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Bonding Rabbits - Stalemate

leahb

Young Bun
Hi peeps!

I've recently (about 3-4 weeks ago) got my gorgeous Alfie a new playmate Rosie.

Firstly a bit of background:
Alfie - boy, just over a year old, extremely confident and friendly bunny, very good natured and happy (only got him a friend because I've started working away from home for longer hours, and he's so sociable I didn't want him to get lonely), and has been neutered.
Roise - girl, got her from RSPCA, she's about 6/7 months old, also seems very friendly and confident, also been neutered

At first I just kept them next to each other in cages (well, one big run and a cage next to it) so they could get used to each other - seemed to go well. They are still in cage/run next to each other and I swap them over every night so they get used to each others space.

After about 4-5 days I put them in my bathtub (advice from several people, as it is a small, neutral and unfamiliar place) - I was really nervous and think that rubbed off on them a bit, didn't go marvellously (although no huge disasters though). Bit of a scrap and some biting/fur pulling from Alfie to Rosie (she seems to like him). To be honest I think I came out of it feeling worse than they did.

Next day I tried the bathtub again but then decided that it wasn't working, so tried them on the bathroom floor instead. Worked quite a bit better, think the space gave them some security. Still chasing, aggression and fur pulling (Alfie to Rosie still) and didn't really seem to improve much.

So then I moved to a spare bedroom and actually think the bigger space was better for them - not as intimidating or frightening. They didn't make friends in this space, but started to eat around each other (not together), groom themselves (not each other) and flop/lie down near-ish each other. There was still some chasing/fur pulling/grunting etc but definite improvements.

Now I have them out every morning (about 30mins-1hour) and every evening (anything from a couple of hours to 5-6 hours) downstairs in my lounge with me. This was Alfie's space previously and now I'm trying to get them both in there together. To be fair, Alfie is no different towards Rosie here than anywhere else in the house I've tried so far, so don't think he is overly territorial, which is a plus.

So where I'm at now? Think I've reached a sort of stalemate. Alfie still chases Rosie around the room when he feels the need to. Still some fur pulling/biting/grunting going on...although I no longer bother to stop it as Rosie seems to be able to stand up for herself without starting a fight! I don't leave them on their own, but don't watch them intently like I used to - I can happily watch TV, get on with jobs etc without feeling worried about them. They don't get worse, but don't get better. They don't lie next to each other, groom each other or eat together. Rosie seems pretty curious about Alf and tries to approach him when she dares, but Alf either seems uninterested or gets aggressive.

Any ideas on how I can get this progressed at all? I don't want to use any 'fear techniques' if possible as I'm happy to take it slow (would rather do that than try to frighten them into liking each other!). But I'm worried it's never going to get better, and keep seeing information all over the place about bunnies only taking a few weeks to be completely in love (not helping haha).

If anyone could help/reassure me that would be awesome!

Thanks for reading! xx
 
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