sorry more bonding questions

Hi i know there has been alot of bonding questions recently so i hope you dont mind me asking.. i know alot of you have alot of experience in this.
Ok so Simba and Nala.. they have been running around my lounge happily for 2 weeks now.. altho it was originally simba's territory they seemed to be ok so have not taken them anywhere else. I do have my bedroom and bathroom that i could use as neutral territory if you think this is the problem.
Nala has become more and more confident.. will come up to me and occassionally approaces Simba and often sprawls out with feet right out behind her. Simba hops around as normal and is very lively and inquisitive and keeps going up to Nala for a snif, whether she is laid out, sat up, eating or washing he doesnt care. He has also occassionally attempted to mount her but doesnt really get very far :roll: Sometimes when he goes up to her she starts grunting or squeaking and sometimes will turn round and he jumps. I havent found any marks on him so i dont know if she is trying to nip him or not. When she does this he often charges back at her.. again i dont know if he is being aggressive or flirty :? She quite often makes this squeaky/grunty noise when he is near to her even if she is on my lap and he hops past the sofa. When he rests he usually lays out close but not too close to her and will face away from her usually.

Sorry thats turned into a bit of an essay.. but its hard to describe what i see. Now i know i need to get Nala spayed.. i am trying to find a day when i have a few days off afterwards so i dont have to leave her long.. but i just want to know if you think she is frightened/excited/trying to be dominant/ or just plain peed off about sharing the home with another rabbit. I know there are no right or wrong answers.. as u probably saw they have shared dinner together but when i did it tonight she started grunting/squeaking at him. :?

Oh I so know how you feel, I am trying to bond Charlie (6 years old male, neutered, recently lost his lady) with Lavender (5 months old, not yet spayed) in a very small flat with minimal neutral territory.

1st meeting - few tufts pulled, not too bad, Charlie mounted her a bit, she let him,

2nd meeting - she seemed petrified, just ran away form him all the time, ende dup in lots of chasing

3rd meeting - she looked petrified did lots of squeaking noises, but eventually calmed down, they shared water bowl, both ate dinner (separate bowls) but everytime he approached her she'd runs away and stamps her feet, grunt, squeak and alarm me! On the rare occasion that she doesn't run he puts his chin on the floor (obviously wanting licks) and she ignores him.

Sounds remarkably like your two! I sort of feel a bit less worried now though knowing it must be vaguely normally for us both to be experiencing it! :?

So I'm with you 'is she frightened/excited/trying to be dominant/ or just plain peed off about sharing the home with another rabbit'????? :shock:

Aaaah right.. yeah thats good to hear yours do the same. mine quite often go nose to nose but often her head is lowest but there hasnt been any licking.. they just freeze there then usually simba moves round to sniff her butt and she's off! :lol:

I don't think you need to move elsewhere, from what you describe they're doing fine where they are. I take it she's not running around with him perminantely, just for outings? I think all that your lacking is time. At the moment she's still a visitor so they can't establish their full time rules. Its like the difference between dating someone a living with them you have a whole new set of quirks to get used too and it takes awhile to learn.

Like Eve did with Kymber and Valentine I think you just need the opportunity of letting them work it all out without seperating them. Once they have a couple of days together under their belt I imagine you'll see a difference.

I think if she was actually going to bite him you'd have found the marks and he'd of learnt by now not to try it on. It sounds more like she's just being stropy Grunting can be flirty type behaviour but also a warning (e.g. don't you dare think of mounting me).

Alfie & Gypsy still grunt/chase each other occationally. They also snuggle & groom too though

Tam

I let them out together whenever i am at home. Today they came out at 10, went back in for an hour while i popped out, then came out for the rest of the day until 10mins ago when i put them both to bed. At the moment Nala is in a different room in her cage so i guess i could put her cage next to Simba's and see if that helps a bit. As long as she isnt scared then thats ok.... the noises they make really do sound like they are frightened to its a bit worried.
Thank you Tam.. i'll just keep on going and hopefully get her spayed fairly soon which may help i guess. I am too scared of putting them to bed together as im worried they might hurt each other.

Bunnies don't tend to make noises when they are frightened, they're prey animals so if their is something scary its best for them to keep quiet.

I think they're more relaxed around each other than they're letting on judging by the photos of them stretched out (awww those feet!).

It is nerve racking though, I can't certainly sympathise there. It would be so much easier if they could just explain what they are thinking

It’s a long story but we had problems with our buns before they were both neutered. He was neutered first and after they were introduced she had a few fake pregnancies :shock: . Nala’s hormones are fully intact so it’s normal that she is territorial (like when you are cuddling her on the sofa and she growls at Simba - she might be saying to him “Back off she is my human now”!!).

If it’s any comfort to you I had forgotten most of my buns problems and thought they bonded really easily, so maybe after a while you’ll forget these problems too!! :wink:

I have hundreds of photos of them and in practically every one the two of them are together looking really loved up. Whether they are lying together or grooming each other or grooming themselves beside each other (this is a really good early sign as when they are grooming their defences are down so it takes a lot of trust to do it front of another creature - are your two doing this yet?…. if not, watch out for it).

The early photos looked good for Simba and Nala, but I think it’s normal that Nala wants to prove herself ….(the first time the o/h and I were together was in his place and within a week a lot of things had changed!!!! :wink: ) …these things take time and neutering helped my two buns, so it may help yours too.

My two are 5 now and have been together for most of that, and although they really love each other they sometimes growl or turn their backs on each other. But these disputes blow over quickly and it is as if nothing ever happened. Rabbits can be as moody as humans!!!

Hopefully before long all this will become a distant memory!! :wink:

Hi,
I found with Blueberry and Brian it was very time consuming, in the end I set up a large pen in the living room - not neutral territory and had them together for the whole day (for 2 days seperating them at night) . Blueberry did some chasing but mostly ignored him and after a couple of days I took the pen away, she upped her chasing for a bit as but that was it really just seemed to tolerate each other.
It is better now Blueberry has a very fluffy neck from all Brians grooming, he sometimes even gets a quick groom off her :roll:
But last night she was chasing him round the living room like mad he was grunting and stamping at her, so I don't know what that was all about :lol:

When you get Nala spayed I was advised between 4 and 6 weeks before letting them together so she's totally healed inside.

4-6 wks apart?? omg she will hate that!
Im not sure whether Simba has got sudden urges of randiness or whether he is just showing he is dominant but i let them out 10mins ago and all he has done is bonk her! And she is allowing him to! And they are sat side by side after all that activity! She is laid out but he isnt... think he's about to do it again!! omg! :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Nala is booked in to be spayed next monday, 11th April.
Maybe i best go have a word with him and explain he doesnt have any man juices left! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :wink:

oh dear.. he is trying to bonk her head! :shock: Poor Nala :?

I was only advised a week to wait after Athena's spay and they were unbonded completely whereas yours sound nearly there - Zeus tried to mount Athena and he didn't do any damage :shock: !!

I just took her in for her week's check-up - vet said she was healing nicely so away we went!

Caz

ooh that sounds better. Mine arent living together yet but do like to chase around together.. if i shut her out she attacks the carpet and door :? Think they will have to house swap when she is spayed so she can stay in the dog cage

I was advised 4 weeks on here from Annie,
best to take advice from your own vet though I guess.

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=977

As Beck says it's best to follow the vet's advice, but as it turns out my vet advised as Caz's and they were together soon after the vet checked the wound, as the male had been neutered months before ........... but I waited until her spirits were back to normal as well.

In the beginning mine were only together druing the day and under supervision, after a couple of months they were together full time ....... as I've said before your buns look so happy together so it's just a matter of her getting spayed and then a little time before they can be together all the time.

Con, my male bun, mounts her head too, he was very young when he was neutered and we figured that his hormones hadn't quite reached his brain!!! :lol: :lol: .
This is what I like to call the P6 position (think about it!!!!)

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: so we are back with Randy Simba then! :roll: Oh poor Nala! :lol: :lol: but you can't help but laugh at him cos he just cant help himself can he! :roll: :lol: :lol: