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Bonding help North East- UD P14 Looking for a single male!

tiger_lily

Mama Doe
Hello lovely people of RU, sorry I haven't been around in a while.

We're in need of bonding help, we have tried several times now to bond Poppy with Oscar and Jessie, but they fight and we chicken out. We don't really have the space for two separate groups, so if we can't bond them our only other option would be to rehome Poppy- which obviously we don't want to do.

Is there anyone at all who can try and bond them for us? We're in Durham but I'm willing to travel to get this sorted. We don't want to have to say goodbye to Pops :(
 
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Is there a rescue near you that will offer a bonding service in return for a donation?

How are you bonding them?
 
There are very few rabbit rescues around here, but none of them can do it if it's not their own rabbits :(

We've been putting them in a small, neutral pen together and Oscar and Poppy seem to get on well, but Jessie is very hostile towards Poppy when she goes near and they end up fighting... I end up separating them pretty quickly after that because Jessie always seems so stressed...
 
Last chance help bonding needing- North East

If no one else closer to you offers

I offer to do it but I'm in nottingham so that's over 2 hours away so I realise it may not be an option for you

I bonded a quad last year it took a week till I was happy for them to go home

Can you explain your steps

Have you neutralised the area you are bonding them in ?

How bad is the fighting?

It can often help if someone who isn't as anxious does the bonding as they sense the tension and someone who is anxious may pull apart necessary dominate behaviour worrying it's fighting

I pull apart bad fighting as many times as it takes till it settles

Serious fighting I stop the bonding and try again latter

If it happens again I stop completely

How small of an area do you use?

What does it have in it?
 
Thank you for the offer :) It is a little far for us at the moment though.

The pen is set up in our bedroom (where Poppy lives) with one of those paint cover sheets covering the entire floor so it doesn't smell like anybody. It was about 1.2m square- made using 8 puppy panels. The panels have been used by all 3 rabbits in the garden but were wiped down with a cloth beforehand. All that was in the pen was a pile of hay in the middle and 3 water bowls. The first time we separated them in 3 sections of the pen so they could see each other through the bars and then removed these bars after a couple of hours when they seemed to get used to each other, but they started fighting almost straight away with lots of grunting and Jessie ended up with a cut nose- which was when we separated them. Second time we put them straight together in the same set-up and the fighting started same as before so we separated again before anyone got hurt...

To me the fighting seemed bad, but I'm worried it is me just over-reacting to it. Oscar and Jessie were such an easy bond and that was my only experience bonding! I'm terrified to try again :(
 
Have you tried asking Paws for Thought? Bunnies from there appear in the rabbits in need section quite regularly.
 
Hmm the only thing I can suggest is sticking with it even though it's horrible to see then stressed. It will be worth it if you can bond them. Have you tried taking them all for a car ride in a carrier? Or putting all three in the bath?
 
Or maybe get in touch with Tuckerbunnies on here. They do boarding and they might know of someone in the north east who can do bonding :)
 
Hmm the only thing I can suggest is sticking with it even though it's horrible to see then stressed. It will be worth it if you can bond them. Have you tried taking them all for a car ride in a carrier? Or putting all three in the bath?

The other problem I have is time- working full time means I only have the school holidays to try bonding! I've not tried either of those- I don't have a carrier big enough for all 3, but the bath could work...
 
When they fight go you remove them or just stop that particular fight

As sometimes they are just trying to decide whose boss so stopping the fight then trying them again can work

If it's too bad removing is the best thing

You don't want anything in their they can fight over
 
The problem could be that you are bonding in your bedroom which, you said, is where Poppy lives. I don't think covering the floor will stop it smelling of her, and she will still regard it as her territory. Could you try bonding somewhere where no rabbit has been?
 
The problem could be that you are bonding in your bedroom which, you said, is where Poppy lives. I don't think covering the floor will stop it smelling of her, and she will still regard it as her territory. Could you try bonding somewhere where no rabbit has been?

This

Usually I neutralise the area with white vinegar and water or take them to a different room
 
Thank you for all your advice. After a lot of thinking we have decided that we will not be trying to introduce Poppy to Oscar and Jessie again- even after Poppy was taken away last time, Jessie kept trying to attack Oscar, so I'm worried they may end up splitting :(

We did consider rehoming Poppy, as she is currently in our bedroom and it isn't ideal for us, but we couldn't bare to part with her.

So, we are now looking for a single male to keep Poppy company :D Yes, it does mean that we would be sharing our bedroom with two rabbits- but it's better than having to say bye to Poppy.

The hunt for a single male begins :D We will need somebody to bond them for us, so any suggestions are most welcome.
 
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