Bonding issues

Hi all,

I rescued my first house rabbit, Ludo back in December, he's 9 months old and was neutered at 5 months. I have recently decided to give him a friend, he's become very attached to me and my partner and I worry if we go on holiday or away from a couple of days he will not cope well - I could be wrong but I feel bad enough leaving him when we go to work in the day. I took him to a rescue where a lovely volunteer bonded him at her house with an 18 month female, neutered 2 weeks ago. She did a quick bonding session and everything went well - she said the girl was grooming him a lot. I picked them up two days later and was advised to keep them in a cage together and not give them too much room to start with. I cleaned everything and tried to remove Ludo's scent from the area but within half an hour, they had a very bad fight - then 10 minutes later, another. I put them in a carrier for an hour as advised by the woman at the rescue, but I was scared to put them back in the cage, I did this reluctantly and watched and there was another fight so i separated them. Ludo had to go the vets yesterday as he was bitten, not badly at all but wanted to get it checked out. They're in areas next to each other and I've been swapping them over so the each get used to each other's scent. I put them in a new run in the garden today so it was a neutral space, Ludo has never even been in garden yet as its been too cold. There was some tail biting and running around in circles, I sprayed water but they both ignored it so I split them up in fear of another fight.

Will they ever get on? Is Ludo being teritorial over his area and this is why they started fighting when they got home?

Does anyone have any bonding tips for me, I really would like this to work out as so many people tell me I have to get him a partner as well. If it doesn't work out, I don't think i can go through bonding again - the fights and biting scared me as much as it did the buns!

Thanks in advance.

If she was only neutered two weeks ago I would think her hormones haven't calmed down fully yet. I only noticed a difference in my females behaviour about a month after her neutering.
Also, from my own bonding experience, I don't think that two days together is long enough to know if the bond has worked and for them to be sent home. They can be grooming one minute and then one small change to the environment can cause a fight even if they've been together for a few days, so I would think that moving them to your house so quickly caused them fight.
Keep them separate for another couple of weeks until the females hormones have definitely calmed and then you'll probably have to start the bonding again.

2 weeks even from the point of view of the operation itself, seems very quick! I would also wait a while before trying again. And as above, you will probably have to start the whole process again.

Other than if they instantly take to each other, bonding can require nerves of steel! When the time is right, I would set aside a long weekend (or a spell as long as is possible) and dedicate your entire time to it. It can help to have someone with you for moral support and to give you a break - I could not do it on my own.

You will need 'bite proof' gloves (oven gloves for instance or perhaps thick gardening gloves) to protect your hands and I use a thin piece of cardboard to slip between them if it looks as though a fight is going to break out. Works well as they box away at the cardboard rather than each other :lol:

I know how unnerving finding a bite can be as I recently found a wound on my recently bonded rabbit which I had missed - it had happened about a week before. It was really nasty and I was mortified. People have different methods, but I start in a really small space (only just big enough to put in a litter tray) and increase space so minimally, that they are hardly aware.

With my current pair, my husband spent one night with them and I slept downstairs for a further 4 nights before daring to leave them alone! They were an extremely difficult pair to bond though!

Thanks so much for your comments and helpful tips - I feel much better now knowing that with time, this could work out I was wondering if two weeks after neutering was too quick as well.

I've been keeping them apart but next to each other which they seem to be doing fine with. It doesn't help that Ludo is usually free range but I'm giving both buns equal time out the enclosure.

I will update in a few weeks with their progress.

Thanks again