Hi, I'm new to the group and in the midst of a difficult bond, so sorry if this is a long one. Difficult not because I think the rabbits are fundamentally incompatible, or I would have given up by now, but difficult because one of the rabbits (they are both rescues) is missing an eye. He's still absolutely beautiful and SOOO affectionate, but he startles easily, I think a) because of his limited vision b) because he is a lop and doesn't seem to hear that well (at least nothing like as well as her) and c) because he was a solitary house rabbit for years and has no fear of anything, when he zones out, he ZONES OUT, so her coming up to him is enough to make him jump out of his skin and whip round, and if I hadn't always been able to intervene in time would have taken a good bite, which she would definitely not take lying down.
There have been loads of positive signs. He has never been aggressive to her. He accepted her mounting him no problem (except when she nipped him, which seems fair enough, my vet says that's just setting boundaries, and I agree) and even when they have had scuffles they both return to be relaxed very quickly (him more than her in fact). She's very smart and though she did show some aggression towards him in the beginning after he seemed to accept her as the dominant but wouldn't groom her when she presented for grooming, she actually groomed him the other day, which amazed me, but then the next day got annoyed when he didn't groom her back.
It's been three months now. Not trying all the time. There was a two week settling in period for him on his own. Then after they had what would have been serious fight, I kept them completely apart for two weeks i.e. not seeing one another at all. And after a more minor scuffle I kept them alonsgide but not dating for two weeks. I now have them indoors in three adjoining runs. One day one has two runs to him /herself, the next day the other does, and they always meet in the middle i.e shared run under my supervision (I've set up a sliding door system so I can confine them to any one or two runs at any given time) but again got into what would have been a fight yesterday if I hadn't been there to split them up due to her inadvertently startling him by coming up on his blind side.
Am thinking about trying a larger space so that he can bolt a few metres without bumping into something and spinning round on her if she startles him, as I think the small space might be adding to the problem, i.e. panicked rabbit unable to bolt and hide, but I'm nervous because if they do get into a fight a larger space would make it so much harder to split them up.
Does anyone have any advice? He is adorable, climbs up onto my lap and puts his chin on my chest for a snooze and a stroke, but twice when I've intervened, I got bitten, even through thick gloves, and if that had been her and they'd been alone... I dread to think.
There have been loads of positive signs. He has never been aggressive to her. He accepted her mounting him no problem (except when she nipped him, which seems fair enough, my vet says that's just setting boundaries, and I agree) and even when they have had scuffles they both return to be relaxed very quickly (him more than her in fact). She's very smart and though she did show some aggression towards him in the beginning after he seemed to accept her as the dominant but wouldn't groom her when she presented for grooming, she actually groomed him the other day, which amazed me, but then the next day got annoyed when he didn't groom her back.
It's been three months now. Not trying all the time. There was a two week settling in period for him on his own. Then after they had what would have been serious fight, I kept them completely apart for two weeks i.e. not seeing one another at all. And after a more minor scuffle I kept them alonsgide but not dating for two weeks. I now have them indoors in three adjoining runs. One day one has two runs to him /herself, the next day the other does, and they always meet in the middle i.e shared run under my supervision (I've set up a sliding door system so I can confine them to any one or two runs at any given time) but again got into what would have been a fight yesterday if I hadn't been there to split them up due to her inadvertently startling him by coming up on his blind side.
Am thinking about trying a larger space so that he can bolt a few metres without bumping into something and spinning round on her if she startles him, as I think the small space might be adding to the problem, i.e. panicked rabbit unable to bolt and hide, but I'm nervous because if they do get into a fight a larger space would make it so much harder to split them up.
Does anyone have any advice? He is adorable, climbs up onto my lap and puts his chin on my chest for a snooze and a stroke, but twice when I've intervened, I got bitten, even through thick gloves, and if that had been her and they'd been alone... I dread to think.
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