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Bonding

Claire

Young Bun
Hello all

:? I'm a bit puzzled by my two bunnies, we've in the process of trying to bond Ben (approx 18 mths old) whom we've had since he was 12 weeks old, with Lucy who's approx 3 yrs old. We got Lucy from a rescue centre just over a week ago.

When we introduced Ben and Lucy at the rescue centre, we got very good vibes that they would hit it off, they both mounted each other, no fighting etc etc.

However, since we got them home, Ben has started to chase Lucy round the garden and nip her if she's close to him :( Lucy is such a sweet natured bunny she hasn't retaliated once she just runs away. However she soon comes walking over to him to say hello and the whole process starts all over again.

When I let the buns out for their evening romp around the garden yesterday, I thought I'd lost Lucy :cry: but I found her inside Ben's hutch sniffing round :lol:, Ben was down the other end of the garden, so I guess he didn't see her jump in his hutch. So I think she must be quite brave ! (the garden is secure btw)

Do you think there is any hope of Ben calming down and falling in love with the loveable Lucy?? I know it's only been just over a week, but I being to fear that Ben has turned into a monster. He's even taken to nipping me since Lucy's been on the scene. :(
 
Hi Claire,

I have a bunny that sounds just like Ben - Reuben is an aggressive little man, we think he was mistreated before he was rescued, and he defends himslef against everything and anything. He has calmed down since I first got him but it took 3 failed attempts at bonding with different bunnies before he finally succumbed to Mini Bunny - and that porcess itself took 6-7 months! I took it very slowly, they lived side by side, swapped them over in cages and everything else recommended for successful bonding. I didn't want to ruin any chance they could bond so I didn't push it. I finally bonded them (actually much easier than I ever thought) over a weekend - however, in the first few weeks, there was a lot of Reuben mounting Mini and Mini not being at all happy with it so running away. He was nipping her too.

I'd say do not give up on them - just keep an eye out that Ben isn't being too much of a bully to Lucy - remember its still very early days, you've been lucky that its gone so well so quickly. I would suggest going further back in the bonding process a bit - I'm guessing the garden will be quite a large space, you should put them into a smaller territory for a while then Ben won't feel like she's an imposter in his territory and nip at her. You've probs jumped too far ahead in the bonding process, just take a few steps back and I'm sure they'll love eachother in a few weeks/months.

Hope that helps, am sure others can give advice and support too
 
Sounds like he's just being a bit territorial now he's back home. A week isn't a very long time, and if he's nipping and she's running, that's actually a good thing. If she turns round and fights back then you have a problem. At the moment, it sounds like he's reminding her whose turf she's on and who's in charge and as long as she runs away when he nips at her then she's in agreement that he can be boss.

I wouldn't leave them unsupervised as nipping can easily escalate into a fight, but give them a while to get used to each other and sort out their dominance issues and all should be well. I assume that the nipping is just resulting in a mouthful of fur for Ben, and no broken skin or bleeding for Lucy?
 
Thankfully Lucy hasn't bled after after receiving a nip from Ben. I leave the patio door's open for Ben and Lucy to come and go in the kitchen too. But if Ben's already inside he sits guard at the door and won't let Lucy in - :? he's a git :lol:
 
If you have any neutral territory in your house it might be worth giving them a few play dates in there. If they got on at the rescue centre, they might get on again in a nice neutral area. Somewhere that Ben doesn't feel he has to defend against foreign rabbit incursions.
 
Hi Claire - I could have written your post about a month ago !! :)

We bonded Robbie, a three year old that I have had since he was two months old, with Molly, another three year old. The first week consisted of Robbie chasing, humping, nipping etc, and like Lucy, Molly is very gentle natured and just ran away from him. I didn't think he would ever get bored of this, but he did after about ten days or so :wink:

Can Lucy and Ben see each other even when they are seperated - I think this helps. I agree with Bertie that Lucy running away is a good thing (as long as she's not scared), and that Ben is just trying to say he's boss. Does he ever try to push his head right underneath Lucy's in a forceful way - Rob was doing this all the time - I think he was telling Molly he wanted groomed cause as soon as she started doing this, he was much less forceful.

I guess it's hard to say whether they will fall in love. I sometimes wonder how close they have to be - Molly seems to love being with Rob and always goes up to him to lie beside him, groom him etc, but Rob often goes off on his own and lies down (typical male :lol: ). Guess it's like us humans needing 'time out'. However, he is no longer humping, chasing or nipping her, and he doesn't move away when she lies beside him, so I'm thinking he's just playing hard to get :wink:

A week isn't long - it will be worth it soon when you see them cuddled up together. :) Keep us updated.
 
Just thought - food might help. When Rob was doing lots of chasing, humping etc I often thought it would be good if Molly didn't let him away with quite as much :? We noticed Molly is very forceful with food (never seen a bunny guzzle like her :lol: ), so we fed them together a lot, and when Rob tried to push/chase Molly, she wasn't going anywhere - stayed firmly attached to the bowl. Let Rob know she wasn't a pushover :?
 
If they aren't have a fight then don't panic they are probably just establishing heiracies. Whhen bunnies fight they really go at it, boxing, bitting and holding on, lying on their sides kicking at each others stomachs etc.

Just let them spend time together regularly and as Lynn says let them see each other when they are not in together if possible. Gradually things should settle down.

Tamsin
 
I have the buns facing each other during the day :) I can imagine Ben gives Lucy the evil eye all day :lol: .
I put them together in neutral territory last night and again Ben was being a nippy little monster :twisted: My partner theatened to take Ben to the rescue centre we got Lucy from :shock: he wasn't being very understanding last night :roll:
 
:? I 'm thinking of getting my Sugar a boyfriend but i'm worried that the same thing that is happening to you might happen to me except vica versa Sugar nipping her new friend, I suppose it might be a male thing you know all male spieces tend to try and be top sex :lol: :lol: he is probabley just letting her know he is boss and more than likely get bored and just get along with soon as she not really getting in his face to provock him
 
Zeus had quite a few mouthfulls of Athena's fur when we were bonding them - he would mount her and try to hang on with his teeth - getting a lovely mouth of fur in the process after a few meetings where he tried it on she then started jumping over him and gave him a bit of his own medicine, as long as they aren't biting down properly to break the skin I let them do it for 10min or so, then split them up, then had another go until Zeus gave up on trying to mount her.

They would also both approach each other and put their heads down demanding grooming, they would sit like that for 5 minutes or so facing each other until one gave up and wandered off. I didn't see it happen but one day Zeus must have given in because I caught him grooming her. It was rather funny because he looked very guilty and ran up to me demanding grooming as if to say "she may be my boss but at least you are still my slave".

She grooms him back now but in the beginning she was very much in charge - it just took Zeus a while to realise this ;)!

Ben will probably give in eventually as from what I have heard the female rabbits tend to be the boss in the end. It took me a month to bond them and I had it suprisingly easy but they still fall out now - usually because I am paying Zeus too much attention and Athena regards him as her property that no-one else is allowed to touch - rather than tell me off - she tells Zeus off by jumping on his head with her front feet.

Caz
 
We made progress last night, although Ben was still nipping at Lucy and occasionally chasing her away, when they both finally decided to come into the kitchen Ben allowed Lucy to rub her chin over his head and body. At one point I thought she might even try to mount him but I think she lost her nerve. When it came to bed time for once Ben didn't against me !! and went to bed without any problems, however over night he has eaten anything and nor did he come and say hello to me this morning when I changed his food etc etc. He sat huddled up at the back of his hutch and made funny noises when I stroked him !! this is not normal Ben behaviour, so I'm a bit worried. I'm wondering if he's pining for Lucy ?? or am I mad. I didn't notice anything wrong with Ben last night before I put him to bed apart from the fact he didn't fight against me. Maybe he's mellowed over night !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Claire said:
however over night he has eaten anything and nor did he come and say hello to me this morning when I changed his food etc etc. He sat huddled up at the back of his hutch and made funny noises when I stroked him !! this is not normal Ben behaviour, so I'm a bit worried. I'm wondering if he's pining for Lucy ?? or am I mad. I didn't notice anything wrong with Ben last night before I put him to bed apart from the fact he didn't fight against me. Maybe he's mellowed over night !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Claire - when you say huddled at the back of his hutch, does he look hunched over. What sort of noises is he making - is he grinding his teeth, or is it different noises.

I'm sure it's nothing, but not eating, hunched positions, teeth grinding etc can be indications that all is not well. I would just keep an eye on him / look for any other signs - just good to keep a check when a bunny is acting differently from normal.
 
He wasn't all hunched up, just seemed to be all comfy. My dad is calling in through out the day to make sure he's ok.

Ben wasn't grinding his teeth but I'm not sure how to describe it - it was sort of a purring sound :? . If there's any change my dad's going to take him to the vet. I'll let you know
 
Did he make the noise while you stroked him or all the time? Was it fast or slow "purring"?

Fast teeth chattering (sounds like purring) is a happy noise and Zeus makes it while he is being stroked (especially on the nose & between the eyes).

When he had stasis the noise was different - a slow grinding noise and his stomach was making lound gurgling noises. He also made the noise continuously until we got him to the vets.

Perhaps he was comfortable and a bit sleepy but just wanted to let you know he appreciated the grooming from you ;)! I would definately try him for longer tonight with Lucy - see what happens when you put food down or her in his cage.

Caz
 
My Dad has been round twice today and both times Ben was bouncing around his hutch like a mad bunny :lol: He even gave my dad a little nip on the hand :lol: :wink: :lol:
I think he must have been feeling sleepy (I know the feeling).

I can't wait to get Ben and Lucy together again tonight - things are looking up :)
 
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