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Still not bonded!!! And sorry gone on a bit!

Leelou

New Kit
Thought I would post a bit of an update on our bunnies to get some feed back. Haven't been on here for a while as been quite busy with one thing and another.

We have had our house rabbit Harvey for 2 years and we got him a girlfriend, Honey, at the end of November, we had their cages by each other and let them out one at a time and we are still doing that. We also put them together in the room where their cages are and in neutral territory as often as time allows.

We have had some grooming of each other during bonding sessions. And when one is in their cage and the other is out they will sniff and "kiss" each other through the bars. They will also happily lie down by the other's cage. All of which are good signs I believe.

However, when we put them together they are still fighting. It doesn't seem too bad in that no one gets hurt - just a lot of nipping and jumping into the air and fur flying.

We really want to get them to the point where we can leave them out together because as we both work full time it seems so unfair having them shut in all day (particularly because before we got Honey Harvey was left out all the time). Some one did tell me to just leave them to work out their differences but I just can't watch them fight in case one of them does get hurt. We always separate them and pull them apart and then hold the one who started it down by the other so they can't nip but will just be by the other.

Does anyone have any other suggestions or can tell me where I might be going wrong. I would really appreciate it!!

Love Louisa xx :lol:
 
I am a very nervous "bonder" after the initial fur flying so for at least a week, where possible, I would switch them into the others hutch so that come the time they were bonded, it wasn't just the ones territory.
 
Thank you for your post. Your buns are so cute!!

We did try swapping them into each other's cages for a good while. but then Harvey seemed to be getting territorial about Honey's cage because hers is where his used to be (we deliberately did that to show him it was Honey's house as well now). When we let them out together he would just go and sit in front of her cage and nip at her if she came close when she was trying to go back into her cage (little sod). So we stopped putting him in there so he wouldn't think it was his and he seem to be a bit less aggressive after that.

Do you think we should start doing that again?
 
What sparks off the fighting? Is it when they go in each others cages? Does one bun start it? Do the fight when its neutral territory?

What sort of fighting is it? A proper bunny fight involves the two of them latching on usually nose to tail, biting, circling and kicking at each other with the backlegs.

It fairly normal to see a little chasing, mounting and nipping during bonding.

How do you do the sessions? Short frequent ones are best e.g. 10 minutes once/twice a day to start with.

Where abouts are you? Several rescues offer bonding services and you can take them along and they'll do the bonding for you.

Tam
 
Hi Tam

Either one of them going in each other's cages starts off a big fight. So when we are bonding them we have closed up both cages so that they can't go back in - or get into the other one's cage. When we haven't done this Harvey jumps straight into Honey's cage and then she goes in and all hell breaks out.

It was previously Harvey starting the fights but it's now probably more 60% harvey and 40% Honey. One of them will just nip at the other one and then we get lots of flying in the air and more nipping and fur flying. I am never sure whether I should leave it or intervene.

On some occasions its got worse and we get circling and nipping. They haven't at any point been kicking each other or latched on nose to tail. We sometimes get it where they both have their heads down face to face which we have interpreted as a power struggle to see who will give in first and groom the other and it varies as to who gives in (although they don't often groom).

We live in Surrey and we got both from a refuge in Sutton. The lady did say she would bond them for us but she only has sheds outside and they are both used to being inside and they would have to be with her for a couple of days. Plus I am quite stubborn and reluctant to admit defeat. Appreciate I am probably being silly!

if you have any ideas I would be really grateful because I had hoped they would be living happily by now!
 
That sounds like Zeus and Athena, when they were bonding believe me that isn't anything like a proper fight. In their case I gave up and left them doing it in the garden (after about a month of gentle introductions always ending in mock mounting and nipping etc) - loads of room for them to get away but they kept deliberately running at each other and jumping over each other, every so often Zeus or Athena would come away with a mouthful of hair but they always seperated.

When Violet first met the others it was true fighting - it took a lot of strength to seperate them as they were truely latched on to each other.

I would increase the sessions they have with each other and when you see aggressive mounting throw a toy into the equation or a carrot - something to distract them but in the end they have to work out who is boss and in my case both were so stubborn it took a long time for Zeus to admit defeat and let Athena win!

Caz
 
You should definately stop them is they are circling as that tends to be when things can get more serious. It doesn't sound like they are properly fighting, if you see it you'd know.

Rabbits can be very territorial of their cages so your right to not give them access to each other when they are lose together.

I'd start againn from the beginning. Let them only meet without bars between in neutral territory and have these bonding sessions for 10 minutes a day. Try to let them sort it out as much as possible and only seperate them if they are latching on to each other/circling.

Once they have settled down doing them then you can go back to trying them in their room together, but first I'd remove the cages.

Was it Animal Lifeline? You could also try Bobtails which is only about 10 minutes away from them. If they can't accomodate you inside they can probably recommend one of their volunteers that can. They might also be able to give you more tips or invite you to watch a bonding session so you can see first hand how to deal with it.

Tam
 
Are you trying to bond them on neutral territory? I bonded mine in the kitchen (took about 5 days and I posted a bonding diary on here where my stress was painfully evident for all to see :oops: ). I have read that the bath is one place to try (without water of course :lol: ) as the stress of being there forces them to seek solace in each other rather than fight. good luck and p.s. its so worth it. When I think I got Brody as a gf for Totti but because they didn't get on, I kept them apart for 18 months and they are now so loved up its sickening :love:
 
Thank you all for your ideas.

We will try going back to only neutral territory for a bit and if that doesnt work then I might resort to bringing in the experts. Yes we did get them both from Animal Lifeline Tam and so I might try Bobtails if we don't succeed.

Thanks everybody!
 
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