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Bonding - can't remember what to do

L

lioness178

Young Bun
Hiya :wave:

I adopted a male bun last month called Ash and have just adopted another bun (female) tonight. They are both indoors and have both been neutered a while ago. Can some kind person remind me the basics if bonding please? Ash lives in a large room with his pen, so technically this room is his territory. Should I put my new buns cage in here too, or should they be in different rooms, only meeting in a neutral area for dates? I initially put her cage in the same room, but ash went mental so decided to move her into the spare room downstairs to be on the safe side!

Also should I do a long date in a neutral area or lots of short dates over a period of time? Any other tips also please as I can't seem to remember much! Thank you all :)


Sorry I realise there are a many posts on this subject, but couldn't find one specific to my questions
 
The safest way to bond your bunnies is to putt them in a neutral area/room with lots of distractions and treats, and basically let them get on with it. The first day you will need to keep a careful eye on them and by the end of that day you should be able to judge as to how it is going. Then it should hopefully get easier. The boy will most likely chase the girl quite a bit, this is where the distractions come in handy. The chasing continues for a day or so until they start getting used to each other. Once together try not to separate them except for the night time if you can't sleep closeby and you are not confident about them.

When you put the cage into his room he was probably excited about the fact there was another rabbit there, also when one is caged and the other is free there tends to be a lot of aggressive type behaviour between them. So don't be put off by his behaviour, it will be different when they aare both free. Good luck with this.
 
Ah thanks guys. Do you think even though ash thinks the attic room is his territory as it has his pen in and where he runs about, should I also put the new buns pen in the same room, or keep pens in seperate rooms and only let them meet in the nuteral territory zone? Hope that makes sense! X
 
Once they are bonded will they still need 2 pens? I wouldn't advise putting the other pen in his room with the rabbit in it - just put the 2 rabbits together as I said earlier in a neutral area, or if there is no other area just introduce the new rabbit into his room but not caged. There will be chasing at first I would think because they have to establish the hierarchy.
 
That's true, than u tonibun. They are in a neutral area now. Lots of feet stomping and mounting from the male so far x
 
Just an update. Have kept buns together for 24hrs now
No mounting anymore, but my female keeps running off and sometimes stamping at poor ash when he hops over. Is this normal? He seems to want to be friends with her but she's giving him the cold shoulder. They are eating together and grooming themselves (but not each other). I have increased the space slightly this morning, no aggression what's ever, just feel sorry for ash as he flopped down next to her and she stomped her foot and ran off.
 
Hi there! It's sounding promising. Females can take a few days before they trust the male, they are usually very wary of them, and as time goes by she will become more confident, then you will see them sitting closer and bingo, you are there, more or less. Don't make any drastic changes for a week or 10 days, to allow them to adjust to one another. So expect a few bumpy days before it settles down. Of course if she decides she does not like him (rare but it does happen) then she will probably start a fight with him and you will have to separate. Is she a sweet natured bunny? Most sweet natured bunnies accept the male.
 
Hiya, yes she is just a bit of a nervous bunny I think. She fell out with her original female pal which is how I came to adopt her as a friend for ash. There is no fighting or negative body language whatsoever just now and again she'll thump at him if he attempts to snuggle. Her ears are always pointed upwards. What do u mean by drastic changes? X
 
Just try to keep them in one spot if it's possible, where are you bonding them. Lots of treats so it's more fun etc.
 
Was in the shower cubical but moved them to a dog crate in the kitchen now as slightly more room and more practical for us for the shower. They actually, touch wood seem settled and are lying next to each other for some time now with no thumping (so far)!
 
I have a large boyles indoor pen that I need to scrub down with vinegar as ash was living in there, so they will eventually be moving into there all being well x
 
Some rabbits just accept one another really easily, perhaps your are easy buns! If it continues to go well today I think you could put them in their permanent housing tomorrow. Boys are not usually as territorial as females.
 
Just a quick update, things continued to go really well. Allowed more space via the kitchen on sunday night and monday - no chasing etc so wiped down Ash's pen to neutralise it, popped them in it and they have continued to get on grand :)

Started Saturday and 2 very happy bunnies by Sunday evening/Monday :)

Thank you Tonibun for all your advice :)
 
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