each others scents.

You will need a neutral space for bonding that none of them have been before that is empty of distractions or items that can make claim over and take your time, it can take over 1 week to fully bond and you may find that if the first day doesn't go well, seperating them and trying again the next day could show improvement. Once any fighting has stopped you can then introduce food on a plate to help encourage them together. Each case is different and just watch your rabbits movements and see how they react. If the two rabbits go at each other on their sides this is a serious fight to stop, but grunting, chasing & small amounts of fur lose comes with the process.

This is only based on personal experience bonding two males, so hope it helps.

Oh I didn't realise I'd double posted! my apologies everyone!

But yes my female is neutered. So far they are in separate rooms but I did let Daisy have a sniff at the towel that was in the bottom of his carry case and the male is using Daisys old cage which obviously must have lots of scents on it.

I'm thinking the bonding will likely take place in the bathroom since its a fairly neutral and enclosed space.

I'm just nervous as I've never bonded buns before and I don't want my inexperience to taint any possible success! I've already grown quite attached to the male and it would break my heart to give him up.

I'll keep everyone updated and tips are highly welcomed!

Thanks.

Don't let inexperience put you off, we've only bonded once. Just don't rush it or expect them to be friends in a couple of meetings.

Just be calm so that the rabbits don't pick up on any tension from you. Watch carefully their body language to see how they react to each other and wear gloves incase you need to seperate them as if they fight as they may bite/scratch you in the confushion. If they do fight seperate them and try them again another day. We found that on the first day neither rabbit wanted to back down (bonding two males), the following day after the fight, they were more cautious and calmer. It was a case of them working out who was going to be the dominant one. Once that was established, the one that backed down washed the face of the dominant one. The rabbit that gets the attention is the dominant one, saying you will wash me.

Tiny steps.....

Swapping cages is always good, keeping a little bedding left over from cleaning and putting into opposite cages. Sounds mad but the bathtub is a good place to introduce them. With towels down obviously.
Letting one out in the house closely followed by the other and then progressively having them out at the same time but opposite ends of the room. A slow introduction is usually best and less stressful. Some just seem to take to each other but I've had the most success (and the least fights) doing it over a few week or more. If you have the time and space I'd recommend that

And don't despair if there's fights. I had a brother (Bailey) and sister (Tina) together for 5 years and ruled the roost with the other bunnies I had (they were the dominant pair). I never thought in my wildest dreams she would accept anyone else once Bailey passed away! But here we are a few months on and she's settled in with a huge rabbit (Gus -twice her size) who she used to take great delight is assaulting on a daily basis when Bailey was around. If my diva can bond with another boy there's hope for anyone

Good luck and look forward to hearing how you get on

Well after about a week of swapping towels from each others carriers and making sure they had each others scents we finally took the plunge and moved Marmaduke into our bedroom where Daisy currently lives.

We put their cages side by side so they can see each other. At first Daisy wasn't so sure and spent a couple of hours hiding in her cardboard box. Duke seemed perky and interested in what was going on. After a couple of hours Daisy started to venture out of her box...to her litter box :roll: About an hour later she was up at the side of the cage Duke is on sniffing him through the bars. They've been sniffing and jumping up at each other for the past hour or so,

All signs so far have been extremely positive. They even looked like they were smooching through the bars at one point and Daisy seems to be interacting more with him than she has with anyone or anything in the last 6 months...she's even trying to break out - that's a new one :shock:! No stamping or aggressive behaviour shown so far.

I'll keep them side by side for a week or so then move on to bonding them side by side in a neutral area (probably the bathroom). Hopefully a slow bond will be easier for them both and reduce chances of them having a fall out.

Thanks again for everyone's tips! I wouldn't have been able to do this if not for a lot of the help I found on this forum!

We had a bit of a setback on Thursday...

My OH was on 'bunny duty' making sure they got their daily exercise since we haven't had them out together yet when he moved Duke's precious Willow Ball filled with yummy fresh hay on top of his cage. He jumped on top of his cage and realised he could probably jump from there into Daisy's cage (an open top C&C cage, 2 grids high).

Alex was playing Skyrim and never noticed right away. Apparently the usually very laid back and timid Daisy took great offence to Duke being in her territory and the chasing and biting happened pretty much instantly.

Since Thursday there has been no positive interaction and they seem to be very cautious of each other most of the time. Last night they sat and just glared at each other for a few hours. It was strange seeing Daisy act that way!

Is bonding a lost cause now? Should I separate them again and start from scratch in a bit? Or should I continue with this bonding attempt by taking them to the bathroom (neutral territory) and hoping for the best?

Just bumping this for you... Good luck!!!

I would give it another go in the bathroom.

Perhaps someone more experienced will pipe up. All the best
Fee xxx

Well tonight we attempted our first neutral territory meeting. It went...well, sort of well. No one was injured!

Daisy (our original bun) didn't seem very keen or relaxed throughout and kept to one corner. She stamped her feet a few times whilst Duke was flopped next to her. She looked miserable the whole time

Duke (new bun) seemed very interested in the new surroundings. He kept jumping onto our laps while we sat on the floor with him :roll: When he did show interest in Daisy to start with he seemed to sort of 'nip' her. Asserting dominance I assume. Daisy does NOT like this and she flies to the other side of the bathroom. After a bit he stopped doing it as much but Daisy still looked uncomfortable.
A few times Duke flopped next to her and did nothing and she sat (like a stiff board looking miserable the whole time) and she stamped and scampered off.

For 75% of the time they seemed to ignore each other. I'm taking that as a good start. They only had one little scuffle at the very start (initiated by Duke, solved by placing a towel over him until he calmed down). There was no humping at all this time round either.

Can anyone give me any feedback?

I'm absolutely not enjoying bonding at all. It's stressful and I can't stand seeing Daisy so miserable looking. I think the rabbits must sense it from me! :shock:

Hello :thumb:

I am in no way experienced in bonding so hope someone who is can help...my only suggestion is to try giving them some food to share - on a big plate prehaps so that they can eat together?

Every bond is different and sometimes I think it is just a matter perseverance. At least there is no fighting - so maybe just a matter of time to let Daisy learn to trust Duke.

Good luck - it is stressful - when we bonded Bobo and Harley, I had a friend come over to help but I was so shaky and scared...Bobo and Harley had had loads of interaction between the bars of her puppy pen for months before though and it was a very easy bond in the end. We are currentlyy trying to bond Sheldon and Holly and that is very different to the first 2 - and different to yours (Sheldon just wants to hump Holly:shock...so don't give up, some bonds are easier than others and some more difficult.