Help Bonding!!! Please...

Hi all,

I need some advice. I have a 6 month old male rabbit and I wanted to get him a friend because he's lonely when I'm out at work. I tried numerous re homing centres and ads but found that female buns are in short supply and I found mostly males. I wanted a female because it's most likely to be a better pair. My male rabbit is neutered btw.

So, after a month of not finding an adult female to adopt, i thought I'd buy a youngster. So I went to a pet shop and got a little 14 week old girl. She's quite a big girl so I thought the size difference wouldn't be so bad.

The situation currently: we have introduced the buns on neutral territory a few times and I think it's gone relatively well. They don't fight, but every time my boys goes over to sniff her, she runs away and they I think he chases because he feels like he should. The chasing doesn't last long and they don't fight but it just makes her scared to go near him. I've tried feeding them together but my boy just nudges her out of the bowl / steals her veg! I really want them to get along. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks,

Ollie

Ollie, I don't think you're doing anything wrong. It's a really good sign that they aren't fighting. Chasing is a normal part of the process, it's just hard to watch when your girl is a bit smaller than him and obviously intimidated.

If she's 14 weeks, I guess she's not neutered. I'm fairly new to this myself but I think the others might tell you that she may get more territorial as she grows up and that could cause conflict between them, though once she's neutered she should be fine.

Good luck with it.

Hiya. It definitely sounds like you are on the right track. I did the same thing but the other way round. I had a female and then got a new baby boy bun to bond her with. Apparently it's easier to bring a female into a male's environment so you've prob got it right! You may find that her hormones kick in soon but she won't be able to be spayed until she's around 5 months old. If you can keep them separate for the time being your best bet might be to wait until she's done and all healed and then start again to introduce them on neutral ground.

One thing that can help with food possessiveness is to scatter feed rather than use a bowl. This means they can eat at the same time and not tussle over getting their fill.

I am no expert and sent my buns away to be bonded because I'm a big woos...

But there are loads of people on here who have lots of experience of various bonds so hopefully one of them might come along with some more definitive advice shortly...

Good luck!!

Yes, it sounds promising, I expect they just need more time.

When you've got a free day, try starting first thing in the morning and leaving them together in the neutral territory. Make sure she has some places to hide eg tunnels or boxes and scatter the food around so he can't chase her away from the bowl.

I expect you'll find the chasing gradually goes away and she gradually gets braver

They are getting better now. Decided to give them some time in the bath as I'd heard this is a perfect sized neutral are for them. They still don't fight, which is good, but they're not the best of friends yet either.

Is it a good sign if they will clean themselves around the other one? They seem to do this a lot. Almost like they don't clean themselves all day then we put them together they sit at opposite ends of the pen and have a good long clean while facing each other.

We did have them laying together at one point, but I think it's just cause they were tired and bonded over their mutual uncomfortableness of us being so close.

Sometimes the older bun will come over to the baby and sniff her. She'll put up with it up until he tries to sniff her underside. Then she gets fed up and hops off. Sometimes I just wish she'll let him sniff her to get it over with.

Thanks,

Ollie

Hi Ollie, it sounds like it's going OK to me! I'm sure someone who is slightly more knowledgeable will tell you in more detail, but I'm sure that grooming themselves is a sign that they're relatively comfortable with each other as they don't see each other as a threat so they feel safe and comfortable enough to groom themselves.