Bonding Advice needed :) *Pics of Bonding*

Hello, I got my 7 year old Neutered Buck Marble a 3 year old Doe on Monday. I have split Marbles hutch into 2 with Chicken wire so can see and smell each other. And so far no bad signs of aggression.

Should we leave them a week being able to see and smell each other or should I try bonding them now? I have bonded Marble before but that was 6 years ago :lol:

Is there no aggression...no tails up or lunging or anything? If they seem quite relaxed maybe try them in the house somewhere in neutral territory supervised and see what happens. Good luck (I hate bonding!)

i would do it sooner rather than later or they may have a falling out/get frustrated living side by side and it will ruin future bonding

Marble wasn't happy when I first put her in his hutch, thumping ect. But he is quite a moody Rabbit :roll: But yesterday and this morning he's quite relaxed around her

Marble was actually the dominate one with his previous partner

elmoandfern said:

i would do it sooner rather than later or they may have a falling out/get frustrated living side by side and it will ruin future bonding

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Thanks, Just spoke to Hubby, going to try them together when he gets home from work, Wish me luck! :thumb:

Oh another quick question! Will I ruin the bond if they are in the divided hutch but together supervised in the run/garden until i'm sure they are fine together?

Marbles going to find it strange as his last partner was a Flemish giant twice his size and his new partner is a mini lop half his size! :?

It isn't a good idea to put them together then separate them, they get confused and can't sort their hierarchy out, so finish up frustrated. Is your new doe neutered as I don't think you said, sorry if yI missed it. You need to put them together in a neutral space where your boy hasn't been before as rabbits are very territorial and he might attack her. Then try to keep them together so they can get on with the bonding.

Size shouldn't matter, it's personality that counts.

Good luck.

xShellx said:

Oh another quick question! Will I ruin the bond if they are in the divided hutch but together supervised in the run/garden until i'm sure they are fine together?

Marbles going to find it strange as his last partner was a Flemish giant twice his size and his new partner is a mini lop half his size! :?

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quite possibly, yes! they need to stay together once introduced in a small, neutral area until you have had 24 hours of no chasing/nipping etc and then you can gradually increase the space until you are sure they are bonded. then they can go back to the hutch together (but you will need to clean it with something like vinegar first to neutralise the smells)

good luck!!

Oh gosh I don't remember it being this complicated. I don't have a space where they can be left for 24 hours supervised :?

We get foxes in the garden so they would have to go in hutch at night and have a Staffy indoors who I don't trust with the Rabbits :roll:

xShellx said:

Oh gosh I don't remember it being this complicated. I don't have a space where they can be left for 24 hours supervised :?

We get foxes in the garden so they would have to go in hutch at night and have a Staffy indoors who I don't trust with the Rabbits :roll:

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do you have puppy panels or a dog crate of indoor rabbit cage? any of those would be an ok size for bonding and you should be able to pick them up fairly cheaply on gumtree or ebay if you dont have one. then you could put it in a room for a few days and keep the dog out?

This is how I bond my bunnies for rescue purposes https://www.facebook.com/notes/the-rabbit-crossing/my-guide-to-how-i-bond-rabbits/463430373700695

But for some of my own very difficult bunnies I have recently used the method where the rabbits are allowed to interact in a much larger space than a bonding pen, with lots of places to hid (I use chimney pots as tunnels), but where they go to their own space overnight. This has worked for the last three very difficult bonds. But I do not return the rabbits to either of their own territories (in other words never their own hutches) overnight but do then put them back on the bonding pens side by side with a divider. I do believe that it's unkind to split up the rabbits once a bonding has begun. I think that it can really upset them.

I do think that you may be setting yourself up with some problems by introducing the new arrival into a half of his hutch - a space that is clearly his. Even if they seem okay when either side of the divider, I imagine it might be very different when they actually meet. Almost as if he'll finally have the chance to shoe her away.

BUT, some bonds are incredibly easy and break all the usual rules, so provided you are aware of all of the normal body 'tells' from the rabbits, you will understand that they are showing you with their behaviour. (the note I've have linked to on my Facebook rescue page will give you examples of normal bonding behaviour to look out for).

Just went for it. Introduced them in the kitchen. No aggression but Star was humping Marble! Just moved them to the outside run (run is new so hopfully Marble doesn't see it as his) Now they are both humping each other!

Don't think it would work keeping them indoors as i'm only in a flat, my son would only need to leave door open for dog to get to them. She honestly would kill them if she got to him :shock:

Update
I put them in the hutch last night as didn't have a neutral place to leave them. First thing this morning I put them in the run and within minutes they where grooming each other

I'm now undecided weather to clean the hutch and put them in one side together or leave them divided and just putting them in run everyday

Taking them for vaccinations later as well as my local pet shop is doing £20 vaccinations for rabbit awareness week :thumb:

Last night


This MOrning

They seem to be getting on well imo so I would keep them together now. Will they be safe in that set up with foxes coming in? They will get very frightened if they see a fox and could have a heart attack.

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tonibun said:

They seem to be getting on well imo so I would keep them together now. Will they be safe in that set up with foxes coming in? They will get very frightened if they see a fox and could have a heart attack.

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They only go in the run when I'm at home.


As they had spend hours cuddled up to each other and grooming each other this afternoon I decided to disinfect the hutch again and put them in one side together. So far soo good Also took them for there vaccinations. and they traveled together fine in the carrier