Bonding "survey"

Hey everyone,

Just a quick question for me, trying to "survey" bunny-bonding a bit more, at the moment, due to the book-writing plans, but also my upcoming bonding sessions.

How long did it take for your bunnies to bond, from intro, to final happiness? I've heard so many stories, I'm trying to get averages, and be able to give a time-scale for what people should expect. I've found that books haven't been very informative in what to expect, time-wise...

Merci!

Hi

I think I was quite lucky as it tookme about 5 days to fully bond my two.

We had Mr Bump first, and when we got Tiggy we had her spayed as well before introducing them.

We had to introduce them in the bathroom as that was the only place in the house Mr Bump had been. We introduced them and at first Mr B hadn't a clue what Tiggy was and kept running to me!

Eventually he cottoned on and there was a fair bit of mounting from both sides. I kept a broom stick handy (not as harsh as it sounds) as when they started circling and looked like they were about to fight I seperated them using it - someone told me not to put my hand near them as they may attack me without realising it. I would then let them have time out from each other.

The other thing to watch is when they reverse mount each other as Tiggy actually gave Mr Bump a nasty bite on one of his sensitive parts so I stopped them doing this.

After a few sessions, the circling and attacks became less frequent and they started lying down and grooming, so I took them both out to neutral territory and this was the result..



They haven't really been seperated since apart from sometimes when one of them goes to the vet or when one of them has been ill.

took me one month to the day.

A day with basil and rosemary really, was kind of love at first site. Basil was 4-5 months when we bought rosemary home who was only 10-12 weeks so basil had one thing and one thing only in mind!!!!!
However rosemary didnt mind either :lol:
We seperated them until basil was "fixed" which was two weeks and they got on straight away. But once rosemary only had one thing in mind they were seperated again for about a month, as she was a little ill earlier. Christmas eve they were introduced again and are happy together.
We were very lucky with our two rabbits!!!!

Took us two weeks to get them to the point we could leave them together unsupervised and be comfortable that Rob was behaving :wink: . In between they had lots of short unsupervised sessions, but two weeks was the definitely the turning point.

They've been together two months now and are totally loved up

I think Kim and Aggie were a record. Both were unspayed - Kim was 4 and Aggie 18 months and bonded immediately. They had two days in spearate cages and sat side by side with just the mesh between them. when I lifted the cages the two of them started grooming each other and cuddled in straight off

They really loved each other.

Aggie and Twinkle are now 10 days in and Aggie hates Twinkle - I'll keep you posted but I think it might be a record for the longest bonding.

Oh well some you win :!: :!:

lol Pam

Lynn said:

They've been together two months now and are totally loved up

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*whispers: yay!* :mrgreen:

Smokey and Daisy (two neutered boys, yes Daisy was a boy, story in on my website) - nearly three years :roll:

Thanks everyone! It's interesting to see all these different time periods, and it really does show you can't expect something to happen within a certain time-frame!

Any more stories are very much appreciated!!

I'd say anywhere between 1 hour and 3 weeks being my longest.
But that bonding was a group of 4 as in two pairs.

al and steve bonded nearly imediately, they were very young tho. there was a bit of mounting initially but that was about it. they are inseparable now and will get depressed if separated.

i introduced bernie, a girl, to them when she was very young too, then had to separate when she hit puberty, then once neutered, bonded them back together over 2 days starting with bernie in her cage while the boys were free in the room, then waited till bern was ingoning them and got her out and held/stroked her while the boys approched, then moved them all to neutral territory, the bathroom, and let them sort if out. then kept them inside together supervised. by the morning eveyone was friends! then put them all into a new house.

is was obvious from the start bernie would be dominant, little minx. i'm not sure how well she would take to another rabbit. :roll:

Bino & Dottie took about two weeks. They always seemed fine, yet when i turned my back there were bits of fur everywhere!! :shock: i decided not to panic then eventually no more bits of fur flying. They always snuggle up now.

Sarah

bunnyhuggger said:

Smokey and Daisy (two neutered boys, yes Daisy was a boy, story in on my website) - nearly three years :roll:

Click to expand...

for us new people whats your website? thanks

www.bunnyhugger.co.uk

There's also a direct link on the bit below my blinkie and signature where it says pm, www, etc.

Beatrix and Marly bonded more or less straight away, I was prepared for the process to take some time. I was dead chuffed, it took little effort at all. They are a happy pair, they are always really tender with each other.

I gave up on mine! I tried to put snowy in with smokey in her pet carrier in smokeys hutch but then I decided it was a bit unfair cos none of them had hardly any room then I tried to put snowy in with smokey but smokey tried to attack her, I might try again at a later date.

yes nI've been having awful trouble with my 3 and after nearly a month with no progress from one of the three I am wondering whether 2 pairs might be a better bet!!!

I am still trying to bond misty and sugar its not so bad now sugar leaves well alone but where misty is still a baby and just bounces and wants to play all thetime when sugar just wants to lay down and sleep :lol: They go together in the run but wont seem to share a hutch just yet