Newly bonded bunnies?

LeahsRabbits · Sep 19, 2013

My 2 males have just moved into the shed which I thoroughly neutralised with vinegar, all was going superb until I came outside to find fur on the floor (from both bunnies)

I am now monitering their behaviour and Leo keeps mounting Blossom, so I'm not sure if they had a little scrap or what.

Leo then flopped out next to Blossom so its a bit confusing!!

Will they be ok?

ripminnie · Sep 19, 2013

Did you bond them somewhere else before putting them in the shed? You shouldn't move them to a different place unless they've been settled together happily for at least a week :wave:

LeahsRabbits · Sep 19, 2013

ripminnie said:
Did you bond them somewhere else before putting them in the shed? You shouldn't move them to a different place unless they've been settled together happily for at least a week :wave:

They've had 3 bunny dates in the bathroom where neither had been before, it all went great with no mounting, nipping, chasing, fur pulling etc..

I thoroughly disinfected the shed with vinegar and halved it, moved the bunnies in and they were fine.. They had 1 mini fur pulling session and Leo is mounting Blossom quite abit but other than that, they seem to be getting on fine..

Babsie · Sep 19, 2013

ripminnie said:
Did you bond them somewhere else before putting them in the shed? You shouldn't move them to a different place unless they've been settled together happily for at least a week :wave:

I agree with this; perhaps you tried to rush things a bit.
How long have they been neutered?

LeahsRabbits · Sep 19, 2013

Babsie said:
[/B]

I agree with this; perhaps you tried to rush things a bit.
How long have they been neutered?

Blossom's been neutered 5 months and Leo 7 weeks..

Everyone I've spoken to said mounting and fur pulling is to be expected and not to worry.. They've been together 5 hours now and are fine atm.

Vegan_Bunny · Sep 19, 2013

LeahsRabbits said:
Blossom's been neutered 5 months and Leo 7 weeks..

Everyone I've spoken to said mounting and fur pulling is to be expected and not to worry.. They've been together 5 hours now and are fine atm.

I agree with other posters that buns generally should be in a neutral space for about a week together before being placed into their permanent accommodation.
Also they would really need to be watched 24 hours a day for a few days at least, until you were SURE there was no fighting or anything.
I would not leave them in the shed, mainly because you can't watch them during the night. If they do have a big fight, you wouldn't be there to separate them and somebunny could get very hurt. You should also be taking more time because they are two boys, and generally they are quite difficult to bond, even when neutered.

LeahsRabbits · Sep 20, 2013

Vegan_Bunny said:
I agree with other posters that buns generally should be in a neutral space for about a week together before being placed into their permanent accommodation.
Also they would really need to be watched 24 hours a day for a few days at least, until you were SURE there was no fighting or anything.
I would not leave them in the shed, mainly because you can't watch them during the night. If they do have a big fight, you wouldn't be there to separate them and somebunny could get very hurt. You should also be taking more time because they are two boys, and generally they are quite difficult to bond, even when neutered.

I've been checking them every hour and they're fine. They only had 1 fur pullling episode and that was when I first moved them in. They've been fab in the neutral spaces and still (7 hours later) arnt being aggressive to one another.

Tamsin · Sep 20, 2013

The neutral space can be the final location, providing it's completely neutralised. If it's familiar you might find you get more squabbles. If they didn't spend too long in the previous neutral space it can also be they didn't have to time work up the bravery to start with working out hierarchy.

Mounting (which often comes with fur plucking) is normal, you just have to keep a close eye it doesn't deteriorate into circling/fighting. If they didn't start off in the new space with a knock down fight, that's usually a positive sign

LeahsRabbits · Sep 20, 2013

Tamsin said:
The neutral space can be the final location, providing it's completely neutralised. If it's familiar you might find you get more squabbles. If they didn't spend too long in the previous neutral space it can also be they didn't have to time work up the bravery to start with working out hierarchy.

Mounting (which often comes with fur plucking) is normal, you just have to keep a close eye it doesn't deteriorate into circling/fighting. If they didn't start off in the new space with a knock down fight, that's usually a positive sign

Thank you Tamsin.

xx

Newly bonded bunnies?

LeahsRabbits

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ripminnie

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Babsie

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Vegan_Bunny

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Tamsin

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